iPhone 13 series battery capacity reveal by Apple springs a few surprises

Published On: September 18, 2021

Highlights

Apple launched four variants of iPhone 13 series this week
The company has added bigger-capacity batteries on all four 2021 models
iPhone 13 series promises longer backup on a single charge

Apple’s iPhone event keynotes are fairly detailed, and the company shares a whole lot of information for the viewers. But the brand is always very discreet about one hardware detail: battery capacity. Similar was the case with the iPhone 13 series that launched this week — the company claimed it has better battery performance but didn’t reveal the exact capacity. While usually we have to wait for a few iPhone 13 series teardowns to find out the exact battery capacity, this year is a little different.

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Apple this year revealed the battery capacities of its devices, including the iPhone 13 series, in information provided to Chemtrec, a US government agency dealing with chemicals and hazardous materials. The numbers were quickly reported online (hat tip 9to5Mac), revealing bigger battery capacities for all models compared to their respective predecessor. However, the Chemtrec listing mentions the iPhone 13 series battery capacities in Whr (Watt-hour), which is not as commonly used as mAh. However, a back-of-the-envelope calculation by the folks at GizChina gives us the approximate battery capacity in ‘mAh’ as well.

iPhone 13 battery capacities

Model	Whr	mAh
iPhone 13 mini	9.57Whr	2,500mAh
iPhone 13	12.41Whr	3,265mAh
iPhone 13 Pro	11.97Whr	3,150mAh
iPhone 13 Pro Max	16.75Whr	4,400mAh

These batteries are, approximately, 13 percent bigger than the ones on the iPhone 12 series models. However, it’s the iPhone 13 Pro Max that’s pulling the average up — its battery is 18 percent bigger than 12 Pro Max’s. On the other hand, the cell powering the iPhone 13 mini is just 9 percent bigger than the one inside the 12 mini. With the iPhone 13, the difference in size is up by 15 percent vs the predecessor. Moving to the iPhone 13 Pro, you get an 11 percent increase.

Another interesting fact is that the Rs 1,19,900 iPhone 13 Pro has a smaller battery than the iPhone 13, which costs Rs 79,900; both the phones have the same screen size. This smaller battery on the 13 Pro is odd because the phone has a battery-guzzling 120Hz display, increased camera processing, and more graphics duties (not to mention 5G) to handle than the iPhone 13. Last year’s iPhone 12 and 12 Pro had the exact same battery capacity.

Also read: Apple iPhone SE 256GB storage variant discontinued in India following iPhone 13 launch

While these numbers represent increases for Apple’s iPhone lineup, they pale in comparison to the raw battery capacities Android phones carry, especially in the budget and affordable segments. In fact, 4,500-5,000mAh batteries are commonplace in the market nowadays, with a couple of Samsung smartphones even offering mammoth 7,000mAh cells. And while one can always argue that efficiency of iOS more than makes up for the power-guzzling Android and delivers similar battery life, there is no denying that iPhones don’t really compare to several Android phones when it come to battery performance.