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Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
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Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max Battery test

OTHER AVAILABLE TESTS FOR THIS DEVICE

We put the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max through our rigorous DXOMARK Battery test suite to measure its performance in autonomy, charging and efficiency. In these test results, we will break down how it fared in a variety of tests and several common use cases.

Overview

Key specifications:

  • Battery capacity: 4441 mAh
  • 30W charger (not included)
  • 6.7-inch, 1290 x 2796, 120 Hz, OLED display
  • Apple A17 Pro (3 nm)
  • Tested ROM / RAM combination: 512 GB + 8 GB

Scoring

Sub-scores and attributes included in the calculations of the global score.

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
134
battery
148
Autonomy
172

221

133

195

121

198

116
Charging
109

224

124

212

99

205

156

194

Key performances

Charging Time
2 days 21h
Battery life
Charging Time
0h56
80% Charging time
Charging Time
2h01
Full charging time
Quick Boost
4h05 autonomy
after 5-minute charge

Pros

  • Good autonomy in both indoor and outdoor tests
  • Low discharge currents in almost all the test cases
  • Good wireless charge efficiency
  • Low residual consumptions in both wired and wireless charges

Cons

  • Poor autonomy during gaming
  • Longer-than-average charging times
  • Low wired charge efficiency

The Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max’s battery experience was excellent in autonomy and efficiency, ranking the device in the top half of the entire database.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max demonstrated great performance in the autonomy tests, whether indoor or outdoor tests. With a moderate user profile, the device lasted more than 69 hours, ranking it among the best devices in our database. Under individual test cases, the iPhone 15 Pro Max also showed above-average autonomy in almost all the test cases, except for gaming, which consumed power more than average.

The charging experience with the 30W charger was still relatively weak when compared with other smartphones. We measured a maximum charging speed of 27W.  It took the iPhone 15 Pro Max more than 2 hours to arrive at a full charge, ranking the device in the middle of our database. In the quick charge boost test, the iPhone 15 Pro Max regained only 4 hours and 5 minutes of additional autonomy, which was average.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max showed impressive efficiency thanks to the relatively low discharging currents for almost all the individual test cases, indicating that the device is generally well-optimized. On the other hand, the wired charge efficiency of the iPhone 15 Pro Max was quite poor, with a loss of almost a third of the power drained by the charger. Despite that, the residual consumptions of both chargers were very low whether the fully charged device was still plugged in or not.

Compared to other devices in the Ultra-premium segment ($800+), the iPhone 15 Pro Max ranked near the top of our database. The well-optimized device demonstrated a very competitive autonomy, regardless of the small capacity of the battery. The only main drawback was the weak charging experience.

Test Summary

About DXOMARK Battery tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone battery reviews, DXOMARK engineers perform a variety of objective tests over a week-long period both indoors and outdoors. (See our introductory and how we test articles for more details about our smartphone Battery protocol.)

The following section gathers key elements of our exhaustive tests and analyses performed in DXOMARK laboratories. Detailed performance evaluations under the form of reports are available upon request. Do not hesitate to contact us.

Battery Charger Wireless Display Processor
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max 4441mAh 27W
(included)
15W AMOLED Retina XDR
1290 x 2796
Apple A17 Pro
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max 4323mAh 20W
(not included)
15W OLED
1290 x 2796
Apple A16 Bionic
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 5000mAh 45W
(not included)
15W AMOLED
1440 x 3088
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

Autonomy

148

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max

195

Honor X7b
How Autonomy score is composed

Autonomy score is composed of three performance sub-scores: Home / Office, On the go, and Calibrated use cases. Each sub-score comprises the results of a comprehensive range of tests for measuring autonomy in all kinds of real-life scenarios.

Light Usage
101h
Light Usage
Active: 2h30/day
Moderate Usage
69h
Moderate Usage
Active: 4h/day
Intense Usage
43h
Intense Usage
Active: 7h/day

Home/Office

172

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max

221

Honor X7b

A robot housed in a Faraday cage performs a set of touch-based user actions during what we call our “typical usage scenario” (TUS) — making calls, video streaming, etc. — 4 hours of active use over the course of a 16-hour period, plus 8 hours of “sleep.” The robot repeats this set of actions every day until the device runs out of power.

Typical Usage Scenario discharge curves

On the go

133

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max

195

Samsung Galaxy M51

Using a smartphone on the go takes a toll on autonomy because of extra “hidden” demands, such as the continuous signaling associated with cellphone network selection, for example. DXOMARK Battery experts take the phone outdoors and perform a precisely defined set of activities while following the same three-hour travel itinerary (walking, taking the bus, the subway…) for each device

Autonomy for on the go use cases (full charge)

Calibrated

121

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max

198

Samsung Galaxy M51

For this series of tests, the smartphone returns to the Faraday cage and our robots repeatedly perform actions linked to one specific use case (such as gaming, video streaming, etc.) at a time. Starting from an 80% charge, all devices are tested until they have expended at least 5% of their battery power.

Autonomy for calibrated use cases (full charge)

Charging

116

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max

218

Realme GT Neo 5 (240W)
How Charging score is composed

Charging is fully part of the overall battery experience. In some situations where autonomy is at a minimum, knowing how fast you can charge becomes a concern. The DXOMARK Battery charging score is composed of two sub-scores, (1) Full charge and (2) Quick boost.

Wired
Wired
53%
in 30 min
0h56
0 - 80%
2h01
Full charge
Wireless
Wireless
30%
in 30 min
1h40
0 - 80%
2h37
Full charge

Full charge

109

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max

224

Realme GT Neo 5 (240W)

Full charge tests assess the reliability of the battery power gauge; measure how long and how much power the battery takes to charge from zero to 80% capacity, from 80 to 100% as shown by the UI, and until an actual full charge.

Power consumption and battery level during full charge
The charging curves, in wired and wireless (if available) showing the evolution of the battery level indicator as well as the power consumption in watts during the stages of charging toward full capacity.
Power consumption and battery level during wireless full charge
The charging curves, in wired and wireless (if available) showing the evolution of the battery level indicator as well as the power consumption in watts during the stages of charging toward full capacity.
Time to full charge
Time to full charge

Quick boost

124

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max

212

Realme GT Neo 5 (240W)

With the phone at different charge levels (20%, 40%, 60%, 80%), Quick boost tests measure the amount of charge the battery receives after being plugged in for 5 minutes. The chart here compares the average autonomy gain from a quick 5-minute charge.

Average autonomy gain for a 5 minute charge (wired)

Efficiency

134

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max

154

Oppo Reno6 5G
How Efficiency score is composed

The DXOMARK power efficiency score consists of two sub-scores, Charge up and Discharge rate, both of which combine data obtained during robot-based typical usage scenario, calibrated tests and charging evaluation, taking into consideration the device’s battery capacity. DXOMARK calculate the annual power consumption of the product, shown on below graph, which is representative of the overall efficiency during a charge and when in use.

Annual Consumption Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
3.6 kWh
Efficient
Good
Bad
Inefficient

Charge up

99

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max

205

Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro

The charge up sub-score is a combination of four factors: the overall efficiency of a full charge, related to how much energy you need to fill up the battery compared to the energy that the battery can provide; the efficiency of the travel adapter when it comes to transferring power from an outlet to your phone; the residual consumption when your phone is fully charged and still plugged into the charger; and the residual consumption of the charger itself, when the smartphone is disconnected from it. The chart here below shows the overall efficiency of a full charge in %.

Overall charge efficiency

Discharge

156

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max

194

Apple iPhone 14 Pro

The discharge subscore rates the speed of a battery’s discharge during a test, which is independent of the battery’s capacity. It is the ratio of a battery’s capacity divided by its autonomy. A small-capacity battery could have the same autonomy as a large-capacity battery, indicating that the device is well-optimized, with a low discharge rate.

Average discharge current

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