iPhone 12 battery is smaller than iPhone 11, still just as good

Apple Iphone 12 Color Red
Apple Iphone 12 Color Red (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

  • Filings have revealed the battery sizes of Apple's iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini models.
  • They show that the iPhone 12 mini has a very small battery and that the iPhone 12 has a battery capacity lower than that of the iPhone 11.
  • Despite this, the iPhone 12 will match the performance of the iPhone 11 thanks to efficiency improvements.

Apple's iPhone 12) battery will offer the same performance as iPhone 11, despite being smaller in size and having to fuel a more powerful device.

Filings in Brazil spotted by tecnoblog reveal that Apple's iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini contain batteries of the same size rumored prior to the phone's announcement. According to the report:

The certification document obtained by Tecnoblog confirms that the iPhone 12 Mini will have a component of 2,227 mAh , while the iPhone 12 will be equipped with a battery of nominal capacity of 2,815 mAh , less than the 3,110 mAh of the iPhone 11. The battery capacity of the iPhone 12 Pro Max was not informed in the approval document.

  • iPhone 12 mini - 2,227 mAh
  • iPhone 12 - 2,815 mAh

According to the report, it looks like the filings for Apple's iPhone 12 Pro lineup are not yet visible, however, the upshot of the iPhone 12 findings are clear. Despite a significant reduction in size compared to iPhone 11, which had a 3,110 mAh battery, Apple has managed to squeeze out exactly the same performance from the iPhone 12 in terms of usage time as iPhone 11. In fact, its even better at some things compared to iPhone 11.

According to Apple's own comparison, both iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 are good for 17 hours of video playback and 65 hours of audio playback. But the iPhone 12 will reportedly offer users 11 hours of streamed video playback compared to just 10 on the iPhone 11. As mentioned, the smaller battery size of the iPhone 12 will have no impact on the user experience, in fact, it might even make it better.

Despite powering 5G and an OLED display, the iPhone 12's battery likely benefits from efficiency savings thanks to the new A14 processor, as well as features like Apple's Smart Data mode, which will automatically switch between 4G and 5G to help better manage your phone's battery life.

As the filing notes, Apple's iPhone 12 mini has a significantly smaller battery thanks to its smaller form factor, as the name suggests. There's no model to directly compare the iPhone 12 mini to, however, Apple notes that the iPhone 12 mini can muster 15 hours of video playback, 10 hours of streamed video playback, and 50 hours of audio playback. By way of comparison, this is higher in every regard than the iPhone SE released back in April, but that phone only has a 1,821 mAh battery.

Apple's iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro will be release on Friday, October 23. The iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 12 mini will be available next month.

Stephen Warwick
News Editor

Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design. Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9