A leaked iPhone 15 design we’re all ignoring teases great battery life

There’s been a deluge of iPhone 15 design leaks in the past few weeks, as CAD files for the upcoming handset variants made their way online, prompting a wave of exciting renders. Most reports focused on the Dynamic Island notch, the imperceptibly thinner bezels, and the infamous iPhone camera bump. But there’s great news about the iPhone 15 battery life in those renders that most people are ignoring.

It all has to do with the overall size of the handset. If leaks are accurate, the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s camera bump appears to be shrinking because the phone’s depth is increasing. And a thicker iPhone 15 profile means Apple has more real estate inside it can dedicate to the battery.

Recent rumors claim Apple’s main focus with the A17 Bionic is efficiency gains rather than big performance improvements. That will translate into even better battery life for the iPhone 15 Pro, especially the larger iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Add to that the more efficient iPhone 15 OLED panels that are supposedly coming this year, and you get additional energy savings.

These are two ways to improve the battery life of iPhone 15 models, especially the Pros. Remember, the base iPhone 15 and 15 Plus variants will feature the A16 Bionic powering the iPhone 14 Pros. The A16 is also plenty efficient and will get you great battery life on the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max. Drop the Always-on display, and you’ll get extra energy savings.

Increasing the actual capacity of the iPhone 15 batteries would give Apple another way to improve the overall battery life. The iPhone 15 battery capacities have not leaked but will undoubtedly appear in reports in the coming months.

Until then, we have a Samsung leaker providing the iPhone 15 Pro Max details above. Ice Universe offered measurements for the iPhone 15 Pro Max based on CAD files. If these figures are correct, the handset is 159.86 mm tall, 76.73 mm wide, and has a depth of 8.25 mm. The camera bump measures 11.84 mm, according to the same leak.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max’s camera bump measures 12.03 mm. That means we’re looking at a slight decrease in size for the camera. But the phone’s increased thickness will make the protrusion seem smaller than it is.

Compare the figures above with the official size details for the iPhone 14 Pro Max, 13 Pro Max, and 12 Pro Max below.

As you can see, Apple has kept the height and width roughly in place for the past three years. And the iPhone 15 Pro Max should follow the same trend. But the depth increased with every generation, almost imperceptibly.

The iPhone 13 Pro Max is just 0.25 mm thicker than the iPhone 12 Pro Max. But that’s enough to give it a big battery boost. Again, the chip efficiency gains and software optimizations also help. But the thicker phone packs a larger battery.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max gained an additional 0.20 mm in thickness. It’s not a lot. But it’s enough to let Apple offer same-or-better battery life estimates on a phone that supports Always-on display functionality out of the box. Real-life tests showed that the iPhone 14 Pro Max battery lasts slightly less than the 13 Pro Max.

If Ice’s leak above is accurate, then the iPhone 15 Pro Max will see an even bigger thickness bump than ever. It’ll gain 0.4 mm over its predecessor, which should make room for extra battery capacity.