iPhone 16 Lineup Battery Life: 1+ Hour More for All Models, MagSafe Charging Upgraded to 25W

Apple unveiled its new iPhone 16 lineup on Monday. Every iPhone in the lineup — from the base model iPhone to the top-of-the-line iPhone 16 Pro Max — boasts an improved battery life of at least one hour more than its respective iPhone 15 predecessor.

Apple is emphasizing extended battery life this model year, and product pages for the new handsets offer a menu that displays the extended battery life of the iPhone 16 lineup compared to previous models, from the iPhone 12 to last year’s iPhone 15.

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Video fans will be glad to learn that streaming video can be played back for two to four hours longer, depending on the device. The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max also support longer audio playback times.

On Apple’s product pages, the following comparisons are made between the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models (as well as others):

The older the iPhone model, the greater difference between its battery life and the iPhone 16. Apple lists the battery life as “up to” because the battery life will vary based on usage habits.

25W MagSafe Charging

The iPhone 16 models will also charge faster — at least wirelessly — as they offer support for faster 25W MagSafe charging when using one of Apple’s new MagSafe chargers and a 30W or higher power adapter. This marks the first time that faster charging has been available when charging the iPhone wirelessly. iPhone 16 users can expect to gain a 50% charge for their iPhone 16 in around 30 minutes, which works out to the same as wired charging speeds (which, sadly, haven’t seen an improvement from prior models).

While Qi2 charging is still supported, it remains limited to a 15W charging rate, which is the same rate supported by Apple’s prior-generation MagSafe charging. While Qi2 is an open standard that doesn’t require manufacturers to pay a licensing fee for their chargers like Apple’s MagSafe charging system, accessory makers that want to be able to offer the fastest wireless charging for the new iPhone 16 lineup will be required to use MagSafe and pay the licensing fee.

MagSafe was first offered alongside the iPhone 12, providing faster charging speeds of up to 15W compared to support for standard Qi charging, which was introduced with the iPhone 8 and iPhone X but has remained limited to 7.5W for Apple devices.

With the release of Qi2, charging speeds were increased to 15W, on-par with MagSafe rates. This meant accessory makers could avoid paying Apple a licensing fee while still being able to offer the faster charging rates. That parity is now erased with 25W MagSafe charging and the difference is larger. As mentioned above, MagSafe’s fast charging feature can charge an iPhone 16 to 50% power in 30 minutes.

Apple says 25W charging requires a new MagSafe charger, so customers will need to purchase an updated charger to reach the new MagSafe charging speeds. Apple has released a new MagSafe charger alongside the new iPhone 16 models. The new MagSafe charger will still work fine with older iPhone MagSafe-capable models, albeit at the slower 15W rate.