Apple iPhones Deliver Lesser Battery Life Than Claimed: Report

Apple iPhone X and XS Max come with wireless charging.

There has been a report that Apple iPhone X and XS Max deliver lesser battery life than what the company claims.

(Photo: The Quint)

If you’re buddy told you that his/her iPhone’s battery life is pathetic and isn’t lasting them long enough, it’s probably because it’s not delivering the expected battery juice compared to what’s mentioned on the box.

A UK consumer consumer advocacy group Which? has been experimenting with the new iPhones and has discovered that Apple is overstating the battery life of its phones by a considerable margin.

Which? ran tests on nine iPhone models and found that all of them fell short of their actual battery time claim. There was a model which didn’t even deliver half of what was claimed by Apple according to the report.

The company also ran similar tests in 5 different smartphone brands only to find Apple and HTC overstating their estimates.

What’s even more shocking is that the biggest discrepancy was in the talk-time numbers. According to tests by Which? , the Apple iPhone’s battery lasted for 16 hours and 32 minutes, whereas Apple claimed that it would last 25 hours – 51 percent more.

Other smartphone makers like Samsung, Sony and Nokia underestimated their battery life claims. Sony in particular was the one with the highest margin where it was delivering 21 percent more battery life than claimed — 16 hours rather than 12.6 hours.

There are clearly questions here around how long some mobile phone batteries will last and so it’s important to make sure you find an independent source of reliable information when buying your next phone.

Natalie Hitchins, Head of Home Products and Services, Which?

Apple has been quick to come up with its own response on this whole issue.

We rigorously test our products and stand behind our battery life claims. With tight integration between hardware and software, iPhone is engineered to intelligently manage power usage to maximize battery life. Our testing methodology reflects that intelligence. Which? haven’t shared their methodology with us so we can’t compare their results to ours. We share our methodology for testing which we publish in detail <a href="https://www.apple.com/iphone/battery.html">here</a>.

Apple to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/Your-iPhones-battery-life-isnt-as-long-as-Apple-says-it-is-according-to-a-new-report/articleshow/69171155.cms">Business Insider</a>

Which? was clear in stating that it does publish its methodology which does seem to be very basic.

“To complete its testing Which? charges up brand new, independently purchased phones to full battery and times how long they last when making continuous calls.”

In hindsight, Apple’s method of testing the battery life of the phone is a bit technical and as quoted by Forbes: ‘Vague”.

“Testing conducted by Apple in August 2018 using preproduction iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR units and software, on both GSM and CDMA carrier networks. Talk Time tests were conducted over a Voice over LTE (VoLTE) network. All settings were default except: Bluetooth was paired with headphones; Wi-Fi was associated with a network; the Wi-Fi feature Ask to Join Networks was turned off.”

Though, you’d have to admit that talk-time isn’t really what consumers are looking for in today’s world where multiple messaging apps get the job done. However, that doesn’t mean that a company’s claimed battery life numbers should differ by such huge margins.