Correction: iPhone XS and XS Max Smart Battery Cases Have Larger Capacity Than Previous Versions

While reports today suggested that Apple's new Smart Battery Cases for the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max have lower battery capacities than previous versions for iPhone 6 and ‌iPhone‌ 7 models, it turns out the new cases actually have larger capacities than the old ones when taking voltage into consideration.

smart battery case xs
The new ‌iPhone‌ XS and ‌iPhone‌ XS Max cases are rated at 1,369 mAh, lower than the ‌iPhone‌ 6/6s case at 1,877 mAh and iPhone 7 case at 2,365 mAh, but according to Rene Ritchie, there are actually two such cells in the case.

As a result, the new cases run at a higher voltage that yields a total of 10.1 Wh of energy compared to 7.13 Wh for the ‌iPhone‌ 6/6s case and 8.98 Wh for the ‌iPhone‌ 7 case.


Paired with Smart Battery Cases, Apple says the ‌iPhone‌ XS gets up to 33 hours of talk time, up to 21 hours of internet use, and up to 25 hours of video playback, while the ‌iPhone‌ XS Max gets up to 37 hours of talk time, up to 20 hours of internet use, and up to 25 hours of video playback.

Of course, real-world testing will prove more valuable than tech specs, so we'll see how the new cases truly stack up in the coming days.

Apple introduced Smart Battery Cases for the ‌iPhone‌ XS, ‌iPhone‌ XS Max, and ‌iPhone‌ XR yesterday. All three are priced at $129 in the United States, with deliveries and in-store availability slated to begin this week. Apple says the cases are not compatible with the iPhone X, but results have varied so far.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

iPhone Driver's Licenses: These 17 U.S. States Offer Them or Will Later

Thursday June 19, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Unfortunately, this feature continues to roll out very slowly since it was announced in 2021, with only nine U.S. states and Puerto...
iPhone 16 Battery Life Feature

iOS 26's New Battery Life Mode Available Only on These iPhone Models

Saturday June 21, 2025 9:02 am PDT by
Last week, we reported that iOS 26 introduces an opt-in Adaptive Power Mode on the iPhone, alongside the existing Low Power Mode. Apple says that Adaptive Power Mode can make "small performance adjustments" when necessary to extend an iPhone's battery life, including slightly lowering the display brightness or allowing some activities to "take a little longer." The full description of...
ios 26 call holding

iOS 26 Beta is Hiding a New Ringtone — Here's What It Sounds Like

Thursday June 19, 2025 7:25 pm PDT by
Apple is hiding a new ringtone within iOS 26. The new ringtone is an alternative version of the existing Reflection ringtone, which has been the default ringtone since the iPhone X was released in 2017. It was discovered within the code for the first developer beta of iOS 26, but it remains hidden, so you will not find it in the list of ringtones available in the Settings app for now. It...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Wednesday June 18, 2025 10:24 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a few days after Apple provided the betas to developers. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update. When the...
General Spotify Feature

Spotify Preparing to Launch Long-Awaited Lossless Audio Tier on iPhone

Thursday June 19, 2025 1:46 pm PDT by
Spotify appears to be gearing up to launch its long-awaited lossless music tier. Chris Messina (via TechCrunch) and Spicetify (via The Verge) spotted new lossless references within the code for Spotify's desktop app and web player. With assistance from Aaron Perris, MacRumors has confirmed that the latest beta of the Spotify app for the iPhone also contains new lossless-related code....
Craig Federighi No

John Gruber Reacts to Apple Declining His Interview After His Criticism

Wednesday June 18, 2025 8:10 pm PDT by
Every year between 2015 and 2024, at least one Apple executive agreed to be interviewed by Daring Fireball's John Gruber for a special WWDC episode of his podcast, The Talk Show. Last year, for example, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi, marketing chief Greg Joswiak, and top AI researcher John Giannandrea joined Gruber on stage at the California Theatre in San Jose to discuss...
airpods 4 blue

Apple Offering Free AirPods — Here's How to Get Them

Tuesday June 17, 2025 6:33 am PDT by
Apple is running a new promotion that offers free AirPods to qualifying customers. Now through September 30, college and university students in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Singapore can receive free AirPods 4 when they purchase an eligible new Mac or iPad from Apple. AirPods Pro 2 are also available at a discount. If you do not want AirPods, the promotion also offers various other...

Top Rated Comments

blufire95 Avatar
84 months ago
Another example why you should use Wh instead of mAh when you compare batteries. When you don't know the voltage, the electric charge means nothing.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Baymowe335 Avatar
84 months ago
See what happens when you jump the gun to get clicks?
[doublepost=1547671086][/doublepost]
Sad the article writers here lack basic technical knowledge.

The 13" MacBook Pro has a 5,086 mAh battery. The iPhone Xs has 2,6858 mAh. Did anyone think they were actually comparable without looking at Whr?
Yes, literally almost everyone posting in the other thread thought that, including the writers.

Sad.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
the future Avatar
84 months ago
Was that a claim or requirement?
No, just a desperate attempt to find a new reason to discredit the XS/XR smart battery case.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bbqthis Avatar
84 months ago
Gotta hurt when Rene Ritchie corrects you...
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
drewcosten Avatar
84 months ago
So is Apple's better than the one Mophie is releasing soon or what?
Yes, I would think so. As I wrote in the original thread, because it's made by Apple, the iPhone is able to know when it's plugged into an Apple battery case and use the case's battery first before switching to its own internal battery (at least if it’s anything like Apple’s last Smart Battery Case), which means less wear and tear on the iPhone’s battery. This also means that this is the only case that doesn't cause the iPhone to act like it's plugged into the wall when it's in the case and start doing battery draining stuff like iCloud backups and syncing photos to the cloud and such.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JPack Avatar
84 months ago
Sad the article writers here lack basic technical knowledge.

The 13" MacBook Pro has a 5,086 mAh battery. The iPhone Xs has 2,6858 mAh. Did anyone think they were actually comparable without looking at Whr?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)