First Alleged iPhone 16 Pro Component Leak Reveals Redesigned Battery

Images purporting to depict a new battery designed for the iPhone 16 Pro today leaked online, showing a new metal casing and a slightly larger capacity.

iPhone 16 Side Feature
The images come from the leaker known as "Kosutami," who has disseminated accurate information about Apple's plans in the past. If authentic, the images are the first to be shared of the ‌iPhone 16‌'s components.

The battery is said to be designed for an early stage ‌iPhone 16‌ Pro prototype with a 3,355 mAh capacity. The iPhone 15 Pro contains a 3,274 mAh battery, meaning that prototype ‌iPhone 16‌ Pro models currently feature a battery that is just 2.5% larger. The new battery also features a redesigned connector.

The most significant change is the transition from a black foil casing, the likes of which have been used on every ‌iPhone‌ model thus far, to a frosted metal shell. This change improves the thermal efficiency of the battery, with no significant impact on the component's weight. The Apple Watch used to feature batteries with black foil casing, but starting with the 40mm Apple Watch Series 7, Apple began adopting metal shells for improved thermals.

apple watch 40mm battery change ifixitThe new and old Apple Watch battery designs (via iFixit).

The early component images appear to confirm information shared last week that said Apple plans to introduce a new thermal system on the ‌iPhone 16‌ to reduce overheating. In addition to batteries with metal shells on the ‌iPhone 16‌ Pro models, the entire ‌iPhone 16‌ lineup is rumored to feature a graphene heat-sink to reduce overheating. Graphene has high thermal conductivity, surpassing that of copper, which is currently used in ‌iPhone‌ heat-sinks. Apple has been interested in graphene for thermal management for some time, filing patents related to its exploration of the material for heat dissipation in portable devices.

The moves appear to come partly in response to widely encountered overheating issues experienced with the ‌iPhone‌ 15 Pro, which Apple ostensibly addressed through a software update earlier this year.

Related Roundup: iPhone 16
Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Intel Inside iPhone Feature

Apple's Return to Intel Rumored to Extend to iPhone

Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone. In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID

Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker. According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds Second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found. Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
Johny Srouji

Apple's Chipmaking Chief Johny Srouji Responds to Report About Him Potentially Leaving

Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future. "I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
Johny Srouji

Apple Chip Chief Johny Srouji Could Be Next to Go as Exodus Continues

Sunday December 7, 2025 10:41 am PST by
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
google pixel 10

Switching Between iPhone and Android Will Get Easier With New Apple and Google Collaboration

Monday December 8, 2025 11:10 am PST by
Apple and Google are teaming up to make it easier for users to switch between iPhone and Android smartphones, according to 9to5Google. There is a new Android Canary build available today that simplifies data transfer between two smartphones, and Apple is going to implement the functionality in an upcoming iOS 26 beta. Apple already has a Move to iOS app for transferring data from an Android...
Apple Fitness Plus expansion hero

Apple Fitness+ Coming to 28 New Regions With Digital Voice Dubbing

Monday December 8, 2025 6:19 am PST by
Apple today announced that Fitness+ is expanding to 28 new markets on December 15 in the service's largest international rollout since launch, accompanied by new language dubbing and a K-Pop music genre. Apple Fitness+ will become available in Chile, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and additional regions on December 15, with Japan scheduled to follow early next year....
maxresdefault

iPhone Fold: Launch, Pricing, and What to Expect From Apple's Foldable

Monday December 1, 2025 3:00 am PST by
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone next year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that 2026 could indeed be the year that Apple releases its first foldable device. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that ...

Top Rated Comments

JoeShades Avatar
27 months ago

Sounds like a minor improvement at best, while searching for better battery tech, such as graphene or solid state.

BUT: Can you believe anything you read on X these days? It's a cesspool of lies, disinformation and the lowest forms of human behavior, all of it heartily endorsed by its owner.
What kind of nonsense is this. Did Elon musk post this rumor or did he hack this account which had been there before he took over . What a stupid comment. Also I am pretty sure the same people i follow did not become a bunch of liars because of the person that owns it. Maybe you should follow better people
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NMBob Avatar
27 months ago
It looks like it already has burn marks on it. :)
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JoeShades Avatar
27 months ago

I don't follow anyone on X. I've never had an X account, and never will. Your angry response just confirms my belief that X is only populated with angry extremists, who will brook no dissenting opinions.
So you never had an account, followed one single person or anything on there and never posted but you can think you can make a judgement about a platform you never used. And somehow I am an angry extremist because I accurately called your post nonsense.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
phill85 Avatar
27 months ago
?

Can’t wait for this!!
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jayducharme Avatar
27 months ago
Perhaps one day they'll figure out how to mitigate the giant camera hump.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RickDEGH Avatar
27 months ago
‘Can’t wait for this’, ‘can’t wait for that’; it won’t do anything differently from current models. The watch 8 didn’t significantly improve battery life over the 7 moving to metallic battery casing. So, I definitely don’t believe there’s going to be anything radically different from what we have now, despite all the technical, environmental and ‘ethical’, mambo-jambo Apple would try to throw at us.

If anything they’d charge more. That, I’m sure! They took away leather cases and brought sh*tty woven nonsense - which costs more - that you use and discard the next day.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)