This iPhone 18 Pro Max leak already leaves the Galaxy S26 Ultra in the dust

With the launch of the iPhone 17 Pro last year, Apple flipped the narrative around minimal upgrades to its flagship phones. Even though the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max were only slightly refashioned, the changes were enough to make it the highest-selling phone series of the past quarter. One area where it clearly shone was its impressive battery life. Meanwhile, Samsung has also faced the same criticism but remains in limbo with the same cameras and battery packs, especially on the Ultra, for nearly four generations. With the Galaxy S26 Ultra, the inertia could be more damaging, especially as Apple could surpass the Ultra.

Famed leaker Digital Chat Station recently suggested that the next-generation top-tier iPhone could have its battery capacity bumped up over the current generation. According to the leaker, the iPhone 18 Pro Max’s battery could exceed 5,000mAh, adding that the international variants could feature maximum battery capacity ranging between 5,100 and 5,200mAh.

While Apple does not specify exact battery capacities, the leaked capacity surpasses the estimated values of 4,823mAh and 5,088mAh for models with and without a physical SIM, respectively. More interestingly, this figure is also higher than the 5,000 mAh battery the Galaxy S26 Ultra is slated to feature, unchanged from the Galaxy S20 Ultra of 2020.

Despite its smaller battery capacity compared with many Android heavyweights, such as the OnePlus 15, the iPhone 17 Pro Max emerged as the leader in battery life, according to CNET‘s tests. These results, if true, speak volumes about the improved battery optimization on the iPhone 17 Pro Max. And that’s expected to improve with Apple’s next trailblazer.

The leaker suggests that the enhanced 2nm architecture expected for Apple’s next-generation A20 chipset would further improve battery life, benefiting the iPhone 18 Pro Max’s battery life. Of course, this is just an assumption, especially since the first phones with 2nm mobile chips have yet to hit the market.

The upcoming Galaxy S26 will be the first lineup to bring a 2nm-based Exynos 2600. Not the Ultra, though, which will feature a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 worldwide. While the base S26 might feature a slightly bigger battery, the Plus and the Ultra are expected to retain similar packs. Another expected upgrade the Galaxy S26 Ultra could miss out on is the internal magnets, which would have allowed wireless chargers and accessories to snap onto the back, just like Apple’s MagSafe.