Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro Max is tipped to ship with a 5,567 mAh battery in the US, up from the 5,088 mAh eSIM-only iPhone 17 Pro Max Apple shipped last year, according to new filings in China’s C3 regulatory database reported by MacRumors. The same filings list the Chinese-market iPhone 18 Pro Max at 5,391 mAh, the gap between regions explained by Apple’s eSIM-only US design, which has dropped the physical SIM tray and freed internal volume. The smaller iPhone 18 Pro gets a far smaller bump, rated at 4,288 mAh in the US and 4,056 mAh in China, against 4,252 mAh and 3,988 mAh on the iPhone 17 Pro. With the iPhone 18 Pro Max now within striking distance of flagship Android cells, the battery-size argument Samsung, OnePlus, and Xiaomi have leaned on for years is harder to make.
The figures were first reported by MacRumors on July 6, 2026, after leaker Digital Chat Station spotted the Chinese 3C certification filings for the iPhone 18 Pro on Weibo. The certification listings cover battery models S2232 and S2233 for the iPhone 18 Pro and 2235L/2235 plus 2236L/2236 for the iPhone 18 Pro Max, with a charge limit voltage of 4.520 V and rated energy up to 21.751 Wh. All four cells are listed as valid through May or June 2031. Apple has not confirmed the numbers. The phones are widely expected to launch in September alongside the company’s first foldable iPhone.
The Numbers From China’s 3C Filings
Apple’s next iPhone Pro flagships have shown up in China’s C3 regulatory database, and the cells attached to them are larger than any iPhone has shipped with before. The iPhone 18 Pro Max is rated for 5,391 mAh in the Chinese filing and 5,567 mAh in the US version, per MacRumors’ reading of the listings, which first surfaced on Weibo via Digital Chat Station on July 6. The 5,567 mAh US cell is the larger of the two, a 479 mAh jump over the 5,088 mAh eSIM-only iPhone 17 Pro Max. The Chinese 5,391 mAh figure is a 568 mAh increase from the 4,823 mAh iPhone 17 Pro Max sold in that market. The shape of the deltas lines up with the
