According to the consumer advocacy group Which?, Apple is guilty of overstating the maximum battery life of more than one of its iPhone models.
Which? said that it tested nine different iPhone models – and none of them lived up to Apple’s battery life claims. The shortfall is as much as 51%.
The consumer group tested average talk time for all nine models and found that Apple overstated the iPhone XR’s talk time by more than 50%– 25 hours, versus the actual 16 hours and 32 minutes.
Which? regularly tests a broad selection of products and is widely regarded as this country’s version of the US’s Consumer Reports.
In the battery life test, the group studied more than 50 smartphones from five well-known brands. It bought the phones at 100% battery strength and then tested how long they would last when making calls continuously. Before making a final ruling, it also carried out a number of different tests.
In a statement to Business Insider, Apple disagreed with the Which? report.
The company said that it stood behind the claims that it makes for battery life because these were based on rigorous tests. Apple added that the iPhone was designed to “intelligently manage power usage.”
The firm’s statement goes on to say: “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 here.”
In a statement, Which?’s chief of home products and services Natalie Hitchins said: “With mobile phones now an essential part of everyday life, we should be able to count on our handsets living up to the manufacturer’s claims.”
She added that there were obvious questions around the battery life of some smartphone models and advised consumers to consult an independent information source before they next buy a phone.