Gurman: Apple iPhone 14 Pro / Pro Max will have a larger battery and AOD display

The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will come with a larger battery, which may compensate for the increased power consumption of the AOD display.

In his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman said he expects the new iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max to come with larger batteries, so the devices will "look a little bigger overall. While longer battery life has always been a top customer desire, the inclusion of a larger battery in this year's high-end iPhones is likely to support the AOD display.

Like the Apple Watch Series 5 and newer models, the upcoming iPhone 14 Pro models are widely expected to feature an AOD display that will always showcase essential information and visual elements from the redesigned iOS 16 lock screen. According to MacRumors, the AOD display will show information such as the time, date and widgets, and include user-defined coloring and darker versions of certain wallpapers.

Apple will be able to offer an AOD display on the new iPhone models due to the new OLED display technology with a lower refresh rate. While iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max support variable refresh rates of up to 120Hz, the 2021 iPhone models will only go as low as 10Hz.

On iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, OLED panels are expected to go as low as 1Hz, saving power when displaying static information on AOD. With the newer OLED display, the AOD display is expected to remain exclusive to the iPhone 14 Pro lineup and will not be extended to the iPhone 13 Pro lineup.

In addition to the energy savings from the lower refresh rate, the larger battery on the iPhone 14 Pro may compensate for the loss of battery life that users may experience when using the AOD display feature. Both of these changes are expected to be accompanied by energy efficiency improvements to the upcoming A16 Bionic chip, which is expected to power the new "Pro" iPhone.

Apple is expected to announce the new iPhone 14 series at its "Super Preview" event on September 8. The new lineup will mark the end of the road for the 5.4-inch "mini" form factor. The new lineup will mark the end of the road for the 5.4-inch "mini" form factor, which has only been released in two generations: iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 13 mini.

Apple is also expected to announce the Apple Watch Series 8, the faster Apple Watch SE 2, and the new rugged Apple Watch Pro. According to Gurman, the AirPods Pro 2 is also expected to be announced during the event.