So I finally had an opportunity to push the battery life of my iPhone 11 Pro Max last weekend. I had to work both Saturday and Sunday out of town, a habit that has unfortunately become very common as of late. An eight hour day on a hot roof will really wear a guy out, so I was pretty gassed by the time I got back to my hotel room after dinner Saturday night.
[Correction- Deep Fusion is available in the iOS 13.2 beta, not 13.1.2. I just happened to be waiting to update to 13.1.2 when I saw reports that the beta with Deep Fusion had released. While some reports say that 13.2 has been released, it is not available on the Apple Developer Page yet.]
Apple’s new Deep Fusion photography mode has arrived early for the new iPhones 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max, courtesy of the iOS 13.2 Developer Beta that was released earlier today. Based on this quick follow-up to iOS 13 ans 13.1, it seems that Apple is handling this new photo enhancement mode similar to how they approached Portrait Mode a few years ago, likely targeting a mid to late Fall release.
I will admit up front I haven’t done any specific testing of the iPhone 11 Pro Max’s battery yet. These are just my observations based on real-world usage. While I haven’t formally tried to test it, I also haven’t had to think about it in normal usage. The battery life on the 11 Pro Max is so good that I don’t have to top off between work and home every day, which I used to do with my XS Max.
Thanks to the issues I had setting up my new iPhone, I haven’t been able to use it enough to form too many impressions. However, just holding it, looking at it and using it as little as I have are good for a few.
So I got a new iPhone 11 Pro Max and two new Series 5 Apple Watches yesterday. Normally, writers who get their gear on launch day are posting up a storm and posting unboxing videos and such. Unfortunately, that was not the case for me yesterday. Things did not go smoothly. I did make a couple of unboxing videos, but that was as far as I got.
There was a moment during Apple’s iPhone Event last week that got a lot of people’s attention, mine included. When Phil Schiller started talking about significantly better battery life for all new iPhone models, tech writers, bloggers, and aficionados alike took notice. It was even bigger news when early reviews confirmed Apple’s claims.
This is exactly what many of us have been asking Apple to give us for a while now. However, they have usually seemed too concerned with thin and light to worry about adding battery capacity.
This year feels a little different. Recent iPhones have drawn reviews ranging from solid to excellent, but they are often qualified with comparisons to the competition and the refrains that Apple has lost its ability to innovate and keep up. Well, they have been keeping a pretty deliberate pace at times so I can’t say the rep isn’t totally deserved. Reviews of products other than the Apple Watch and iPad often draw the same comparisons. But as I said above, this year isn’t quite the same.
Ming-Chi Kuo has chimed in on iPhone pre-order sales and it’s good news for Apple out of the gate. Despite muted expectations, initial demand for the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro is strong.
So what was Apple’s biggest gift to me from this week’s event? It wasn’t an iPhone. In fact, it wasn’t any piece of hardware. It was not a new Apple service or subscription, nor was it a piece of software. It is a valuable commodity and some spend a lot of money in search of it, but it isn’t something you can actually buy. It is the gift of sleep.