Apple’s clever software solution lets iPhone batteries skirt shipping limits

Apple has developed an unexpected workaround to prevent the iPhone 18 Pro Max from being hit by shipping restrictions on big batteries. There’s a “battery-firmware solution” in place on the new iPhones, according to Apple’s support page, which keeps capacity below the 20Wh limit for single-cell batteries set by international shipping regulations — but this firmware lock automatically removes itself when the device is booted up for the first time. Following user activation, the iPhone 18 Pro Max is restored to its original rated charging capacity, which is around 21.75Wh for US eSIM-only models and 21.06Wh for European models with a physical SIM slot.

If the user needs to send off their phone for repair or resale, the charging limitation can be restored using the “Prepare to Ship” feature, which caps charging to 80 percent for 14 days. The restoration feature can be found under the settings menu by opening General settings, tapping