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iPhone Air 17 Air..end of day if 20% battery and not 70%, who cares?

J

jsmith1

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 6, 2010
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So. Why do I care if the battery is 20% at the end of the day and goes on the charger instead of 70% like with the brick 16 Pro Max that I currently have.

Now I’m getting a lighter, thinner, smaller phone and not carrying around a brick. Seems like the perfect phone for me.
 
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Seems like whenever a new iPhone is coming there are so many threads that are just people justifying why they want it. You don't have to.

To answer your question though, given that I usually keep my phone for 2-3 years, I personally would be concerned if when brand new I was getting through an average day with just 20%. I don't just think about what the battery is like on day one, I think about what it might be like a few years and hundreds of cycles later. I'd rather get a device with a better battery upfront than have to spend money on replacing the battery later. That's of course just my opinion though.
 
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joeblow7777 said:
Seems like whenever a new iPhone is coming there are so many threads that are just people justifying why they want it. You don't have to.

To answer your question though, given that I usually keep my phone for 2-3 years, I personally would be concerned if when brand new I was getting through an average day with just 20%. I don't just think about what the battery is like on day one, I think about what it might be like a few years and hundreds of cycles later. I'd rather get a device with a better battery upfront than have to spend money on replacing the battery later. That's of course just my opinion though.
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Not justifying as much as saying trade off is more than good to me…I don’t have huge battery usage and always have 70% or more at end of day on the 16PM and hate how heavy/big it is. In those rare occasions when I go out for the day if I think there is gonna be massive battery usage, I always have these little thin charging cards for those emergencies that I’ve never actually used yet so I’m more than good with the trade-off.

Of all the iPhones I’ve had I’ve never had to replace the battery yet so I’m going with my history of phones…there’s always a first time and if so then cross that bridge then.
 
jsmith1 said:
So. Why do I care if the battery is 20% at the end of the day and goes on the charger instead of 70% like with the brick 16 Pro Max that I currently have.

Now I’m getting a lighter, thinner, smaller phone and not carrying around a brick. Seems like the perfect phone for me.
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For me it’s that I refuse to charge anything overnight. So 70% would make me feel more secure that the phone won’t die during the night. But that’s just me and my use case. I have had the 13 mini and I loved it - but could not live with the battery esp. since my cards, travel pass etc are on my phone
 
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jsmith1 said:
Not justifying as much as saying trade off is more than good to me…I don’t have huge battery usage and always have 70% or more at end of day on the 16PM and hate how heavy/big it is. In those rare occasions when I go out for the day if I think there is gonna be massive battery usage, I always have these little thin charging cards for those emergencies that I’ve never actually used yet so I’m more than good with the trade-off.

Of all the iPhones I’ve had I’ve never had to replace the battery yet so I’m going with my history of phones…there’s always a first time and if so then cross that bridge then.
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From what you say I suspect that you'll finish your day with the Air at well over 20% and battery life won't be a an issue for you for a good long while, if ever.

I'm just saying that if a brand new device has you ending the day at 20%, that doesn't bode well for the long term. Between natural battery degradation and OS and feature updates that may be more power demanding, battery life only gets worse over time, so I personally wouldn't go for a device that starts out just barely meeting my needs. But again, I'm not saying that this will be the Air for you.

For further perspective, I'm currently using a 3 year old 14 Pro Max with 85% battery health, so it's capacity isn't much higher than the air at this point. I still finish most days with over 50% charge remaining. So I agree that the Air probably has enough battery life for everyone except heavy users.
 
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It may not seem important right now with a fresh battery and an OS optimised for the latest apple silicon.

Wait a few years after your battery health drops to about 80% and the OS gets heavier and you may find yourself appreciating the buffer of a larger battery.

But that’s also another problem for another day.
 
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joeblow7777 said:
.....
For further perspective, I'm currently using a 3 year old 14 Pro Max with 85% battery health, so it's capacity isn't much higher than the air at this point. I still finish most days with over 50% charge remaining. So I agree that the Air probably has enough battery life for everyone except heavy users.
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My work issued 14PM is at 91% and it's good for almost 2 days of use for me.

I suspect the 17 Air will have enough energy at the end of the day since it packs a similar amount of energy as my 16 Pro that I am trading in.

Would be nice if the 17 Air lasts 2 full days.

I did order the Magsafe battery just to try it out but I suspect I won't need it since I charge overnight on my bedside...

IMG_4163.JPG
 
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Considering it’s going to have battery life on par with the 16 Pro according to their testing, it’s still an upgrade in battery life for many people. And with batteries rated for 1000 charge cycles now instead of 500 I wouldn’t expect it to have issues for quite a few years with someone like me that never really hits more than 4 hours of screen time.

Now, this assumes that it’s actually on par with the 16 Pro, but for people on the base phones like me(or my friend with a 13 mini who might get the Air) there’s pretty clearly going to be an upgrade.
 
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Well I don't because I'm never far from a charger and I purchased the battery for when I'm out of the house (my car outlet charges at a glacial pace).
 
joeblow7777 said:
Seems like whenever a new iPhone is coming there are so many threads that are just people justifying why they want it. You don't have to.

To answer your question though, given that I usually keep my phone for 2-3 years, I personally would be concerned if when brand new I was getting through an average day with just 20%. I don't just think about what the battery is like on day one, I think about what it might be like a few years and hundreds of cycles later. I'd rather get a device with a better battery upfront than have to spend money on replacing the battery later. That's of course just my opinion though.
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great points and to add one more, OSes and apps tend to grow more memory and processing hungry with each major version, which also has an impact on battery life in the future
 
I agree with the sentiment OP, but I also view my phone as a tool vs just something to get me through the day. What if for any reason I'm stranded somewhere, and need to make it home? What about in the event of widespread power loss? Thinking beyond "go to work and come home" opens a new array of possible needs. Not all of us stay home/around electrical outlets all day.

I've got an Air arriving Friday, but I'd be lying if I said using the 16e lately and having upwards of 3 days of charge wasn't eye opening.
 
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That's how I feel as well. I routinely end the day with 50-60% battery remaining on the Pro Max and that's after being off the charger for 17 hours, and if I don't dock it at my desk or plug it into CarPlay, in which case I'd be ending the day at 80-90%.

Should an occasion arise where I need lots of battery, there are options, like the battery accessory. But for that once in a blue moon occasion, I don't need to carry around a giant chonk all day every day.
 
joeblow7777 said:
Seems like whenever a new iPhone is coming there are so many threads that are just people justifying why they want it. You don't have to.

To answer your question though, given that I usually keep my phone for 2-3 years, I personally would be concerned if when brand new I was getting through an average day with just 20%. I don't just think about what the battery is like on day one, I think about what it might be like a few years and hundreds of cycles later. I'd rather get a device with a better battery upfront than have to spend money on replacing the battery later. That's of course just my opinion though.
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Yeah right. For every phone that comes out, there are 10 times many threads from people trying to find some way to hate on it and justify NOT upgrading because they simply can't afford to, and are coping. It's all disingenuous nonsense.
 
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The only way to know is to use it. All this talk, and the coming reviews do you no good. Of course this isn't ideal, but there it is. Best not to wary about it.
 
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GioGiusi said:
Yeah right. For every phone that comes out, there are 10 times many threads from people trying to find some way to hate on it and justify NOT upgrading because they simply can't afford to, and are coping. It's all disingenuous nonsense.
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Both things can be true. They all come from the same desire to justify and seek validation for the decision to purchase or not purchase.
 
It really depends on the individual (and the day). On days where I’m filming a bit more, or just using my phone more in general, I go to bed with 20-30%.

And these would be the days where using a MagSafe battery pack would come into play with the Air.
 
Abazigal said:
It may not seem important right now with a fresh battery and an OS optimised for the latest apple silicon.

Wait a few years after your battery health drops to about 80% and the OS gets heavier and you may find yourself appreciating the buffer of a larger battery.

But that’s also another problem for another day.
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This is why I historically got the Max/Plus, and it’s worked out well. Using a smaller percent of the battery capacity on a daily basis means less cycles overall

But I’m sick of carrying it around, this time I’m just going to get a battery replacement in 3 years if I really need to, but I almost never use the same phone for more than 3 years so I doubt it will matter
 
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for me battery life isn't the deal breaker, the single non-stereo speaker is. i don't wear airpods at home, all the video play came out of the phone speaker, so Air's lack of a decent/normal speaker was the reason why i went with 17PM, but i do agree with OP, who cares what the battery percentage is at end of the day if you're going to charge every night like most of us do anyway.
 
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