Remember, these are all rumors that we have so far. It’s best to see what the final product is like and await the first offiical reviews about performance and battery life before drawing final conclusions. But - as things stand right now - Samsung’s S25 Edge appears to be a better compromise in terms of thinness, performance and battery life. But we really won’t know for sure until people can hold a production iPhone 17 Air in their hands and work with it for a while.
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iPhone 17 Air's Limited Battery Capacity Leaked
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If by failure you mean it only makes $2B in profit in Q1 after launch as opposed to the $8B that the other 3 make, sure, but they aren’t going to *lose* money on this thing. If anything, it’ll let them monetize the silicon-level AI battery tech they had to develop to make this a launch product. Since A-series and M-series (and presumably H and next gen V series for Vision system that merge M and R series co-processor into one wafer) all use the custom power management chip, a project like this is one of those “business necessary” silos to advance logistic work.
To be fair, it’s *marketing* that is going to be the biggest drag on a product like this as far as commercial viability, and they know that. Let’s say they do ridiculous ad buys for iPhone Air and Air flops, only sells a few million units to people who carry dogs in purses. Well, the cost for the adds go in that product bucket, increasing the loss for that product. They write down that loss on the product. But, it’s an iPhone. People still see all the ads for iPhone Air, hits the “oh yeah, I need a new phone” button, and they go buy something even if it’s not an air. The ad “works” for Apple even if they don’t sell the product they advertised. And most of them them buy a case for their phone. And maybe 1% also pickup the MacBook someone realized they needed when they walked past it at the Apple Store. So, the hype, even around a product “failure” (“under performing” is what they’ll call it 🤣) still gets people in the door.
Let ‘em fail. They are run by white men, they can only fail upwards 🤣
Looking forward to the bend test on it
The battery capacity of Apple's rumored iPhone 17 Air will be below the 3,000 mAh mark, according to a recent post from Instant Digital, an account with more than 1.4 million followers on Chinese social media platform Weibo.
Thanks to iOS 26's new Adaptive Power Mode, though, the account said that the iPhone 17 Air should achieve full-day battery life.
A previous rumor pegged the iPhone 17 Air's battery capacity at around 2,800 mAh, which would indeed be below the 3,000 mAh mark.
Some of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 models were the last with battery capacities at or below the 3,000 mAh mark. Of course, you can only directly compare mAh values when the batteries have the same voltage, with Wh a preferred unit of measurement. iPhone batteries typically do have the same voltage, allowing for mAh comparisons.
Instant Digital has accurately leaked Apple information before, such as the Yellow finish for the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus, and the Apple Watch Ultra 2's Titanium Milanese Loop. However, the account does not have a perfect track record.
A few months ago, The Information's Wayne Ma reported that the iPhone 17 Air would have "worse" battery life compared to previous iPhone models, due to the device's rumored ultra-thin 5.5mm design limiting internal space for a battery.
In internal testing, Apple determined that the percentage of users who will be able to use the iPhone 17 Air for a full day without needing to recharge the device throughout the day will be between 60% and 70%, according to that report. For other iPhone models, the report said that metric is apparently between 80% and 90%.
To mitigate this problem, the report said that Apple is planning to release a battery case as an optional accessory for the iPhone 17 Air.
Apple last released battery cases for the iPhone 11 lineup, followed by the since-discontinued MagSafe Battery Pack for iPhone 12 models and newer. A battery case both protects an iPhone and provides additional battery life as necessary.
Article Link: iPhone 17 Air's Limited Battery Capacity Leaked
The internet: Apple should take risks.
*Apple takes risks with Vision Pro, iPhone Air, and iPhone Fold*
Also the internet: Apple should only take the risks I want.
The problem for Apple is that most people aren't even aware of this fact. They just see the marketing posters at their local AT&T store that show it off and say "Thinnovation", and loads of people with money buy it expecting the same experience as the phone it replaces. Then, when 30-40% of customers find out the battery doesn't last through the day, negative word of mouth begins to spread. Macrumors forum posters who are well-informed about the latest iPhones' upsides and downsides months before they launch are a very narrow minority.
In Europe the 16E was the top seller. It only accounted for 7% of US sales which is pretty abysmal. Pro sales dropped 8% as well.
It was the top seller worldwide in Q1 so it started well. Dunno what it is now
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And how do you know this? Or is this just your opinion?
Have you read about the problems with silicon-carbon batteries? While they do offer more energy density, swelling and rapid degradation are still common problems. It doesn’t seem like that tech is ready for mainstream use yet. Apple doesn’t want a bunch of people coming into the Apple Store with swollen batteries.
In the meantime, people who don’t need maximum battery every day, can have the Air and those that do can get the Pro Max phone. Other people may opt for the MagSafe battery pack if their battery needs vary. This was we all get options based on our needs.
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It’s not “nerfed”. It has a smaller battery capacity because the phone is thinner. There’s no space for a larger battery. That’s like saying the Pro is nerfed because the screen is smaller than the Pro Max. If you want longer battery life then that’s why they make the regular iPhone that’s heavier and thicker. You can’t get thinner and magically put a larger battery in it.
Because that’s a god awful design goal. No one needs more than 1 day battery life. Everyone has to sleep. If you don’t possess the personal responsibility to charge your phone while sleeping, don’t expect Apple to engineer around that.
It appears that many will never understand that using a smaller battery with less capacity in Apple's iPhone 17 Air, in conjunction with a new A19 chip manufactured in a new process (and also having one less GPU core) which results in less power consumption, along with Apple's C1 modem which uses less power (while having more features) than previous Qualcomm modem chips Apple used, will still result in excellent battery lifetime.
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If this adaptive power mode keeps dimming the screen then it will likely induce PWM symptoms like headaches for those who are sensitive to it.
But the iPhone 16e is sold around the world. And it does quite well around the world.
Honestly though, battery life on the Plus hasn’t kept up with the Pro Max. When it comes to shaving costs, that pro screen’s adaptive refresh is a big deal. Honestly, if you are going to be keeping it until you pay it off through your carrier, why not spend $8 more a month and get the extra camera, 20% better battery life, better screen, and fancy “Pro” badge? Also, the carriers are offering more trade in on your OLD phone if you get the higher end model, making the math even better. I don’t know if Apple has any hand in carrier subsidies/trade in, but the market is what it is.
Perhaps the Plus hasn’t kept up with the Pro Max in terms of battery life - but it’s still very good and fairly close to the Pro Max. I don’t tend to buy phones through carriers and have little need for most of the extra features of the Pro Max. Now, I realize I am the outlier since the Plus doesn’t sell that well. But - for me at least - there is zero value in buying a Pro Max.
The whining is simply regarding the concept that Apple thinks a reasonable target should be one day a battery life. That’s such a low goal. Why can’t the phone be expected to have as a standard 2 to 3 days of battery life?
It’s the same problem with the Apple watch. The watch has to be charged pretty much every day. In contrast, a good Garmin can go five or six days.