iPhone 17 Pro's Metal Battery Allegedly Revealed [Updated]

[TruthAboveAllElse]

wait so the 17 pro is gonna have a 2900 battery?

2900 Mh is for the 17 Air, not Pro model. The C1 modem was initially thought to be the reason behind the iPhone 16e great battery life, but it was not this at all but the large 4,000 Mh battery, so wouldnt hold your breath in this regard.

Extremely unlikely. That number was the rumor for the 17 Air.

Where is there a rumor that the 17 Pro will have that capacity? This rumor was that the photos showed the 17 Air battery and the Air would have about a 2900 mAh battery. The update is that the photo is of the 17 Pro battery pack but the capacity would still be for the Air.

That’s how I read it too. That’s ridiculous though.

The MacRumors article was updated.

However, perhaps MacRumors is mistaken, since it's not 100% clear.

Definitely some miscommunication in this article. The 17 Pro will definitely have a battery with at least 3500 Mh at minimum.

This is very confusing. According to the article, the 2900 mAh figure is for the L shaped battery pictured. The article has been updated to say that the battery pictured is for the 17 Pro. So, unless the Pro will have a 2900 mAh battery (which does seem highly unlikely), not only was the picture inaccurate, but the piece of information in the article that the 2900 mAh described the battery pictured was also inaccurate, since it said the information was given to go with the photo. There should be some more clarification in the article. I think perhaps the original article or its source were making some assumptions.

 

[TOM1211]

14 pro and I’ve replaced my battery twice already here’s still hoping for 2027 is it when there supposed to be make battery changing easier? Meanwhile my Nokia 5800 still has its original battery

 

[Digital Dude]

One step backwards, and two steps further back… 🫩

 

[TOM1211]

Would of been better with a user replaceable battery if it’s so poor

 

[mxrider88]

Great idea, who wouldn’t want to buy the thinnest iPhone to slap on a case with a battery pack to make it thicker than the regular model.

The nonsense coming out of Cupertino lately is just on a different level.

Hopefully it will have an exclusive set of “airmojis” to compensate for this

 

[joshwithachance]

They always tout SoC power effeciency to justify smaller batteries, but it's always been the screen that drains batteries the most.

Could be why the Air has a slightly smaller display than the outgoing Plus and incoming Pro Max. But a 6.6" 120Hz display is still going to CHUG battery... Especially with a capacity of only 2900 mAh.

 

[tomtad]

“If the 2,900 mAh figure is accurate, the iPhone 17 Air could have the shortest battery life of any iPhone model since the iPhone 13 series”

My wallet is ready

 

[tomtad]

Great idea, who wouldn’t want to buy the thinnest iPhone to slap on a case with a battery pack to make it thicker than the regular model.

The nonsense coming out of Cupertino lately is just on a different level.

Hopefully it will have an exclusive set of “airmojis” to compensate for this

It’s a shame they stopped the FineWoven cases, it would have complimented the iPhone Air perfectly

 

[GioGiusi]

iphone 26 air. Do people actually think apple is just going to name software after the year and not follow suit with hardware?

It will be named like this: iPhone Air (2026) or iPhone Air '26

This is what they should have done years ago, but better late than never.

 

[GioGiusi]

Would of been better with a user replaceable battery if it’s so poor

Dumb. There is no reason to keep these devices for so many years. The batteries have a functional life of 5+ years with normal usage, and I've seen plenty go longer. After a couple of years, trade the damn thing in, and you'll get a new phone with a new battery, and the old phone will have its battery properly recycled (which idiot users replacing their own batteries would never do), and will be resold or itself properly recycled.

The entire iPhone-using world does not need their device's design completely dictated and compromised because of whiners who don't upgrade their phones.

 

[svish]

Considering that there are two versions of the battery (one for sim only devices/US models and the other for global models), it should probably be for the Pro models as the rumors point to the Air/slim iPhone being esim only globally.

 

[Le0M]

If the iPhone Air is going to be 5mm thick, and you take a proper look at the leaked photo of the battery, you'll easily understand that that battery is waaay too thick to be put on a 5mm thick device, cuz it's probably 5mm itself already.
I realized this the moment I saw the photo.

 

[TOM1211]

Dumb. There is no reason to keep these devices for so many years. The batteries have a functional life of 5+ years with normal usage, and I've seen plenty go longer. After a couple of years, trade the damn thing in, and you'll get a new phone with a new battery, and the old phone will have its battery properly recycled (which idiot users replacing their own batteries would never do), and will be resold or itself properly recycled.

The entire iPhone-using world does not need their device's design completely dictated and compromised because of whiners who don't upgrade their phones.

Dumb is making a phone that already needs a battery pack meaning Apple admitting they don’t have confidence in it .

 

[avro707]

Would of been better with a user replaceable battery if it’s so poor

This would be a solution, people buy two or three batteries for the phone. More $$$ for Apple.

 

[macjaffa]

Similar. Also a 14 Pro, but I got mine replaced 11 months ago and I'm back down to 84% already. It's terrible.

Im at 87% on my 14pro original battery since 2022 . I can defo feel the degradation but its 3 years old. What on earth are you guys doing that needs a battery after a year?

 

[AndreyOrekhov]

If what you’re saying is true – and there is no law that states a higher clock speed on an improved process node must use more power – it still doesn’t follow that the Air must get a compromised chip.

The battery life Apple quotes, and the battery life that users experience, is not battery life with the CPU running continuously at the phone’s thermal limit.

If a more efficient chip allows a web page to be rendered using more power but finishing sooner, such that the net energy consumption of that render is lower than before, then the user experiences better battery life.

Clearly from the rumours – 12 GB of RAM, A19 Pro chip, huge display, etc. – Apple is positioning the 17 Air as a premium product despite its lightness. Seems safe to assume it won’t be slow.

The big question mark is pricing. That will determine whether this product is a sales hit or a niche thing, and it will determine whether I personally buy it.

Rumours are terrible about pricing, in part because the price for each market is set very late in the process of marketing a new product.

Absolutely! Price is criteria #1. I expect 17 Air to be a big sales hit. Can’t wait to lay my hands on it. Color options and the choice of accessories look great.

 

[AndreyOrekhov]

okay where are all the people lining up to buy the 17 air the new battery gate

I’m here!

 

[springsup]

Customers: please give us more battery life! We don’t need thinner phones!

Apple: here’s our latest iPhone: it’s even thinner, but with less battery life! We think you’re going to love it.

Customers: 💸💸💸

 

[Mimiron]

Who cares though, you can charge a phone to 80% in 30 mins. The pro max has become too bulky so i’m gonna go with the Air regardless of battery life.

 

[tomtad]

i’m gonna go with the Air regardless of battery life.

You're a brave soul

 

[ThomasJL]

There will apparently be two variants, for models with and without a physical SIM card tray.

Although I live in the US, which will definenly get the variant without the SIM card tray, I hope I can somehow buy one from Canada if they will still get the variant with the SIM card tray like they did for last year's models.

Tim Cook removed the SIM card tray from the variant sold in the US because he is a greedy corporate scumbag that wants to save money on manufacturing costs, while not passing those savings down to customers, and sometimes actually increasing prices, all in order to maximize profits.

 

[neuropsychguy]

The MacRumors article was updated.

However, perhaps MacRumors is mistaken, since it's not 100% clear.

It isn’t clear. There are two things about a battery— its shape (shown in pictures) and the capacity. Listed, but not confirmed in the pictures. What is most likely is the battery and capacity are being mixed up. This whole rumor and article are a mess.

Unless Apple has made huge improvements in the efficiency of the processors, the battery capacity for the Pros is unlikely to drop to 2900 mAh. If it does and battery life is as good as the 16 Pro, all sorts of magic happened in the SoC.

 

[Reeneman]

Keep in mind that if you buy a new phone with poor battery life, degradation will be even more noticeable and annoying as it gets older.

So true. Really can’t get this fanboy hype over the slim model. Such a bs device.

 

[Moreplease]

So true. Really can’t get this fanboy hype over the slim model. Such a bs device.

Eh?

First, let’s wait until we see the finished rather than rumoured product.

But, second, why is it BS to have one model with a reset on weight after years of phones trending heavier? While still keeping the heavy models for those who want the battery and camera benefits, mind you!

I welcome this move.

I’ve been hanging onto my 13 mini for four years precisely because I don’t like how bloated phones have become.

 

[darngooddesign]

Tim Cook when announcing this “We priced it at $999 while limiting the tech inside of it, and we think you are going to love it*”

*As long as you don’t actually use your phone, then buy our $100 battery pack just to make it to lunch time.

The point of the Air is to be as thin and light weight as possible, so of course there will be compromises to achieve that goal. If this doesn't appeal to you why even bother complaining about it; just buy the regular phone you know you want and be happy.

Way back when it would have been stupid complaining about how the MacBook Air or 12" Retina MacBook had compromises compared to the 13" MacBook Pro; go even further back and the Duos or Powerbook 2400C had compromises compared to the regular Powerbooks. My 12" G4 Powerbook was compromised when compared to its equivalent 15" or 17", but that didn't matter to me.