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

[CatalinApple]

I wonder how these newer batteries will age compared to the current ones in use.. i have a 14 Pro and got a replacement 1 year in and I'm already at 82% i don't think i would be ok with worse.

Yes i know depends on use everyone is different I'm speaking for myself.

I replaced the battery of my iPhone 13 Pro on October 17th of last year after the original battery dropped below 80%, but it had a good run at 813 cycles. The new battery is almost 10 months old with about 210 cycles and the battery health dropped to 98%. I think the iPhone 13 Pro has the best battery life of all iPhone Pros that came out until now. I consider upgrading my iPhone 13 Pro to the 17 Pro depending on its specs and features,

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

That's bad. I think the iPhone 14 Pro has the worst battery in any Pro iPhone that Apple has released until now. Too bad Apple won't admit that this is a big flaw of the iPhone 14 series.

Same with iPad Air (2013), iPad Air 2 was miles better in all regards (much more powerful SoC, double the RAM, laminated display for the first time ever… and a much longer software support). Heck, the same story with the original iPad and the iPad 2. Or the iPhone 4 (which struggled to move the all new iOS 7) vs the dual-core iPhone 4S.

I’m sure there are many more examples, such as the iPhone mini you mentioned. Short story: wait for the second gen device.

I always skip the first generation of an entire new Apple product. The second or even third generation is always the right one to buy as they remedy all the issues.

Power bank will be in the other pocket

I think people will buy a special belt and they'll strap it around their waist full of power banks just to make it through the day. I might go to the press and make a little negative publicity stunt for Apple if this is the case. I bet this will become a new Apple trend and because Apple is Apple, they will be selling belts so you can care 5 to 10 power banks with you and call it innovation. 😜🤣😂

Imagine this contraption around your waist but with batteries or power banks on all sides just so you can make it through the day on the new iPhone 17 Air.

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

Why not a backpack full of batteries 😂 🤣

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

That's amazing! How many cycles does the battery have?

 

[Premium1]

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.

I am sorry you got so offended that someone has a differing opinion from yours when it comes to an Apple product. No **** it is going to have compromises, but putting a tiny battery, one camera, and still trying to charge top dollar is the most apple thing there is.

 

[darngooddesign]

I am sorry you got so offended that someone has a differing opinion from yours when it comes to an Apple product. No **** it is going to have compromises, but putting a tiny battery, one camera, and still trying to charge top dollar is the most apple thing there is.

I’m not offended that you think that every iPhone is intended for you. Just buy a different one.

 

[miamialley]

Jesus, is it thick enough? There are times I really miss being able to swap out batteries like on my old Galaxy.

 

[Premium1]

I’m not offended that you think that every iPhone is intended for you. Just buy a different one.

Again, trying to put words in my mouth. Never once claimed every iphone is aimed at me (because they aren't, same with the rumored fold device).

 

[Compote]

Even the design is deteriorating at an incredible speed. This is not just ugly, it's confused. It's all over the place. Farcically so. Apple is flailing aimlessly.

 

[Compote]

If true, it would be lame that the "budget" 16e would have so much better battery life than the "premium" 17 Air.

The iPhone 16e battery is 4005 mAh.

It's already a joke that the premium phones don't have the premium battery life.
The iPhone Air will be the 2012 Macbook. They'll do it just because they can, nobody will know why they did it besides that, and it will suck forever.

 

[Downundermac]

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

Maybe it was a batch issue with the 14’s... My wife now uses the 14 Pro I bought upon its release and the original battery (apparently at 84%) still has approx 50% charge left at the end of a day. Battery life in my 14 Pro Max is brilliant on iOS 18.5 but a couple of earlier iOS versions were battery suckers.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Even the design is deteriorating at an incredible speed. This is not just ugly, it's confused. It's all over the place. Farcically so. Apple is flailing aimlessly.

Am I missing some inside joke with this comment? Or did you forget a /s tag? Or were you simply making a farcical comment?

Edit: It's a nonsensical comment but apparently the commenter was serious.

 

[sameasalways]

Update — August 2: Majin Bu now says that this battery is actually for the iPhone 17 Pro, instead of the iPhone 17 Air as they originally claimed. There will apparently be two variants, for models with and without a physical SIM card tray.

"Due to a miscommunication with my source, the information I reported yesterday is incorrect," said Majin Bu.

Original story follows.



A leaker known as Majin Bu today shared images of an alleged battery pack for Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 Air model, which is expected to launch in September.

The battery apparently has a metal cover, just like the iPhone 16 Pro's battery. This cover would help to dissipate heat generated by the battery inside the ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air, which is expected to measure just 5.5mm at its thinnest point.

A source told Majin Bu that the L-shaped battery pack will have a capacity of around 2,900 mAh. That tracks with previous rumors indicating that the iPhone 17 Air's battery capacity will be in the 2,800 mAh to 3,000 mAh range.

The batteries in the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus use a type of adhesive that can be loosened with low-voltage electrical current, from a 9V battery or another power source. Majin Bu expects the iPhone 17 Air's battery will also be removable in this way.

Alleged images of iPhone 17 Air battery via Majin Bu​

Majin Bu has a mixed track record with Apple rumors. They were most recently accurate about iPadOS 26 adding a Mac-like menu bar to iPads.

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, but the lower capacity could be offset by the A19 chip's improved power efficiency. In addition, iOS 26's new Adaptive Power Mode would help the iPhone 17 Air to achieve at least slightly longer battery life.

Earlier this year, 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 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.

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

Is it just me or are iPhones resembling spider heads?

 

[darngooddesign]

Even the design is deteriorating at an incredible speed. This is not just ugly, it's confused. It's all over the place. Farcically so. Apple is flailing aimlessly.

I dont think it's ugly, but then again I don't have a problem with camera bumps. The rectangle on the back is the glass panel surrounded by aluminum, and I think it will look more subtle on the actual phones.

 

[Chidoro]

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: 💸💸💸

Because it’s the only phone they are going to offer

 

[macjaffa]

That's amazing! How many cycles does the battery have?

924 cycles… heres a screenshot . I dont do any particular battery care. I just use my phone and charge it when needed.

 

[macjaffa]

924 cycles… heres a screenshot . I dont do any particular battery care. I just use my phone and charge it when needed.
View attachment 2534477

Here is another iphone 14pro bought exactly same time seems a bit heavier in degradation, cycles and temp:

 

[Populus]

Why would Apple dilute the impact of the Air by optimising the weight of the Pro on this generation?

Nah.

The move to aluminium is about cost and cooling, now that the Air will take over as the stylish choice and the Pro doesn’t need to be as glamorous.

Meanwhile the cameras and batteries will likely get even heavier. I doubt the overall weight of the Pro models will change much.

With a smaller battery? Nah. Anyways I’m not gonna argue over possibilities. You have your opinion and I have mine. In a couple of months we’ll see if the Pro models reduce their weight or not.

Hey, I saved this message for when the iPhone 17 Pro was unveiled, thinking that it would be lighter with an unibody aluminum design. But I guess I was wrong, and I’m one of those people that doesn’t mind admitting they were wrong.

I guess the weight reduction of the chassis has been countered by a bigger battery, heavier cameras, and extra elements such as the vapor chamber… resulting in an iPhone 17 Pro (204g) that’s actually 5g heavier than the 16 Pro (199g). Yeah, it’s a negligible difference, but the fact is that they increased, yet again, the overall weight of the iPhone. And even though the 17 Pro is quite awesome, Not a big fan of heavy smartphones, honest.

 

[macjaffa]

Hey, I saved this message for when the iPhone 17 Pro was unveiled, thinking that it would be lighter with an unibody aluminum design. But I guess I was wrong, and I’m one of those people that doesn’t mind admitting they were wrong.

I guess the weight reduction of the chassis has been countered by a bigger battery, heavier cameras, and extra elements such as the vapor chamber… resulting in an iPhone 17 Pro (204g) that’s actually 5g heavier than the 16 Pro (199g). Yeah, it’s a negligible difference, but the fact is that they increased, yet again, the overall weight of the iPhone. And even though the 17 Pro is quite awesome, Not a big fan of heavy smartphones, honest.

as a 14pro user which is the same weight as the 17 pro, and IMO too heavy for a phone, I think the 17 air will be the move . Batt life is just as good. Nicer bigger screen, lighter, thinner. lack of camera 2 and 3 is a downside but not a a huge deal as as long as the mono speaker is loud enough will be absolutely fine. The bat life thing is blown out of proportion the battery size is fine as big as iphone 16 which didn't get any complaints.

 

[Moreplease]

Hey, I saved this message for when the iPhone 17 Pro was unveiled, thinking that it would be lighter with an unibody aluminum design. But I guess I was wrong, and I’m one of those people that doesn’t mind admitting they were wrong.

Saw your follow-up to this thread a bit late but wanted to tell everyone I was wrong too, albeit about something else:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/base-iphone-17-pro-could-cost-200-more-but-with-doubled-storage.2464617/post-34096471

Thankfully no-one took me up on the bet, ha.

 

[Populus]

Saw your follow-up to this thread a bit late but wanted to tell everyone I was wrong too, albeit about something else:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/base-iphone-17-pro-could-cost-200-more-but-with-doubled-storage.2464617/post-34096471

Thankfully no-one took me up on the bet, ha.

Nah, we’re on a speculation forum so it shouldn’t surprise us to be wrong.

So you actually were convinced the iPhone 17 Pro was going to remain on the $1k mark? Or that the price hike was going to be bigger?

Now that I think about it, even tho I think the main driver towards aluminum unibody design is thermal dissipation, this cost reduction (assuming the new unibody aluminum chasis is cheaper) plus the price hike could be Apple’s way to deal with inflation.

 

[Moreplease]

Yeah, I figured there had to be a bigger price increase this year, probably to $1200 starting price in the US. I had no idea what would happen in Europe.

A lighter iPhone Pro would have been more interesting to me than the battery beast we got, but I’m probably in the minority – and the new Air takes up some of the slack.

If you look at top Android phones, they’ve closed the gap to Apple on both battery life and performance in the last couple of years. Apple still wins on performance per watt but not by miles like a few years ago. That may have motivated Apple to further increase the battery capacity of the Pro phones rather than make them a bit lighter.