I agree with your conclusion that the iPhone Air battery is fine for most users – at least today, before batteries age and iOS & apps burn even more power than they do today with iOS 26.
My own early experience with the Air hasn’t been impressive on the battery front, but then neither was the 17 that I had. Clearly iOS on 120 Hz hardware sucks heaps of power.
It’s annoying that Apple’s battery-life claims have become so divorced from real-world usage. I’d be surprised if even a single user has reached even once Apple’s 27-hour claim for the Air. The claim proves that Apple’s video hardware codec is extremely efficient. But even social-media addicts do a lot more than watch video, not least streaming the data for those videos with radios blazing.
Time for a new, more useful metric from Apple.
I’ve been able to get Apple spec on my Xʀ (16 hours) and on my 16 Plus (27 hours).
There are several key aspects:
-It must be running its original iOS version (otherwise it’s impossible).
-Usage must be light in terms of apps used (web browsing, light, efficient content consumption apps like Netflix, apps like notes or Apple pages, iBooks, etc).
-Settings must be extremely efficient (key: low brightness (very low, 0-10% max); full Wi-Fi with good phone signal, all key draining settings disabled - background app refresh, push set to manual, significant locations disabled, system services disabled barring Find My, etc.
-Obviously no GPS, no cellular, no outdoor daylight brightness, no mail push, no low phone signal, no social media apps, no camera, etc.
If ALL conditions are met, then the Plus can get 27 hours.
With the Air it is different. Apple uses a maximally optimised video for its test. According to my comparison with other iPhones in terms of battery runtime tests, the Air CANNOT reach 27 hours. Going by those comparisons, I’ve estimated an actual maximally efficient runtime of an incredible 19.71 hours.
I don’t have it so I can’t test, but around 19 hours should be the upper limit. This means that with the higher cellular loss, about 11 hours of outdoor brightness cellular use should be possible, but cellular is far more variable. That’s why the only runtime I give is on Wi-Fi.
Still, the Air’s battery life is extremely good. A decent 25% better with light use than the Xʀ (and since the Xʀ was also rather inefficient on Cellular, perhaps it is similar). In 6 years, I ran out of battery with the Xʀ exactly zero times. No power banks. I took one just once just in case and it wasn’t necessary.
The Air would be more than enough for me, but I’m not a social media user. That’s why some people think that battery life hasn’t improved. Video-heavy social media apps obliterate battery life and eat through the improvements in efficiency.
A friend who is a heavy social media user was joking with me about the classic iPhone vs Android debate, heavily criticising the iPhone (15 on iOS 17)’s battery life. They said that it lasted half the day. I said that with a moderately efficient use, that was completely impossible.
I asked them to show me their SOT on Android. (A Samsung Galaxy S24+). You guessed it, 5 hours with 140% used. I told them: “you see? It’s the same garbage battery life you were criticising the iPhone for. It’s you, it’s not the phone. You are getting three hours and I’m getting 27. It’s you”.
Many, many, many current users are like that. Battery life has improved by over four times since the 5s. People’s usage is now so consumed by video-heavy social media that many can’t see it.
