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iPhone Air vs. iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Life Compared in New Test

Channan said:
Dang. This is making me question if I made the right move going with the Pro. That’s really not that big of a difference in battery life.
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Not wanting to make you feel worse - hopefully it doesn't apply to you - but for those people thinking the same who are in a country where the Pro models still have a physical SIM slot the difference in battery life might be even less. As far as I could see the article didn't explicitly state what version of the Pros it tested but given that sites like Tom's Guide tend to consider the USA one of their bigger markets I'm guessing that it's the US versions that they tested and I would expect the Pro and Pro Max with physical SIM slots to post worse results than we see here.

With these differences in battery specs now for the physical SIM variant vs the eSIM-only variant of the same models I really do think that anyone posting battery life test results on models that have those two variants really should explicitly state what variant is being tested - or ideally test both variants so that we can see more data on the differences.
 
Looking at videos and reading reviews and comparisons online it looks like Apple didn't announce any other iPhone other than the Air and Pro at last week's event.
 
For those talking about 29-hour long flights ... ignoring the fact people may spend an hour or two using the in-flight entertainment or sleeping, as far as I'm aware all modern aircraft have usb sockets for charging phones.

Some even have wireless pads, although they're probably only in business/first class.
 
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adrianlondon said:
For those talking about 29-hour long flights ... ignoring the fact people may spend an hour or two using the in-flight entertainment or sleeping, as far as I'm aware all modern aircraft have usb sockets for charging phones.

Some even have wireless pads, although they're probably only in business/first class.
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or if you know you are flying that long get the battery pack that all
 
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zahuh said:
Okay yes better than expected BUT Apple said it has the same video playback as the 16 pro so that might be a little off
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When you are just doing video playback, sure, the testing results do actually get close to that. But as soon as you start tweaking the test to be YouTube streaming, or turn up brightness, etc. the numbers start to get distorted.

Actually, under heavy loads, the iPhone Air battery is abysmal compared to other models. Social media scrolling or gaming can drain the battery much quicker, even compared to old models from a few years ago (Source: Dave2D) But under regular use, it holds up quite well.

Gamers, video editors, etc. will probably be disappointed by the iPhone Air battery life.

csm_Apple-iPhone-17-and-iPhone-Air-battery-life-test-by-Dave2D_06c30f423f.png
 
Channan said:
Dang. This is making me question if I made the right move going with the Pro. That’s really not that big of a difference in battery life.
Click to expand...
I ordered the air as well after reviews. The aluminum really turns me off. I’ve always wanted an Orange pro phone. They had to go and ruin it with aluminum. Once I saw that these things have just fine cameras for my use. With titanium, and good enough battery life. Not like I go out camping. I’m 90% of use always near a charger. I’m deff gonna get the MagSafe battery because, why not? That thing has decent reviews to for its size and weight.

So I’ll see which one I’ll stick with. I’ve been using a pro max forever…

But this air is just an amazing device.
 
NauticalDan said:
When you are just doing video playback, sure, the testing results do actually get close to that. But as soon as you start tweaking the test to be YouTube streaming, or turn up brightness, etc. the numbers start to get distorted.

Actually, under heavy loads, the iPhone Air battery is abysmal compared to other models. Social media scrolling or gaming can drain the battery much quicker, even compared to old models from a few years ago (Source: Dave2D) But under regular use, it holds up quite well.

Gamers, video editors, etc. will probably be disappointed by the iPhone Air battery life.

View attachment 2551489
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and water is wet....Gamers and video editors 100% will not buy the Air...
 
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BelgianChoklit said:
Looking at videos and reading reviews and comparisons online it looks like Apple didn't announce any other iPhone other than the Air and Pro at last week's event.
Click to expand...
Sorry for another playground comparison, but we're stuck in a game of king of the hill. Providing reassurance to the pro buyers gets more views and like$.
 
JulianL said:
Not wanting to make you feel worse - hopefully it doesn't apply to you - but for those people thinking the same who are in a country where the Pro models still have a physical SIM slot the difference in battery life might be even less. As far as I could see the article didn't explicitly state what version of the Pros it tested but given that sites like Tom's Guide tend to consider the USA one of their bigger markets I'm guessing that it's the US versions that they tested and I would expect the Pro and Pro Max with physical SIM slots to post worse results than we see here.

With these differences in battery specs now for the physical SIM variant vs the eSIM-only variant of the same models I really do think that anyone posting battery life test results on models that have those two variants really should explicitly state what variant is being tested - or ideally test both variants so that we can see more data on the differences.
Click to expand...
All good. I’m in the US so I’ll be getting the eSIM-only model.
 
There’s mixed information, comparing Tom’s last years and now it seems that the PM had “minimal” improvements
 

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victorvictoria said:
Relevant only as a thought exercise. The target demographics for the iPhone Air and the Pro Max are different, and battery life will not be the driver for a decision.
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The Air is the replacement for the Plus, but has lower specs than the Plus. In that regard, the 17 is the main competitor of the Air.
 
xmarcuswildx said:
I ordered the air as well after reviews. The aluminum really turns me off. I’ve always wanted an Orange pro phone. They had to go and ruin it with aluminum. Once I saw that these things have just fine cameras for my use. With titanium, and good enough battery life. Not like I go out camping. I’m 90% of use always near a charger. I’m deff gonna get the MagSafe battery because, why not? That thing has decent reviews to for its size and weight.

So I’ll see which one I’ll stick with. I’ve been using a pro max forever…

But this air is just an amazing device.
Click to expand...
Honestly it’s mostly the better cooling of the Pro as why I bought it. I use my phone outside a lot and it tends to overheat enough to where the screen gets very hard to see. I’m hoping the mix of aluminum’s better heat dissipation and the vapor chamber make enough of a difference that I don’t regret buying it. Otherwise I definitely would have gone for the Air. I miss the look of the polished stainless steel we had on older Pros and the Air brought that back with titanium. It looks so nice and the Pros look so… just not nice.
 
Lounge vibes 05 said:
From what I can gather from all of the battery tests that I’ve seen and read, in terms of actual battery life it’s pretty much identical to the regular 17, give or take 30 minutes or so.
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Half an hour difference under intensive usage, which probably translates to a longer time difference under moderate usage. One test I checked had it at 13% lower than the iPhone 17.

To put it another way, one person who seemed like a reasonable real world reviewer stated that his Air had about 20% left at suppertime, which made him uncomfortable - battery life anxiety. Whether that applies or even matters to you or not is up to you and your usage patterns, but I think the fact that they created a battery pack that works with the Air and only the Air is interesting IMO.
 
EugW said:
The Air is the replacement for the Plus, but has lower specs than the Plus. In that regard, the 17 is the main competitor of the Air.
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Had the Plus remained in the lineup vs the Air it would have had the same A19 chip as the 17, and not the A19 Pro chip (with 12GB of RAM) of the higher end models. So I personally believe the Air is being positioned as more of a Pro "lite" than a base "plus". Especially considering it's the only one in this year's lineup with the much more premium titanium build; which makes this all even more confusing and conflicting as the Air is the true high end model of the bunch when it comes solely to design and durability.
 
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NauticalDan said:
When you are just doing video playback, sure, the testing results do actually get close to that. But as soon as you start tweaking the test to be YouTube streaming, or turn up brightness, etc. the numbers start to get distorted.

Actually, under heavy loads, the iPhone Air battery is abysmal compared to other models. Social media scrolling or gaming can drain the battery much quicker, even compared to old models from a few years ago (Source: Dave2D) But under regular use, it holds up quite well.

Gamers, video editors, etc. will probably be disappointed by the iPhone Air battery life.

View attachment 2551489
Click to expand...
Again not testing the iPhone 16 pro. Definitely these don't look great. Hopefully with adaptive power it's better.
 
joshwithachance said:
Had the Plus remained in the lineup vs the Air it would have had the same A19 chip as the 17, and not the A19 Pro chip of the higher end models. So I personally believe the Air is being positioned as more of a Pro "lite" than a base "plus". Especially considering it's the only one in this year's lineup with the much more premium titanium build; which surprisingly makes the Air the true high end model when it comes solely to design and durability.
Click to expand...
It's a weird one. It gets the 12 GB RAM, but it gets a cut down SoC. So, it has the same number of CPU and GPU cores as the regular A19, not the A19 Pro. If you look through the Geekbench benchmarks of the various models, the Air actually gets the worst scores despite having that so-called A19 Pro, even a bit lower than the iPhone 17, I suspect because the Air throttles quicker than the 17.
 
Amazing Iceman said:
My iPhone never has a low battery. It's always charging wirelessly while I drive and when in my office is on a MagSafe charger.
Even if I go into the wild, or to the beach or on a boat, I have a small Solar charger I could use to keep it charged.
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That's terrible for battery health
 
EugW said:
The Air is the replacement for the Plus, but has lower specs than the Plus. In that regard, the 17 is the main competitor of the Air.
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I'd really like to know who Apple has identified that would prefer an Air to a iPhone 17 or 17 Pro.
 
neuropsychguy said:
Life pro tip. Don't do things you will regret. If you need an iPhone 17, buy that and be content with your decision. If you need an iPhone Air, buy that and be content with your decision. If you need an iPhone 17 Pro/Max, buy that and be content with your decision.
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Well, son, a funny thing about regret is that it's better to regret something you have done than to regret something you haven't done. And by the way, if you see your mom this weekend would you be sure and tell her…

Satan Satan Satan
 
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