iPhone 17 Thinner iPhone But Less Battery Life or Thicker iPhone But Better Battery Life

[zenmacx]

And with the soon to be rise of silicon-carbon high density batteries we won't even need to have this discussion anyway.

It’s disappointing that Apples focus on maximizing profits causes them to stubbornly continue to use old tech batteries.

Yet the Cupertino company has a long history of lagging behind Android makers. My original iPhone in 2007 failed to include the ability to copy and paste, when Android phones had it.

Fast forward to now when brands like OnePlus, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Realme, Honor, and others have adopted this technology to enhance performance while maintaining slim designs. I have a few of these and enjoy incredible battery life.

Apples old and often repeated excuse is they wait till the technology is perfect, then do it better than others. Only the uninformed buyers actually believe that.

Yet in defense of Apple, their greed keeps my fellow shareholders happy as we get to enjoy robust dividends. The Cupertino company is a revenue generating behemoth. Thanks Apple!

 

[joshwithachance]

It’s disappointing that Apples focus on maximizing profits causes them to stubbornly continue to use old tech batteries.

Yet the Cupertino company has a long history of lagging behind Android makers. My original iPhone in 2007 failed to include the ability to copy and paste, when Android phones had it.

Fast forward to now when brands like OnePlus, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Realme, Honor, and others have adopted this technology to enhance performance while maintaining slim designs. I have a few of these and enjoy incredible battery life.

Apples old and often repeated excuse is they wait till the technology is perfect, then do it better than others. Only the uninformed buyers actually believe that.

Yet in defense of Apple, their greed keeps my fellow shareholders happy as we get to enjoy robust dividends. The Cupertino company is a revenue generating behemoth. Thanks Apple!

I really hope they don't wait TOO long to adopt this incredible battery tech...

 

[TroyBoy30]

Let me reword that for you: tech influencers made everyone want thicker devices in general (see Macbook Pro). That forced Apple to make thicker and thicker devices. This is true across the board and not just with the iPhone.

In reality, before these thicker phones, literally every single Apple user was okay with a thinner phone. Thicker phones is not a problem with people. It's a problem with how "influencers" are pressuring everyone into thinking they need more cameras and more battery life.

Apple has tried to "correct the course" of course. The OLED iPads are thinner for one. The iPhone Air is thinner for one. Unfortunately, people are too addicted to their phones now to "accept" less battery life, so this problem will continue with the iPhone. Funnily enough, people do not seem to be too addicted to their iPads so they are absolutely okay with the "loss" of battery life.

totally disagree. it has nothing to do with influencers. people always want more battery life.

 

[rachelsgoldens]

Are the people complaining actual Air owners? There seems to be a lot of hate all over in this forum from people that don't own it. I love mine. I have a 17 Pro too and I always pick up the Air.

 

[bill-p]

totally disagree. it has nothing to do with influencers. people always want more battery life.

And yet did you know that iPhone 17 Pro Max lasts basically the same as Air when both are on cellular?

Yes, Apple's C1X is that much more efficient.

 

[Apple_Robert]

The iPhone Air battery works well for my usage. I can easily go 1-1.5 days on a single charge. I like the thinness of the phone.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

I just charge my phone when it needs to be charged. It's not that deep.

 

[emeka09]

totally disagree. it has nothing to do with influencers. people always want more battery life.

I think it’s a bit of both. If more of the ‘famous’ YouTubers picked the Air as their daily device, I’m pretty sure more people would have too. Just how it goes. But I do agree that overall, most people use the pro and max because they’re just better overall

 

[rui no onna]

And yet did you know that iPhone 17 Pro Max lasts basically the same as Air when both are on cellular?

Not in my experience. I only have the smaller 17 Pro but at the end of workday, the 17 Pro had 10-15% more on average than the Air with the same light usage.

Signal is 2 bars with 5G set to auto.

Mind, the Air usually ends with ~40% while the 17 Pro ends with ~50-60% so there's sufficient battery on either for my use. That's with a 90% charge limit.

 

[emeka09]

And yet did you know that iPhone 17 Pro Max lasts basically the same as Air when both are on cellular?

Yes, Apple's C1X is that much more efficient.

😂 this is not even close to being accurate

 

[Abazigal]

I really hope they don't wait TOO long to adopt this incredible battery tech...

As with many things, the challenge for Apple is probably in securing their supply chain to be able to include solid state batteries with 200+ million iPhones a year. Sometimes, the scale at which Apple operates is also their biggest limitation.

 

[geta]

How about bringing back the Mini with whatever battery size they can squeeze in.

 

[Tsepz]

I definitely prefer Thicker iPhone/Better Battery Life.
I even have a thick case on my 17 PM.

Attended a wedding this weekend, charged my 17 PM up yesterday morning, took tons of snaps, uploaded a whole lot on Instagram, sent a bunch of them via AirDrop and WhatsApp, did a few phone calls etc…
Only plugged in again when leaving the venue this morning, think I was at around 30%.

17 PM delivered beautifully both in terms of pics (day and night) as well as the outstanding battery life. Also realised that despite all the images and videos we were taking the phone barely got warm.

 

[dmx]

Are the people complaining actual Air owners? There seems to be a lot of hate all over in this forum from people that don't own it. I love mine. I have a 17 Pro too and I always pick up the Air.

I've historically been on the side of "I'll take a thicker phone for better battery life" - I went with a 17 PM this year.

After trying out the Air from a friend - I absolutely believe this form factor will be a major part of the future of iPhones - it feels like a step change forward, and the most obvious direction as efficiency and battery technology improves. The step change in form factor feels like enough to outweigh any fallbacks.

If I was cross shopping an 18 PM vs an iPhone Air 2 - I'd go for the Air 2, and would be more than willing to carry around a battery pack for times I need more battery life. Icing on the cake would be if Apple brought back the smart battery case, which was a great product.

The extra features of the Pro and Pro Max are cool, but I don't particularly require them nor do I need the absolute highest level of performance. The main things I care about - responsiveness, display quality/brightness, main camera quality - are all pretty much on par with the Pro models.

 

[Kjabean]

It seems like the air has a better main camera.. people are saying the pro is blurry around the edges.

 

[Tsepz]

I am a ProMax user last few years and have never found the size or weight a problem.

Same here, in fact I am wondering if I really have a Pro Max because of people calling them “bricks” 😂 here in these comments when the 17 Pro Max feels so lite and thin in hand…I am actually scared to use it without a grippy case as it feels like it could slip out my pocket without me realising it.
Then again I come from an era where phones were up to 20mm thick, so a 8.8mm thin phone being called a brick is truly wild 😂

 

[MakaniKai]

Option 3

 

[bill-p]

Not in my experience. I only have the smaller 17 Pro but at the end of workday, the 17 Pro had 10-15% more on average than the Air with the same light usage.

Signal is 2 bars with 5G set to auto.

Mind, the Air usually ends with ~40% while the 17 Pro ends with ~50-60% so there's sufficient battery on either for my use. That's with a 90% charge limit.

😂 this is not even close to being accurate

Both of you missed this then:

Granted, this is because it's the European versions of the iPhone 17 with correspondingly lower battery capacities, but... there is, in fact, a situation where iPhone Air does match iPhone 17 Pro Max in battery life.

 

[rui no onna]

Both of you missed this then:

Granted, this is because it's the European versions of the iPhone 17 with correspondingly lower battery capacities, but... there is, in fact, a situation where iPhone Air does match iPhone 17 Pro Max in battery life.

I saw that video. However, my personal experience with my usage, both the iPhone 17 and 6.3" iPhone 17 Pro consistently have more battery life remaining than the iPhone Air at the end of the day.

YouTube videos can show various results but considering my own usage patterns and likely cellular reception don't match what's on the video, I'd rather rely on my own results.

With that said, I found the Air works better than the iPhone 17 when cellular signal is low so there's that.

 

[ctjack]

However, my personal experience with my usage, both the iPhone 17 and 6.3" iPhone 17 Pro consistently have more battery life remaining than the iPhone Air at the end of the day.

YouTube videos can show various results but considering my own usage patterns and likely cellular reception don't match what's on the video, I'd rather rely on my own results.

Basically this.

My mom needs a replacement for her launch day 14 plus.

The only viable option after much thinking is a 16 Plus. Why? After researching, i found it has 4650 mah battery versus 3100-ish in Air.

Long story short, Apple made magic tricks which covers up Air's deficiencies using the superior optimization here and there (same story with 13 mini).

Tricks only work so far with 3100 mah battery as opposed to 4600 mah bricks. 16 Plus will serve her another 3-4 years guaranteed, while Air most likely end up like my 3100 mah 15 Pro - with a very weak battery after 1-1.5 years.

Air is a first world phone with quick access to 99 dollar battery replacements or new Air2 update - ultimate phone if you don't mind updating every year or replace battery.

For people like my mom, we need a reliable phone that can wait 3-4 years between replacements without giving much trouble.

 

[bill-p]

I saw that video. However, my personal experience with my usage, both the iPhone 17 and 6.3" iPhone 17 Pro consistently have more battery life remaining than the iPhone Air at the end of the day.

YouTube videos can show various results but considering my own usage patterns and likely cellular reception don't match what's on the video, I'd rather rely on my own results.

With that said, I found the Air works better than the iPhone 17 when cellular signal is low so there's that.

That's because you most likely have a mix of both WIFI and cellular usage. The test is "cellular only".

But this is my pet peeve with people saying Air has significantly shorter battery life. It just honestly does not. Sure, it does not match a 17 Pro or 17 Pro Max in daily use but it most likely will be a match coming from an older phone. Case in point: it beats my old 14 Pro Max. Granted the 14 Pro Max is now down to 78% battery capacity.

 

[bill-p]

Air is a first world phone with quick access to 99 dollar battery replacements or new Air2 update - ultimate phone if you don't mind updating every year or replace battery.

I disagree. If a "brick-like" battery life is now a requirement, Air also can get that with the MagSafe battery pack attached. Similar weight as 17 Pro Max but now it also factually can match 17 Pro Max in battery life, or exceed it.

So with Air, there is a choice between either a thin phone or a thicker package with more battery life.

With the current Pro Max phone, there is absolutely zero choice. I always have to deal with a brick regardless of whether I need the battery life of it or not.

Personally, I think the current Pro Max design is going backwards. There is nothing innovative about making the phone thicker and heavier just to extend battery life.

An Air 2 with Silicon-Carbon battery will also be able to match Pro Max battery capacity while being significantly thinner. But that's seemingly not what you and many others want. You seem to just want more battery life regardless of whether it makes sense.

 

[rui no onna]

That's because you most likely have a mix of both WIFI and cellular usage. The test is "cellular only".

But this is my pet peeve with people saying Air has significantly shorter battery life. It just honestly does not. Sure, it does not match a 17 Pro or 17 Pro Max in daily use but it most likely will be a match coming from an older phone. Case in point: it beats my old 14 Pro Max. Granted the 14 Pro Max is now down to 78% battery capacity.

Nope, purely cellular. There's no wifi at my workplace so it's cellular only there and that's pretty much the only time I use my phone. As I mentioned previously, my results are with 5G set to auto with 1-2 bars of signal. At home where there's wifi, I have plenty of other devices.

Granted, I don't find the Air significantly worse than the 6.3" 17 Pro - the Air is around 10-15% lower at the end of the day.

P.S. The Air was a little bit better (5-10% end of day) than my launch day 15 Pro at 93% battery health and way, way, way better than the iPhone SE3 (2x a day charging) it was supposed to replace.

 

[Tsepz]

I disagree. If a "brick-like" battery life is now a requirement, Air also can get that with the MagSafe battery pack attached. Similar weight as 17 Pro Max but now it also factually can match 17 Pro Max in battery life, or exceed it.

So with Air, there is a choice between either a thin phone or a thicker package with more battery life.

With the current Pro Max phone, there is absolutely zero choice. I always have to deal with a brick regardless of whether I need the battery life of it or not.

Personally, I think the current Pro Max design is going backwards. There is nothing innovative about making the phone thicker and heavier just to extend battery life.

An Air 2 with Silicon-Carbon battery will also be able to match Pro Max battery capacity while being significantly thinner. But that's seemingly not what you and many others want. You seem to just want more battery life regardless of whether it makes sense.

A Pro Max with Silicon-Carbon battery would also get more battery life as it would have a larger Silicon-Carbon battery anyway.

I’m actually surprised Apple didn’t just go Silicon-Carbon with the 1st gen Air’s battery.

 

[bill-p]

A Pro Max with Silicon-Carbon battery would also get more battery life as it would have a larger Silicon-Carbon battery anyway.

I’m actually surprised Apple didn’t just go Silicon-Carbon with the 1st gen Air’s battery.

Hence the problem with Air was never battery life. It’s clear from this poll that even if Air could get the same battery life as 17 Pro Max right now, it doesn’t matter. If 17 Pro Max could get even longer battery life with Silicon-Carbon battery, people would go for that.