Key takeaways:The iPhone 17 Pro Max has glorious battery life that simply lasts a day with cost to spare.Our lab information exhibits you do not have to pay over a grand for glorious battery life. The $829 iPhone 17’s battery lasts simply so long as the $1,099 iPhone 17 Pro.The ultrathin iPhone Air with a modest battery capability outlasted Samung’s premium Galaxy S25 telephones. I’ve been reviewing smartphones at CNET for practically a decade and if there’s one characteristic folks constantly need in a brand new cellphone, iPhone or Android, it is extra battery life. When Apple launched the brand new iPhone 17 collection and iPhone Air, it frolicked touting how the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max have longer battery life than their predecessors. Now, my fellow CNET reviewers and I’ve had the possibility to check its claims.When introducing the iPhone Air and its tremendous slim design, Apple confirmed a slide throughout its keynote stating that it has all-day battery life. However, the corporate undercut its declare on the following slide when it introduced a brand new MagSafe battery pack designed for the Air, which fed into fears {that a} thinner design would possibly point out a major sacrifice to battery life.Your cellphone’s battery life is affected by a number of variables, like how vibrant you retain your show or in case your cellphone has a weak sign out of your provider. How you employ your cellphone has a big effect, too. Someone who’s obsessively on-line can have a a lot totally different expertise with their battery life than somebody who has their cellphone of their bag at work and checks it on breaks.So, how are you aware whether or not the battery life is sweet on the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 collection?CNET examined the brand new Apple telephones’ battery life 3 ways: via an anecdotal stress check, a video streaming check and observing battery life after on a regular basis use. We additionally examined wired and wi-fi charging. Our lab information confirmed robust battery life for the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max and even the Air, particularly in comparison with older iPhone fashions.The iPhone 17 Pro Max has glorious battery life The iPhone 17 Pro Max runs on Apple’s new A19 Pro chip, which, mixed with a vapor cooling chamber, iOS 26, and a big battery, permits the cellphone to final a day on a single cost. Celso Bulgatti/CNETBigger batteries do not all the time imply superior battery life. There’s extra to battery life than the bodily dimension or capability. Besides Huawei, Apple is the one main smartphone maker that builds its personal {hardware} and software program and might tune its telephones to work off smaller batteries than most Android telephones have. The iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max have bigger batteries than final 12 months’s 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max. If you are utilizing an eSIM-only model of both cellphone, just like the iPhone fashions offered within the US, your battery is even larger as a result of it takes up the house the place the SIM card tray can be.Frustratingly, Apple does not share the capability of the iPhone’s batteries, and a part of the reason being that its batteries are sometimes smaller than these in Android telephones. Fortunately, the EU requires that Apple publish vitality labels that embrace the capability of its batteries on its website. Macrumors discovered the capacities for eSIM-only fashions. You can see how the brand new telephones’ batteries evaluate to those within the iPhone 16 collection:iPhone Air: 3,149 mAhiPhone 17: 3,692 mAhiPhone 17 Pro: 4,252 mAhiPhone 17 Pro Max: 5,088 mAhiPhone 16: 3,561 mAhiPhone 16 Plus: 4,674 mAhiPhone 16 Pro: 3,582 mAhiPhone 16 Pro Max: 4,685 mAhCNET has two benchmark assessments (video streaming and stress assessments) that permit us to check the battery efficiency of 1 cellphone towards one other. And as a result of we have been utilizing these assessments for years, we will additionally evaluate a brand new cellphone towards older fashions. For instance, if in case you have an iPhone 15 and are contemplating upgrading to an iPhone 17, we will inform you that the brand new iPhone can have an extended battery life out of the field than your outdated one.In CNET’s 3-hour video battery check, the place we streamed a video over Wi-Fi with the display at full brightness, the iPhone 17 collection did terrific, even when the outcomes weren’t dramatically higher than the iPhone 16 collection.Without a Plus mannequin this 12 months, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is the one mannequin with an enormous battery (the largest one ever in an iPhone), and it solely misplaced 9% within the check. The decrease the share misplaced, the higher. This is the primary time an iPhone stayed in single digits and I ought to observe that the 17 Pro Max tied the Motorola Razr (2024) for the perfect rating since we have been operating the check. The Razr has a much less highly effective processor and a smaller important display with a decrease decision and fewer brightness.The iPhone Air and 17 Pro dropped 15% within the check, the identical because the iPhone 15. And the iPhone 17 misplaced solely 11%, higher than the iPhone 15 and 16.Something to bear in mind is that the iPhone 17 has a 6.3-inch display that helps a 1-120Hz variable refresh fee and a max brightness of 3,000 nits, in comparison with the iPhone 15 and 16, which have a 6.1-inch show with a 60Hz refresh fee and a max brightness of two,000 nits. Watch this: The iPhone 17 Pro Max Has Incredible Battery Life
12:10 The new Apple telephones did effectively in CNET’s 45-minute endurance check, throughout which I performed video games, streamed movies, scrolled social media and took a video name. The 17 Pro Max solely dropped a single %, the perfect end result this 12 months, however behind the iPhone 16 Plus, which stayed at 100% (the perfect end result for any cellphone).The iPhone 17 and 17 Pro had the identical end result, dropping 2%, making the usual iPhone 17 look much more like an unbelievable worth. The iPhone Air dropped 5%, which matches the iPhone 15 in the identical check. For perspective, the Air did higher on this check than the Samsung Galaxy S25 collection and tied with the Motorola Razr Ultra.The iPhone Air will get via a day The iPhone Air’s skinny design and light-weight weight are its important appeals. But how a lot battery life might such a skinny cellphone have? Joseph Maldonado/CNET/PCMagWhen we evaluation telephones, we set them up as our every day driver to make use of and check them like our private telephones. Real-world testing is usually the perfect indicator of what a reader can anticipate to get from a cellphone.I began every day with a full battery for the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max and tracked how a lot battery I had all through the day. I ended every day with loads of battery left — even after taking pictures photographs and movies or maintaining the display at full brightness whereas filming the evaluation video. Below is a chart that exhibits how the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s battery did for the primary 5 days I had it. Patrick Holland/CNETSimilarly, CNET senior know-how reporter Abrar Al-Heeti highlights that the iPhone Air she reviewed recurrently ends the day with about 20% to spare (after beginning with a full battery). She stated it will drop under 20% on heavier-use days by the point she was prepared for mattress.”Impressively, the iPhone Air has consistently lasted all day over the last several weeks I’ve been using it,” Al-Heeti stated. “But I’ve hardly had to touch that MagSafe battery pack to extend battery life during the day, which is reassuring.” Apple’s promoting a $99 MagSafe battery accent for the iPhone Air. Apple/Screenshot by CNETIn our testing, a fully-charged MagSafe battery added 69% to the iPhone Air’s battery. When I requested her whether or not she’d advocate folks purchase the $99 MagSafe Battery for the Air, Al-Heeti stated that she recommends it for somebody who makes use of their cellphone typically and does not wish to hunt for an outlet.”I don’t like the idea of having to lug around an extra battery, no matter how thin or sleek it is, so I don’t tend to carry it with me unless I know I’m going to have a long day away from home,” Al-Heeti stated.She additionally reviewed the usual iPhone 17 and stated it may possibly simply final somewhat over a day, even after snapping photographs, scrolling via social media, listening to audiobooks and music, texting and watching movies.Al-Heeti’s evaluation notes that over a number of days, she’d begin with a full battery, between 8:30 and 9:30 a.m., and have 44% to 47% of a cost 12 hours later. If she did not recharge the iPhone 17 in a single day, she’d nonetheless have about 30% to spare the following morning.The iPhone 17 collection fees quick Here are the brand new iPhone fashions (from left to proper): iPhone 17, iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPhone 17 Pro. Patrick Holland/CNETThere are two methods to cost an iPhone: with a cable or with MagSafe (except it is the iPhone 16E, which does not have MagSafe, simply Qi charging). For wired charging, Apple recommends utilizing a 40W charger with the iPhone 17, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max and a 20W charger for the iPhone Air. However, Apple does not embrace a charger within the field, only a USB-C cable, however the firm does promote a 40W charger for $39 and a 20W charger for $19.In our 30-minute wired charging check, the brand new telephones, together with the Air, did effectively. The iPhone 17, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max added 10% or greater than the iPhone 16, 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max in the identical check. Apple says the 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max can recharge to 50% in 20 minutes. In our assessments, the iPhone 17 Pro hit 53% and the iPhone 17 Pro Max hit 49% after 20 minutes.The iPhone Air reached 49% in our 30-minute charging check with a 20W adapter, the identical because the iPhone 16 and iPhone 15 Pro, beating the iPhone 15 Plus.In wi-fi charging or MagSafe charging, we ran a 30-minute check with the most recent MagSafe charger and a 30W energy adapter. The iPhone 17 collection and Air beat each iPhone we have ever examined besides the iPhone 16 Pro, which did higher than the Air and commonplace iPhone 17. I ought to observe that iPhones do not include a MagSafe charger or 30W adapter within the field.Which iPhone must you purchase primarily based on CNET Labs information? Apple’s 2025 lineup is made up of iPhone fashions aimed to attraction to totally different folks. Patrick Holland/CNETGet the iPhone 17 Pro Max if you’d like the perfect battery life. The commonplace iPhone 17 has nice battery life and inches out the costlier iPhone 17 Pro. And in the event you’re on Team Air, know that the battery life is not nice, however relying on how onerous you employ it, it’s best to get via a day on a single cost.I also needs to observe that iOS 26 has a brand new Adaptive Power mode. It learns your cellphone use patterns and “adapts” how a lot energy the processor makes use of for particular duties, so it attracts much less from the battery. The new characteristic takes per week to begin working. I turned it on after operating CNET’s battery assessments and can replace this story with any modifications or enhancements that come from it.Last, if in case you have an iPhone and the one difficulty is that its battery does not cost as a lot because it used to, take into consideration changing it with a brand new one. Doing so is not going to solely be lots of of {dollars} cheaper than a brand new iPhone, however it may possibly lengthen your cellphone’s life one other couple of years.
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