The iPhone 17 collection is right here. Apple’s “Awe Dropping” event noticed the reveal of the iPhone 17, the iPhone 17 Pro, the iPhone 17 Professional Max, and the all-new iPhone Air, all of which can be found for pre-order on September 12.
Of the 4 new fashions, the iPhone Air has stirred up essentially the most dialog – it’s the one member of the lineup that doesn’t iterate on a previous-generation iPhone, and the primary brand-new iPhone mannequin in three years.
As many rumors had speculated in the run-up to the Apple Occasion on September 9, the iPhone Air replaces the iPhone 16 Plus with a brand new thin-and-light design. It measures simply 5.6mm thick (not together with the digital camera bump), beating the rival Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge which is available in at 5.8mm.
Naturally, Apple was fairly eager to indicate off the iPhone Air throughout its hour-long keynote, dedicating a trendy video teaser and loads of, properly, airtime to the brand new handset. We realized that the iPhone Air comes with the A19 Professional chipset – the identical because the iPhone 17 Professional and Professional Max – in addition to a digital camera bump that homes a lot of the telephone’s parts, in addition to the one rear digital camera.
The remainder of the super-thin chassis is devoted to a ‘high-density’ lithium-ion battery – there isn’t even a SIM card slot, to avoid wasting extra space for the battery (a part of Apple’s eSIM push).
Nevertheless, when it got here time for Apple to speak concerning the iPhone Air’s battery in the course of the “Awe Dropping” presentation, all we acquired was affirmation of a brand new slim MagSafe battery pack which affords 40 hours of video playback when mixed with the iPhone Air’s inbuilt battery. That’s… cool, I suppose? However it didn’t give us any thought of how lengthy the iPhone Air may final by itself.
This omission, which some may name obtrusive, is made all of the extra complicated by the truth that Apple then revealed a full spec sheet for the iPhone Air, which suggests its battery can maintain 27 hours of video playback.
That is the identical because the iPhone 16 Plus, which the iPhone Air replaces, even though there’s merely no method an equivalent-sized battery may bodily match contained in the iPhone Air’s 5.6mm-thick chassis.
In reality, last-minute rumors urged the iPhone Air’s battery could be as much as 33% smaller than the one in the iPhone 16 Plus. Attaining the identical battery life, as Apple suggests the iPhone Air can, would proof an enormous victory in engineering and optimization.
So, why would Apple wish to preserve such a seemingly spectacular feat so quiet?
I can consider two potential explanations – the primary is that the iPhone Air can obtain 27 hours of video playback, however solely beneath completely optimum situations – we’re speaking downloaded video, at minimal brightness, in a pleasant cool surroundings.
As talked about, practically the entire iPhone Air’s inner parts are housed in that giant digital camera bump, which Apple calls a ‘plateau’. In additional intensive use, these bunched-up parts may generate numerous warmth, which has an antagonistic impact on battery life.
The iPhone 17 Air is made predominantly of Ceramic Protect 2 glass, with very skinny titanium rails, which gained’t conduct warmth in addition to the aluminum body of the iPhone 17 Professional and iPhone 17 Professional Max. I wouldn’t be shocked if high-powered gaming and media creation knocks that 27-hour estimate down by fairly a bit.
My second principle is a little more charitable, and is extra to do with Apple’s model messaging. It may merely be the case that Apple is purposefully drawing much less consideration to battery life. There was lots mentioned on-stage about how environment friendly the brand new A19 and A19 Professional chipsets are, so maybe Apple simply desires its customers to give attention to different {hardware} parts, as if to say battery life gained’t be a priority.
Apple’s battery rankings for the iPhone 17 collection would definitely counsel that all-day battery life is just about a given. The usual iPhone 17 apparently lasts for 30 hours of video playback, whereas the iPhone 17 Professional Max claims an astonishing 39 hours. We’ll want to check these claims for ourselves, after all, however even in case you lower these estimates by two-thirds for extra assorted utilization, you’re nonetheless taking a look at a full day’s use between expenses.
It doesn’t matter what Apple desires you to assume, we gained’t be letting it off the hook in relation to battery life any time quickly.
We’ll be testing the iPhone Air’s battery for ourselves as quickly as potential. However till then you’ll want to take a look at our hands-on iPhone 17 review, hands-on iPhone 17 Pro review, hands-on iPhone 17 Pro Max review, and hands-on iPhone Air review.
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