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

Tom's Guide this week published the results of its iPhone Air vs. iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 17 Pro vs. iPhone 17 Pro Max battery life test, which involves continuous web browsing over 5G. Each model was set to 150 nits of display brightness.

iPhone 17 vs Air and Pros Feature
Here is how long each iPhone model lasted on a full charge:

  • iPhone Air: 12 hours and 2 minutes
  • iPhone 17: 12 hours and 47 minutes
  • iPhone 17 Pro: 15 hours and 32 minutes
  • iPhone 17 Pro Max: 17 hours and 54 minutes

For this specific usage, the highest-end iPhone 17 Pro Max lasted 48.5% (nearly 1.5×) longer than the ultra-thin iPhone Air.

The results are similar to Apple's figures, which show the Pro Max offering up to 44.5% longer battery life than the Air for offline video playback.

Here are Apple's offline video playback figures for each model:

  • iPhone Air: Up to 27 hours
  • iPhone 17: Up to 30 hours
  • iPhone 17 Pro: Up to 33 hours
  • iPhone 17 Pro Max: Up to 39 hours

Of course, most people are not using their iPhones to browse the web or watch videos for an entire day or two nonstop, without using the device for any other purpose. So, these battery life tests do not reflect typical real-world usage. Still, they help to set expectations, and plenty of additional tests will follow over the coming days.

All of the new iPhone models launch this Friday.

Related Roundups: iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone Air
Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

Apple Creator Studio

Apple Introduces New 'Creator Studio' Bundle of Apps for $129 Per Year

Tuesday January 13, 2026 6:11 am PST by
Apple today introduced a new Apple Creator Studio bundle that offers access to six creative apps, as well as exclusive AI features and content, as part of a single subscription. In the U.S., pricing is set at $12.99 per month or $129 per year. Here are the six apps included with an Apple Creator Studio subscription:Final Cut Pro on the Mac and iPad Logic Pro on the Mac and iPad Pixelmator...
Verizon New

Verizon is Down: iPhones Show 'SOS' Mode Due to Network Outage [Resolved]

Wednesday January 14, 2026 10:18 am PST by
Verizon is experiencing a major outage across the U.S. today, with hundreds of thousands of customers reporting issues with the network on the website Downdetector. There are also complaints across Reddit and other social media platforms. iPhone users and others with Verizon service are generally unable to make phone calls, send text messages, or use data over 5G or LTE due to the outage....
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

New Leak Reveals iPhone 18 Pro Display Sizes, Under-Screen Face ID, and More

Wednesday January 14, 2026 7:09 am PST by
While the iPhone 18 Pro models are still around eight months away, a leaker has shared some alleged details about the devices. In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo this week, the account Digital Chat Station said the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will have the same 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes as the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Consistent with previous...
iOS 26

Here's What's New in iOS 26.3 So Far

Monday January 12, 2026 1:15 pm PST by
Apple today seeded the second beta of iOS 26.3, nearly a month after the first beta. So far, the update includes a couple of new features for iPhones. iOS 15.3 through iOS 18.3 were all released in late January over the years, so it is thereby likely that iOS 26.3 will be released towards the end of this month as well. The update is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer. Below,...
airpods pro 3 design

Apple Releases New AirPods Pro 3 Firmware Update

Tuesday January 13, 2026 11:29 am PST by
Apple today released a firmware update for the AirPods Pro 3. The latest firmware has a version number of 8B34, up from the previous version 8B30. Apple has a support document for AirPods firmware updates, and it indicates that the 8B34 update contains unspecified "bug fixes and other improvements." No other AirPods models received firmware updates today. How to install AirPods Pro...

Top Rated Comments

bookcase Avatar
17 weeks ago
The Air is fine for me.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Donkey Man Avatar
17 weeks ago
More than great for the Air - anyone complaining about its battery life, which is as good as the ordinary 17, must be insane.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MayaUser Avatar
17 weeks ago
Air is the most impressive
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zahuh Avatar
17 weeks ago
Wish he added the iPhone 16 Pro to this test so we can know if the air really does have the same battery life. Anyway battery looking much better than some of these YouTubers made it sound. In addition, the adaptive power starts working after 1 week so will be interesting to see the results again with that.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Anaxarxes Avatar
17 weeks ago
Totally expected, Air is performing greatly.

I don't understadn why people had bashed this, seen it as a 'red flag' like MKBHD. Air has similar capacity battery compared to 15/16 and it uses a more advanced node.

Looking forward to see apple implementing these learnings to 18/18 Pro/Fold line next year.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Devyn89 Avatar
17 weeks ago
That’s not too bad honestly, I was expecting worse.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)