The iPhone 17 Pro Max has outstanding battery life that easily lasts all day with charge to spare.
Our exclusive lab data shows you don’t need to pay over a grand for excellent battery life. The $829 iPhone 17’s battery lasts just as long as the $1,099 iPhone 17 Pro.
The ultrathin iPhone Air, with a modest battery capacity, outlasted Samsung’s premium Galaxy S25 phones.
When Apple launched the new iPhone 17 series and iPhone Air, it spent considerable time touting the longer battery life of the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max, as compared to their predecessors.
My fellow CNET reviewers and I have now had the chance to test those claims.
When introducing the iPhone Air and its super slim design, Apple showed a slide during its keynote stating that it has all-day battery life. However, the company undercut its claim on the next slide when it announced a new MagSafe battery pack designed for the Air, which fed into fears that a thinner design might indicate a significant sacrifice to battery life.
Your phone’s battery life is affected by multiple variables, like how bright you keep your display or if your phone has a weak signal from your carrier. How you use your phone has a big impact, too. Someone who is obsessively online will have a much different experience with their battery life than someone who has their phone in their bag at work and checks it on breaks.
So, how do you know whether the battery life is good on the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 series?
CNET tested the new Apple phones’ battery life three ways: through an anecdotal stress test, a video streaming test and observing battery life after everyday use. We also tested wired and wireless charging. Our lab data showed strong battery life for the iPhone 1717 Pro, 17 Pro Max and even the Air, especially compared to older iPhone models.
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The iPhone 17 Pro Max has excellent battery life
Watch this: The iPhone 17 Pro Max Has Incredible Battery Life
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The iPhone Air’s thin design and light weight are its main appeals. But how much battery life could such a thin phone have?
Joseph Maldonado/CNET/PCMag
When we review phones, we set them up as our daily driver to use and test them like our personal phones. Real-world testing is often the best indicator of what a reader can expect to get from a phone.
I started each day with a full battery for the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max and tracked how much battery I had throughout the day. I ended each day with plenty of battery left — even after shooting photos and videos or keeping the screen at full brightness while filming the review video. Below is a chart that shows how the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s battery performed for the first five days I had it.
Patrick Holland/CNET
Similarly, CNET senior technology reporter Abrar Al-Heeti highlights that the iPhone Air she reviewed regularly ends the day with about 20% to spare (after starting with a full battery). She said it would drop below 20% on heavier-use days by the time she was ready for bed.
“Impressively, the iPhone Air has consistently lasted all day over the last several weeks I’ve been using it,” Al-Heeti said. “But I’ve hardly had to touch that MagSafe battery pack to extend battery life during the day, which is reassuring.”
Watch this: iPhone Air Review: A Joy to Hold, at a Cost
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Here are the new iPhone models (from left to right): iPhone 17, iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPhone 17 Pro.
Patrick Holland/CNET
There are two ways to charge an iPhone: with a cable or with MagSafe (unless it’s the iPhone 16Ewhich doesn’t have MagSafe, just Qi charging). For wired charging, Apple recommends using a 40W charger with the iPhone 17, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max and a 20W charger for the iPhone Air. However, Apple doesn’t include a charger in the box, just a USB-C cable, but the company does sell a 40W charger for $39 and a 20W charger for $19.
In our 30-minute wired charging test, the new phones, including the Air, did well. The iPhone 17, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max added 10% or more than the iPhone 16, 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max in the same test. Apple says the 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max can recharge to 50% in 20 minutes. In our tests, 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 test with a 20W adapter, the same as the iPhone 16 and iPhone 15 Pro, beating the iPhone 15 Plus.
In wireless charging or MagSafe charging, we ran a 30-minute test with the latest MagSafe charger and a 30W power adapter. The iPhone 17 series and Air beat every iPhone we’ve ever tested except the iPhone 16 Pro, which did better than the Air and standard iPhone 17. I should note that iPhones don’t come with a MagSafe charger or 30W adapter in the box.
Which iPhone should you buy based on CNET Labs data?