In summary
- iPhone 17 Air battery pictured
- Compared to iPhone 17 Pro
- Rumoured capacity somewhat worrying
The battery component for the forthcoming iPhone 17 Air has leaked, and it has us slightly worried for the new super-skinny smartphone’s stamina.
According to countless rumours, Apple will launch its own super-skinny smartphone to take on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge later this year.
Stamina was perhaps our biggest criticism, of the aforementioned Galaxy S25 Edge, and a new claim suggests that it might be a similar case with the iPhone 17 Air.
iPhone 17 Air’s skinny battery
According to images posted on a South Korean blog (via Android Headlines), the iPhone 17 Air’s battery – together with metal case – will measure just 2.49mm thick.
It’s shown here alongside the battery for the iPhone 17 Pro, which appears to be about twice as thick.
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We’ve heard it claimed that this slim battery component will have a capacity of just 2900mAh. That’s way less than even the Galaxy S25 Edge’s 3900mAh cell.
Of course that doesn’t tell the whole story. iPhone batteries have always been considerably smaller than those of their Android competitors, with iOS famously energy efficient compared to its Google-developed rival.
The iPhone 16, for example, only has a 3561mAh battery. Even on those terms, of course, the iPhone 17 Air is hardly shaping up to be a battery life champ. We’re a little worried.
Powered up like it’s 2021
If those capacity claims are accurate, we could be looking at a return to the days of the iPhone 12.
Looking back to our review of Apple’s 2021 phone, it was generally capable of going all day, though more intensive use made things a little hairy.
Of course, Apple will be using a much more modern and energy-efficient processor for the iPad 17 Air, which will hopefully even things out a little. We’ll be interested to see how this one pans out.