Last-minute iPhone 17 series leak reveals better-than-expected battery size numbers
It's pretty much etched in stone now that the iPhone 17, 17 Air, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max will all pack larger batteries than many previous reports suggested.
If you feel like your heart might explode if you have to wait until tomorrow to find out all the official iPhone 17, 17 Air, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max details... Apple is willing to share at the handset family's launch event, I've got a very special treat for you today. The entire lineup's battery capacity figures have leaked out at the eleventh hour, and all four seven of them are higher than anyone expected or predicted based on previous inside information or educated guesswork.
Solid (and surprising) upgrades across the board
If you've been following the rumblings of the iPhone 17 series rumor mill all these months, you probably know battery life was not among the areas predicted for a major improvement over the iPhone 16 roster by many reliable tipsters or pundits because, well, that's not how Apple typically operates.
But here we are today, looking at the below numbers that are just about etched in stone and noticing quite a few interesting details.
iPhone 17 series battery capacity
3,692mAh - base model;
3,036mAh - iPhone 17 Air;
3,149mAh - iPhone 17 Air (eSIM);
3,988mAh - iPhone 17 Pro;
4,252mAh - iPhone 17 Pro (eSIM);
4,823mAh - iPhone 17 Pro Max;
5,088mAh - iPhone 17 Pro Max (eSIM).
iPhone 16 series battery capacity
3,561mAh - base model;
4,674mAh - iPhone 16 Plus;
3,582mAh - iPhone 16 Pro;
4,685mAh - iPhone 16 Pro Max.
You don't have to be a math whiz to tell that the numbers in the first list will surpass the ones in the second list by quite a bit... with one notable exception. The ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air unsurprisingly packs a much smaller battery than the iPhone 16 Plus it's technically meant to replace in Apple's lineup, although even in that case, the 3,036 and 3,149mAh capacities tipped today are considerably higher than what previous reports suggested for the company's Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge rival.
Did you expect more or less from the iPhone 17 family's battery sizes?
Definitely less
21.28%
Maybe a little more
25.53%
These numbers perfectly line up with my expectations
18.09%
I'll wait to see how battery life looks in the real world
35.11%
Another very important detail to highlight (that's also very easy to notice) is that cell size will differ for the first time between the "standard" and eSIM versions of Apple's new iPhones... with the exception of the "vanilla" iPhone 17. That means some iPhone 17 Air, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max users might be able to squeeze better battery endurance scores out of their handsets than other owners of the same devices, but more importantly, it means that some models will offer truly significant upgrades in this department over their predecessors.
iPhone 17 series vs the competition
Should I even go there? Fine, I'll go there. These are the battery capacity figures of some of the iPhone 17 family's key rivals around:
Samsung Galaxy S25 - 4,000mAh;
Galaxy S25 Plus - 4,900mAh;
Galaxy S25 Ultra - 5,000mAh;
Galaxy S25 Edge - 3,900mAh;
Google Pixel 10 - 4,970mAh;
Pixel 10 Pro XL - 5,200mAh;
Pixel 9a - 5,100mAh;
OnePlus 13 - 6,000mAh;
Motorola Edge (2025) - 5,200mAh;
Motorola Razr (2025) - 4,500mAh.
If you're a hardcore Apple fan, your excitement from just about a minute ago may have been reduced to a minimum all of a sudden. But if you've ever watched an iPhone announcement event or tried to find an iPhone's spec sheet on its manufacturer's official website, you've surely noticed that the company never advertises their battery size numbers.
If the iPhone 16 Pro Max can keep up with the Galaxy S25 Ultra in terms of battery life, so should the 17 Pro Max soon. | Image Credit -- PhoneArena
That's not because the company is ashamed with said numbers, mind you, but because... they're really not that important. Our iPhone 16 Pro Max review, for instance, put the jumbo-sized device above the Pixel 9 Pro XL and roughly on par with the Galaxy S24 Ultra in battery life, and believe it or not, our OnePlus 13 review found that 6,000mAh cell-packing beast to be inferior to the iPhone 16 Pro Max in that field.
So should you or should you not be excited about the iPhone 17 family's battery life?
If you ask me, you totally should. Now, I can't promise you that the iPhone 17 Pro or iPhone 17 Pro Max will deliver the absolute highest real-world battery endurance numbers among the best phones available this holiday season, but I can just about guarantee that they'll improve on the already very solid 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max in that crucial department (as well as a bunch of others).
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Yes, the iPhone 17 series is as exciting as it could be. | Image Credit -- PhoneArena
The same should be true for the "regular" iPhone 17 compared to the iPhone 16 (albeit to a smaller degree), while the iPhone 17 Air is likely to... not be as poor a performer as practically everyone expected prior to today.
With Apple's famous energy efficiency optimizations taken into consideration, I could even see the first-of-a-kind ultra-thin iPhone beat the slightly thicker Galaxy S25 Edge in real-world battery life, which would be a major blow to Samsung's hopes of fending off the latest and greatest iPhone family at the global box-office.
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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