The leaks just keep coming ahead of Tuesday’s “awe-dropping” Apple event, and it looks like the iPhone 17 series will have significantly bigger batteries.
According to leaker @ShrimpApplePro on X, Chinese regulatory listings indicate that all the new phones that Apple is unveiling on Tuesday — the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max — will have larger batteries. The exception will be the iPhone 17 Air, which is trading its ultrathin build for less battery capacity.
We have no way to verify the rumors, but we will find out if they’re accurate in 24 hours. Apple did not immediately respond to CNET’s request for comment.
Read more: Apple’s iPhone 17 Event Is Just Two Days Away. Here’s How to Watch
The biggest jump is with the Pro, which will gain 18.7% in battery capacity from the previous iPhone 16 Pro, specifically 3,582 mAh to 4,252 mAh. If what’s past is prologue, that could mean several more hours in video stream time. The iPhone 16 Pro battery capacity was 300 mAh more than the iPhone 15 Pro, and that translated into four more hours of playback.
YouTube tech influencer Austin Evans (5.7 million subscribers) is “excited” about the bigger iPhone batteries and thinks the Pro Max could be a “battery champ” among all phones if Apple upgrades its cooling. But Evans has “so many questions” about the Air.
“I do think a dramatically thinner design will be appealing to some people (and certainly more than the Plus models of the past),” Evans told CNET. “It could deliver enough longevity for the average user, especially paired with Apple’s C1 modem, but it also feels like a phone that you’ll likely want to rely on a MagSafe battery bank.”
Evans said he was sold on thin after having used the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge. “It’s so hard to describe how nice an ultraslim phone feels in the hand to someone who hasn’t tried one,” Evans said. “It’s one of those things you have to feel to wrap your head around why all the trade-offs are (mostly) worth it.”
Another tidbit from @ShrimpApplePro is that Apple will finally surpass the 5,000-mAh threshold for the first time with the iPhone 17 Pro Max, with a capacity of 5,088 mAh. That would be three to four more hours of battery life compared to the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Read more: Full iPhone 17 Lineup Specs: Comparing the Latest Rumored Info
It appears that the iPhone 17 models with eSIM slots will have bigger batteries than those with physical SIM trays. These eSIM iPhones will only be sold in China and other select markets. US customers have only been able to buy iPhones with eSIM slots since the iPhone 14 lineup.
Here are the rumored specs for the iPhone 17 battery capacities (for the models with eSIM slots):
- iPhone 17, 3,692 mAh (3.7% more than iPhone 16)
- iPhone 17 Pro, 4,252 mAh (18.7% more than iPhone 16 Pro)
- iPhone 17 Pro Max, 5,088 mAh (8.6% more than iPhone 16 Pro Max)
- iPhone 17 Air, 3,149 mAh (33% less than iPhone 16 Plus)
Read the full article here