The iPhone 17 Pro Max just clocked 17 hours and 54 minutes in Tom’s Guide’s standardized battery testing, making it the longest-lasting iPhone ever built. That’s 40 minutes longer than Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra and nearly two hours ahead of Google’s Pixel 10 Pro XL, despite Google packing a larger 5,200 mAh battery. Apple’s flagship finally delivers the all-day endurance that users have demanded for years.
Pro Models Deliver Real Improvements
The iPhone 17 Pro Max houses Apple’s largest-ever iPhone battery at 5,088 mAh, and the results speak for themselves. Meanwhile, the iPhone 17 Pro achieved 15 hours and 32 minutes—a substantial 85-minute improvement over the iPhone 16 Pro’s 14 hours and 7 minutes. Apple redesigned the internal architecture to squeeze more battery capacity into the same form factor, and for Pro buyers, that engineering effort paid off.
If you’re upgrading from an iPhone 14 or 15 Pro, you’ll notice the difference during marathon video calls or day-long travel. The Pro’s 4,252 mAh battery represents a meaningful capacity increase that translates into real-world endurance gains.
Base iPhone 17 Barely Budges the Needle
Here’s where things get disappointing. The base iPhone 17 managed only 12 hours and 47 minutes—a pathetic four-minute improvement over the iPhone 16 despite packing a 3,692 mAh battery versus the previous generation’s 3,561 mAh. That 3.7% capacity increase should have delivered meaningful gains, but optimization apparently fell short.
Samsung’s Galaxy S25 crushes the iPhone 17 with 15 hours and 43 minutes, making Apple’s offering look like yesterday’s technology. You’re better off spending the extra money on the Pro or sticking with your current phone.
iPhone Air Prioritizes Style Over Stamina
The iPhone Air’s svelte profile comes at a steep cost: 12 hours and 2 minutes of battery life from its compact 3,149 mAh battery. Even Samsung’s competing Galaxy S25 Edge beats it by 36 minutes while somehow fitting a much larger 3,900 mAh battery into a similar thin design.
Apple chose extreme aesthetics over practical endurance, and it shows. Unless you absolutely need the thinnest possible iPhone, the Air’s battery life will leave you hunting for chargers by dinnertime.
OnePlus Still Rules the Battery Kingdom
The OnePlus 13 remains the battery life champion at 19 hours and 45 minutes, nearly two hours ahead of Apple’s best effort. Its massive 6,000 mAh battery simply overwhelms the competition through brute force capacity.
For users who prioritize all-day endurance above ecosystem integration, OnePlus continues delivering what Apple cannot: genuinely worry-free battery performance that lasts well into the next day.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max finally makes Apple competitive in flagship battery life, but the base model’s stagnation and the Air’s compromises leave significant gaps in the lineup. Choose your iPhone 17 model carefully—or consider whether Android alternatives better match your endurance expectations.
