One of the key compromises with the iPhone Air is a smaller battery, but a combination of real-life usage and lab tests suggests that it will get you through a typical day.
In one lab stress test, for example, where the phone is used with the screen on maximum brightness for three hours of video streaming, the iPhone Air dropped 15% of battery life – which is the same as the iPhone 15 …
iPhone Air Lab tests
CNET has been conducting the same smartphone battery tests for three years, giving a lot of comparative data for context. When it put the latest models through their paces, the lab data was encouraging.
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 17, 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max and even the Air, especially compared to older iPhone models.
The video streaming test is reasonably demanding because it streams video over Wi-Fi for three hours with the screen at maximum brightness, which is significantly more power-hungry than the everyday brightness levels selected by most users.
Phones start fully charged, and the percentage lost during the test is measured. The results:
- iPhone 17 Pro Max: 9% (the first ever single-digit result by an iPhone)
- iPhone 17: 11%
- iPhone 17 Pro: 15%
- iPhone Air: 15%
So the iPhone Air did as well as the iPhone 17 Pro, which is also the same as the iPhone 15.
The site also puts phones through a 45-minute endurance test. This is intended to show the impact of power-intensive usage, including games, streaming videos, and a video call. Again, it measures the percentage reduction in remaining battery capacity. Here, the iPhone Air did notably worse:
- iPhone 17 Pro Max: 1%
- iPhone 17: 2%
- iPhone 17 Pro: 2%
- iPhone Air: 5%
iPhone Air real-world usage
The iPhone Air did respectably well in real-world usage.
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.
If you do need to do a top-up during the day, wired charging speeds are also decent.
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.
There’s a lot more data on the complete lineup in the full piece. Check out also my colleague Ryan Christoffel’s one-month report on using the iPhone Air as his daily driver.
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