Oct 01, 2025 09:30:00

We measured the battery life and charging speed of the 'iPhone 17', 'iPhone 17 Pro', and 'iPhone Air' and checked whether they would overheat under heavy load.

GIGAZINE obtained the

iPhone 17 , iPhone 17 Pro , and iPhone Air to check their camera performance and benchmark scores. Questions like, 'What's the battery life of the slim iPhone Air?' and 'The iPhone 17 Pro has a vapor chamber cooling mechanism, but how cool does it actually get?' remain unanswered, so we measured the battery life, battery charging speed, and temperature under heavy load for the three models to answer those questions.

iPhone - Apple (Japan)
https://www.apple.com/jp/iphone/

·table of contents
◆1: Compare battery life
◆2: Comparison of the time required for a full charge
◆3: Temperature comparison during charging
◆4: Compare temperatures under high load
◆5: Summary

◆1: Compare battery life
The official battery life for the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air is as follows: For video streaming, the iPhone 17 is said to last up to 27 hours, the iPhone 17 Pro up to 30 hours, and the iPhone Air up to 22 hours. However, since the official values were obtained in Apple's testing environment , we will actually measure the battery life at the GIGAZINE editorial department.

So, we lined up the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air from top to bottom and measured the time it took for the battery to run out while playing

a YouTube video full screen from a fully charged state. The screen brightness was set to maximum, the volume was set to 50%, and the internet was connected via Wi-Fi. The room temperature was also kept at 26°C with the air conditioner on.

My iPhone 17 battery ran out 12 hours and 31 minutes after playback started.

Next, the iPhone Air ran out of battery after 15 hours and 5 minutes.

The iPhone 17 Pro's battery also ran out 15 hours and 41 minutes after the measurement began.

The battery life of the three models is summarized in the table below. The iPhone Air is very thin and has the shortest nominal battery life, but under the test conditions, it lasted more than two and a half hours longer than the iPhone 17.

Model	Battery life
iPhone 17	12 hours 31 minutes
iPhone 17 Pro	15 hours 41 minutes
iPhone Air	15 hours 5 minutes

◆2: Comparison of the time required for a full charge
Looking at the official specs, the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro can be charged up to 50% in 20 minutes using a 40W charging adapter, while the iPhone Air can be charged up to 50% in 30 minutes using a 20W charging adapter, showing the difference in charging performance.

To check the actual charging speed, I used

an Anker charging adapter with a 70W output . I used the USB Type-C cable that came with the iPhone 17 Pro.

The graph below shows the remaining battery life recorded every 10 minutes. After 30 minutes, the iPhone 17 was at 72%, the iPhone 17 Pro was at 67%, and the iPhone Air was at 56%. The iPhone 17 then took 90 minutes to fully charge, while the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air took 100 minutes.

◆3: Temperature comparison during charging
We measured the temperature of the battery while it was charging using the infrared thermography '

FLIR i3 .' The display side of the iPhone 17 was around 33 degrees.

The back is around 34 degrees.

The iPhone 17 Pro has a display side angle of around 36 degrees.

The back is around 37 degrees.

The display side of the iPhone Air is around 36 degrees.

The back of the device was around 38°C. None of the models felt hot while charging.

◆4: Compare temperatures under high load
To measure the temperature under heavy load, we leaned the three models against a wall and recorded 4K 60fps video for 10 minutes, then measured the temperature.

The display side of the iPhone 17 is around 41 degrees.

The back is also around 41 degrees.

The display side of the iPhone 17 Pro is around 43 degrees.

The back is about 44 degrees.

The display side of the iPhone Air is 44 to 45 degrees.

The back was about 46 degrees.

Since the iPhone 16 Pro supports shooting at 4K and 120fps, we also measured the temperature when shooting at 4K and 120fps for 10 minutes.

The display side is 44 degrees.

The back was 45 to 46 degrees.

None of the models became too hot to hold, even when shooting high-resolution video.

◆5: Summary
After comparing the battery performance of the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air, we found that the iPhone Air's battery lasted longer than expected. Meanwhile, the iPhone Air had the fastest charging speed. However, the time it takes to charge to 100% is similar for the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro, so battery performance is unlikely to be an issue. Furthermore, overheating under heavy load doesn't appear to be a major problem for any of the three models.

The benchmark scores for the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air are summarized in the article below. Overall, the iPhone 17 Pro performed best, while the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air swapped places depending on the test.

Simultaneous benchmark test of 'iPhone 17', 'iPhone 17 Pro', and 'iPhone Air', exploring the performance differences between the original, Pro, and Air - GIGAZINE

GIGAZINE has also reviewed the photography performance of the three models in detail. Summarizing the results of its benchmarks, camera performance, battery performance, and heat generation, the iPhone 17 is 'a smartphone that can be recommended to anyone with no particular weaknesses,' the iPhone 17 Pro 'has high processing performance, camera performance, and battery performance, and is recommended for those looking for a high-performance smartphone,' and the iPhone Air 'has processing performance comparable to the standard model, and low camera performance, but battery performance is fine. It is for those who are attracted to a thin body.'

A thorough review of the iPhone 17's camera performance: How the ultra-wide-angle camera upgraded to 48 megapixels performs - GIGAZINE