The standard iPhone 17 doesn’t show its age despite being a year old. The handset remains in Apple’s lineup after the introduction of the iPhone 18 Pros, as there is no base iPhone 18 to replace it. Consumers looking for an iPhone upgrade wouldn’t be wrong to buy the $899 model instead of one of the more expensive iPhone 18 Pro models or Apple’s first foldable iPhone. Since battery life may be one of the main reasons to buy a brand new iPhone, consumers will want to know how long the iPhone 17 battery lasts. The benefit of purchasing this model a year after release is that there are plenty of reviews and battery tests to show exactly what the standard model is capable of in real-world scenarios in addition to Apple’s battery estimates.
That said, it is important to know these official estimates:
- iPhone 17: 30 hours (video playback) and 27 hours (streaming video playback)
- iPhone 16: 22 hours (video playback) and 18 hours (streaming video playback)
- iPhone 16 Pro: 27 hours (video playback) and 22 hours (streaming video playback)
- iPhone 17e: 26 hours (video playback) and 21 hours (streaming video playback)
- iPhone Air: 27 hours (video playback) and 22 hours (streaming video playback)
- iPhone 17 Pro: 33 hours (video playback) and 30 hours (streaming video playback)
- iPhone 17 Pro Max: 39 hours (video playback) and 35 hours (streaming video playback)
- iPhone 18 Pro: 36 hours (video playback) and 33 hours (streaming video playback)
- iPhone 18 Pro Max: 45 hours (video playback) and 40 hours (streaming video playback)
This quick comparison shows that the iPhone 17 offers a significant increase in battery life compared to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro and outperforms the cheaper iPhone 17e and the more expensive iPhone Air.
The real iPhone 17 battery tests
Apple doesn’t offer any other battery life estimates for iPhones beyond the two figures related to video playback. But smartphone users do much more than just stream videos to their device. Users run various apps at any time and switch between light and demanding apps, like the Camera app, and high-end games that can be much more power-hungry. There is also the iPhone’s Always-On feature which can consume additional power when the handset is not in use. Fortunately, various reviewers have established their own standard battery tests over the years, which they use for every new smartphone.
For example, Tom’s Guide sets the screen brightness to 150 nits and fully charges the battery. The handset then surfs the web via 5G until the battery runs out. The blog claims that this is a “demanding test” and that only handsets that last at least 11.5 hours end up on its best phone batteries list. The iPhone 17, with a battery life of 12 hours and 47 minutes, is part of this list. To put things in perspective, here are some other models: iPhone 16 (12:43 p.m.), iPhone 17e (12:35 p.m.) and iPhone 17 Pro (15:32 p.m.).
Likewise, Notebookcheck uses standard battery tests for smartphones. In its Wi-Fi test, the screen brightness is set at 150 cd/m2, while a script loads web pages every 30 seconds. The iPhone 17’s battery lasted 20.1 hours in the test, compared to 18.3 hours for the iPhone 16. However, PhoneArena’s web browsing test, which simulates real-world internet use, yielded somewhat different results. The iPhone 17 lasted 16 hours and 47 minutes, one minute less than the iPhone 16.
Real-world gaming and video streaming testing
PhoneArena’s battery tests also include video streaming and gaming tests and the trend continues, with the iPhone 16 outlasting the iPhone 17. In the video test, the iPhone 17 survived 7 hours and 19 minutes when playing videos, compared to 7 hours and 30 minutes for the iPhone 16. The iPhone 17 lasted 9 hours and 12 minutes in the 3D gaming test, which is 40 minutes less than the iPhone 16. The screen brightness is set at 200 nits, and the blog tests the handsets over Wi-Fi. PhoneArena uses all three tests to calculate a battery score, which provides “a rough estimate of the expected screen time” of the handset. The iPhone 17’s battery score is 6 hours and 13 minutes, compared to 6 hours and 21 minutes for the iPhone 16.
Notebookcheck’s more intensive test, with the screen set to maximum brightness, allows the iPhone 17 to survive for 4.4 hours, compared to 3.6 hours for the iPhone 16. The blog’s “load” test involves running the PUBG game in the lobby with the maximum frame rate and the Ultra HD setting enabled.
Separately, Notebookcheck runs a video playback battery test, in which the iPhone plays a Full HD video in a loop with the brightness set to 150 cd/m2, the sound set to silent, and Airplane mode enabled. The iPhone 17 survived 29.4 hours, compared to 23.1 hours for the iPhone 16 in this test, which closely matches Apple’s estimates. ExpertReviews has its own standard test for smartphone battery life. It sets the screen brightness to 170 cd/m2 and activates Airplane mode before using the VLC app to play a looping video. The iPhone 17 lasted 29.2 hours during its test, compared to 25.8 hours for the iPhone 16.
