Except for the iPhone 17 Air, all models in the iPhone 17 lineup are expected to feature larger batteries compared to their predecessors. The iPhones that lack a SIM card slot, which are anticipated to debut in Europe for the first time, will have even greater battery capacity, as indicated by a recent certification.
In the United States, iPhones have not included a SIM card slot for the past three years. Up until now, Apple has not utilized this additional space, but this is reportedly set to change this year. This information originates from a Chinese battery certification (see the screenshot below from the well-known Apple leaker ShrimpApplePro on X) and is therefore likely to be quite trustworthy.
Consequently, the iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max without a physical SIM slot are expected to provide approximately 5% more battery capacity than their counterparts with a traditional SIM card tray.
It appears that only the base model of the iPhone 17 will not gain a larger battery in the eSIM version, as Apple likely has not invested the additional effort in this instance. It remains unconfirmed whether European customers will receive the eSIM-only versions of the iPhone 17 series for the first time, although there have been some indications suggesting this possibility.
Overall, the battery capacity is set to increase by several percentage points compared to previous models, particularly for the iPhone 17 Pro, which will feature a battery that is 18.6% larger than that of the current iPhone 16 Pro. The unofficial successor to the iPhone 16 Plus, likely named the iPhone 17 Air, will see a reduction of nearly 50% in its capacity but will slim down to a thickness of 0.22 inches.
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Differences from recent spec sheet leak
These figures contrast with those that emerged last weekend in a leaked spec sheet from a Korean mobile provider. In uncertain situations, we would place more trust in this latest certification.
It is possible that the Korean leak only referred to estimated values in the relevant comparison table. We have compiled the current details into a table for improved comparability:
iPhone 17 batteries according to Chinese certification
iPhone 17: 3,692 mAh
iPhone 17 Air : 3,036 mAh
iPhone 17 Air eSIM: 3,149 mAh
iPhone 17 Pro: 3,988 mAh
iPhone 17 Pro eSIM: 4,252 mAh
iPhone 17 Pro Max 4,823 mAh
iPhone 17 Pro Max eSIM
