The tech world is already buzzing about Apple’s upcoming iPhone 17 series, set to debut in September 2025. This time, there’s a fresh face joining the lineup: the iPhone 17 Air. It’s stepping in to replace the ‘Plus’ models, which haven’t quite captured user interest like Apple hoped. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman even pointed to a potential launch date around September 8, 2025.
What’s got everyone talking about the iPhone 17 Air? Rumors suggest it will be incredibly thin, possibly around 5.5 mm. It might also feature just a single camera on the back. But this pursuit of a sleek design seems to come with a trade-off, especially concerning the battery.
A trusted tipster known as Majinbu recently shared what looks like the iPhone 17 Air’s battery. Images surfaced showing both US and Chinese versions, side-by-side. The big reveal? This new battery reportedly has a capacity of only about 2,900 mAh. To put that in perspective, the standard iPhone 16 sports a 3,561 mAh battery. Even many Android phones typically offer more juice than that. It certainly makes you wonder how Apple plans to manage power efficiency.
Interestingly, this new battery comes wrapped in a metal casing. Apple first used this design innovation with the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max last year. The metal case serves a couple of important purposes.
- It helps the battery cool down more effectively.
- It also makes the battery more durable and resistant to damage.
This metal shell is custom-built to perfectly fit the battery, which has an L-shape. It also pairs well with the newly designed, smaller main circuit board.
Majinbu further explained a clever design choice for different markets. The US version of the battery is wider. This is because Apple has removed the SIM card tray in US models, freeing up valuable internal space. This wider design lets the battery fill more of the phone’s interior, possibly maximizing its limited capacity.
The version intended for China, however, has a slightly different shape. This adjustment is necessary to accommodate the physical SIM card tray, while still making the most of the available space inside the device.
One piece of good news for consumers and repair shops: reports suggest all iPhone 17 models will use a new type of adhesive to hold the battery in place. This new glue should make it much easier to remove and replace the battery when needed.