The Silicon Edge: iPhone 17 Pro Max Wins the Battery Wars

While it’s not uncommon to hear complaints of lackluster iPhone battery life, Apple’s largest flagship iPhone Pro Max models typically hold their own against even the best modern Android rivals, even despite packing in smaller cells. The iPhone 16 Pro Max came in third behind two others with substantially larger batteries, but this year the iPhone 17 Pro Max is beating out even those thanks to Apple’s power-efficiency improvements.

In a battery stress test of 35 phones, CNET found that the iPhone 17 Pro Max came in first, beating out the new OnePlus 15 despite that model’s 40% larger battery. However, there was another second-place contender that was even more surprising: the humble iPhone 17.

That’s a stark contrast from previous years, when the standard iPhone model has failed to crack the top ten, and it’s even more surprising considering it packs in only a 3,692 mAh battery. Whatever Apple has done with its in-house silicon — specifically the A19 and new N1 Wi-Fi/Bluetooth chips — and new 120Hz ProMotion display, it appears to be working.

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To put this in perspective, the iPhone 17 Pro Max, which handily came out on top, has a 5,088 mAh battery, while the OnePlus 15, which tied with the iPhone 17 for second place, packs in a gargantuan 7,300 mAh cell. Those larger batteries have always been a hallmark for OnePlus, but it’s clear the enthusiast brand needs them, as the more affordable OnePlus 15R has an even larger battery — 7,400 mAh — yet it sat back in fifth place in the CNET roundup, in a four-way tie with the 2025 Motorola Edge, 2025 Moto G Stylus, and OnePlus 13R, all of which had cells of 6,000 mAh or less.

Meanwhile, the iPhone 17 Pro sat in a solitary fourth place, behind the Poco F7 Ultra. Unsurprisingly, the iPhone Air didn’t make the list, since even though it delivers impressive battery life for its ultra-thin 5.6 mm form factor, it can’t hold a candle to smartphones that actually have the space to pack in real batteries.

In averaging out the scores to come up with a list of brands that offer the best battery life, Apple came out on top with 91.7%, edging out OnePlus at 89.25%, followed by Motorola (87.43%), Samsung (87.22%), and Google (85.70%).

Methodology Matters

Before we get too excited, it’s important to note that CNET’s tests actually differed substantially from a roundup that Tom’s Guide published last month. In that battery life tourney, the iPhone 17 Pro Max actually came in tenth, with several Motorola and OnePlus phones scoring higher, and the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro coming in third behind the OnePlus 15 and OnePlus 15R. No other iPhone 17 models made that list, although the iPhone 16 Pro Max came in eleventh, and the iPhone 16 Plus sat down in fifteenth place.

This just goes to show how different tests can yield entirely different results, and which one to follow may depend on how you plan to use your iPhone, so we’ll first present both sides of the coin and let you decide for yourself.

Here’s the methodology used by CNET:

CNET runs two battery-life benchmarks (video streaming and stress tests) that let us compare phones. In our 3-hour video battery test, where we streamed a video over Wi-Fi with the screen at full brightness and the battery starting at 100%, the iPhone 17 Pro Max was the top performer.

In CNET’s 45-minute endurance test, during which we play games, stream videos, scroll social media and take a video call with the battery starting at 100%, the iPhone 17 Pro Max was again at the very top and joined behind by three other Apple models, including the iPhone 16E, which starts at $599.

For Tom’s Guide:

In this test, we set the display of a phone to 150 nits, so that we can get consistent results. We then run a script on the phone that makes it surf the web via its default browser app until the phone runs out of power and we time the results. Phones with longest endurance land on the best phone battery life list, though we cycle out devices older than 18 months to keep our list of longest-lasting phones current.

Tom’s Guide also notes that it tests phones multiple times at different refresh rates, although it’s not entirely clear how it does this with the iPhone, which doesn’t provide any way to “lock” the display to a specific refresh rate.

For Apple’s part, it promises up to 39 hours of video playback on the iPhone 17 Pro Max, or up to 30 hours on the iPhone 17. Those specs are for the eSIM-only versions sold in the US and several other countries, as Apple used the extra space previously occupied by the physical SIM slot to put in a larger battery in this year’s SIM-free models, resulting in a healthy jump of 6–8 hours over their respective predecessors. Meanwhile, iPhone 17 models sold in countries where a SIM slot is still included will get slightly less battery life —  but as US-based sites, it’s a safe assumption that CNET and Tom’s Guide both tested the US models.

CNET’s numbers are likely more reflective of real-world use than the raw “run-it-until-it’s-dead” endurance tests done by Tom’s Guide, but chances are that neither truly reflect how everyone uses their iPhone, which means your actual mileage may vary. Playing a AAA console game like Assassin’s Creed: Mirage for five hours on an iPhone 17 Pro Max will drain the battery much faster than surfing the web or even watching standard movies and TV shows, which typically run the ProMotion display at much more battery-friendly refresh rates of 24Hz and 30Hz. Still, it’s fair to say that if getting the best battery life is crucial, you really can’t go wrong with the iPhone 17 Pro Max.