Key takeaways:

The iPhone 17 Pro Max has outstanding battery life that easily lasts all day with charge to spare.

Our exclusive lab data shows you don't need to pay over a grand for excellent battery life. The $829 iPhone 17's battery lasts just as long as the $1,099 iPhone 17 Pro.

The ultrathin iPhone Air, with a modest battery capacity, outlasted Samsung's premium Galaxy S25 phones.

I've been reviewing smartphones at CNET for nearly a decade. If there's one feature people consistently want in a new iPhone or Android phone, it's longer battery life.

When Apple launched the new iPhone 17 series and iPhone Air, it spent considerable time touting the longer battery life of the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max, as compared to their predecessors.

My fellow CNET reviewers and I h

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