With the iPhone 17 lineup, Apple didn’t just remove the physical SIM tray as a “small design tweak” — going eSIM-only is actually one of the key engineering reasons the new phones can hit record-breaking battery life.
And at the top of the lineup, iPhone 17 Pro Max stands out. Its battery easily beats every previous iPhone and even the other models in the same series.
By dropping the traditional SIM card slot, Apple freed up precious internal space — and used that extra room for a bigger battery.
Pushing the Limits: iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Record
On the battery side, the flagship model makes a giant leap. According to Apple’s official numbers:
- iPhone Air offers up to 27 hours of video playback.
- iPhone 17 Pro Max gives you 12 more hours than iPhone Air – so you’re looking at around 39 hours of video playback.
- The regular iPhone 17 lasts about 3 hours longer than the iPhone Air, roughly 30 hours of video playback.
Put simply, iPhone 17 Pro Max sets a new battery life milestone across Apple’s entire iPhone lineup.
eSIM: The “Invisible” Upgrade Behind the Bigger Battery
eSIM (embedded SIM) is a digital SIM that lives inside the phone — no physical card or tray required.
Apple has already been pushing eSIM in markets like the US, Canada, Japan, and the UAE for the iPhone 17 and 17 Pro. But with iPhone Air, Apple goes all-in: it’s eSIM-only in every country, with no physical SIM slot at all.
That global eSIM-only move brings some very real hardware advantages for battery life:
- More internal space
- Removing the nano-SIM tray and its supporting parts frees up extra space inside the phone. Apple can then use that space for a larger battery.
- Better security & convenience
- An eSIM can’t be physically removed if the phone is lost or stolen, which adds a layer of security. At the same time, users can store and manage up to 8 eSIM profiles, making it super convenient to switch carriers when traveling.
On iPhone Air, that saved space helps Apple push the design down to just 5.6 mm thick — the thinnest iPhone they’ve ever made.
On the Pro Max, Apple uses that same freed-up space differently: instead of going ultra-thin, it packs in a bigger battery for crazy-good endurance.
Pro Series: Built for Power Users
Battery life aside, the iPhone 17 Pro lineup still keeps a big gap between Pro models and the standard versions, with a bunch of pro-grade features:
- Faster data transfer
- iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max come with a USB-C port that supports USB 3, with transfer speeds up to 10 Gbit/s.
- By comparison, iPhone Air and the standard iPhone 17 are limited to USB 2.0 (up to 480 Mbit/s) — that’s more than 20x slower on paper.
- ProRes video
- The professional ProRes video format remains exclusive to the Pro lineup, aimed at creators who need higher-quality footage and more flexible editing.
- LiDAR Scanner
- The LiDAR Scanner is still a Pro-only feature, improving AR experiences and helping with faster, more accurate portrait focusing — especially in low light.
- A19 Pro chip
- At the heart of the iPhone 17 Pro Max is the A19 Pro chip, delivering top-tier performance for gaming, content creation, and multitasking.
A Phone That Balances Power, Pro Features & All-Day-Plus Battery
By going all-in on eSIMs and ditching the physical SIM tray, Apple gained more flexibility in how it uses internal space. On the Pro Max, that extra flexibility translates directly into a bigger battery = longer life.
Combine that with pro-level features like USB 3 speeds, ProRes, LiDAR, and the A19 Pro chip, and iPhone 17 Pro Max ends up being a rare combo in one device:
- Truly all-day (and then some) battery,
- Professional-grade tools for creators and power users,
- And the convenience of a modern, eSIM-only design.
For anyone who wants both performance and the longest-lasting iPhone battery ever, this is the one to look at.
| iPhone Clear Case | Price |
| iPhone 16 | $34.95 Buy on Amazon |
| iPhone 16 Plus | $39.00 Buy on Amazon |
| iPhone 16 Pro | $34.95 Buy on Amazon |
| iPhone 16 Pro Max | $37.00 Buy on Amazon |
| iPhone 17 | $25.00 Buy on Amazon |
| iPhone 17 Pro | $25.00 Buy on Amazon |
| iPhone 17 Pro Max | $25.00 Buy on Amazon |
| iPhone Air | $37.00 Buy on Amazon |
