At Apple’s event yesterday, battery life was one of the big marketing points for the iPhone 17 Pro series. However, it turns out that the best battery life models of the Pro and Pro Max are not actually available to buy worldwide.
In the United States, Apple quotes 30 hours streaming video playback for iPhone 17 Pro and 35 hours for iPhone 17 Pro Max. But in the UK, Europe, and elsewhere, the tech specs list battery life of 28 hours and 33 hours respectively, two hours less than their US model counterparts.
The reason for this is (the lack of) eSIM. New for this year, where eSIM only models are sold, Apple uses the spare internal space to pack in a bigger battery.
The problem is eSIM-only models are not sold in all international markets. Across Europe, Australia, China, only the iPhone 17 Pro with physical SIM card tray are available to purchase. Even if you only ever intend to use an eSIM with your new 17 Pro or Pro Max, you won’t be able to get the longest quoted battery life numbers as the physical batteries capacities in these models is less.
However, while it is disappointing that Apple is not selling eSIM-only phones as options in these regions, the battery life performance of iPhone 17 Pro with physical SIM card is still better than its 16 Pro predecessor.
Using Apple’s numbers, the iPhone 16 Pro manages 22 hours of streaming video playback, whereas the 17 Pro with physical SIM card slot will get 28 hours. That’s still a 27% improvement year-over-year. Similarly, the Max goes from 29 hours for the 16 Pro Max to 33 hours for the 17 Pro Max with SIM card tray, a roughly 13% increase.
But the percentage jump for the eSIM-only phones is larger still, as they get two additional hours each. It seems Apple will sell eSIM-only iPhone 17 Pro models in the United States, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Qatar, Saudi Arabia.