iPhone 17 Air just tipped for killer upgrade that could blow away Galaxy S25 Edge
Samsung and Apple are locked in a race to bring us the slimmest smartphone possible. But one serious compromise of a thinner profile is a similarly smaller battery, as we've seen with the Galaxy S25 Edge.
Apple may have a fix for that, with the upcoming ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air reportedly sporting new silicon batteries that pack 15% more energy into the same space compared to existing smartphone batteries.
According to a Bloomberg report, Apple and Samsung battery supplier TDK has accelerated its production timeline for its new generation of silicon-anode batteries. Shipments are now set to begin by the end of June, a few months ahead of its earlier window of September.
"We've made good progress, and we're shipping them very soon," TDK Chief Executive Officer Noboru Saito said. "Some handset makers might be able to use the new battery in their product one generation early." He added that this will 'give smartphone makers enough time to use these cells in thinner models launching this year.'
Meaning that the iPhone 17 Air, which is expected to be announced in September, could be the first Apple smartphone to feature TDK's third iteration of silicon-anode battery technology. Apple was previously rumored to adopt silicon-anode batteries for the second-generation iPhone Air, but with this new timeline, it looks like the first-generation model could get those improvements in battery life instead.
Chinese smartphone manufacturers have already begun upgrading their flagships to silicon batteries, which tend to last significantly longer than their American competitors.
TDK's silicon-anode batteries store about 15% more energy in the same physical space as conventional graphite-based battery packs. The extra density is possible because silicon can hold more lithium ions per gram than graphite, letting brands squeeze longer-lasting batteries into less real estate. This advancement could prove essential to maintaining a decent battery life in ultra-thin phones.
Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.
That's been one of the biggest drawbacks of the Galaxy S25 Edge, Samsung's thinnest phone to date. Measuring just 5.8mm thick, it lasted just 12 hours and 38 minutes on a full charge in our Galaxy S25 Edge battery tests, far below the time recorded by the Galaxy S25 Ultra. With the iPhone 17 Air rumored to be even thinner at 5.5mm, Apple has its work cut out for it.
Apple could have another trick up its sleeve for longer battery life with the iPhone 17 Air: artificial intelligence. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported that the company has an AI-powered management mode in the works for iOS 19, which will "analyze how a person uses their device and make adjustments to conserve energy." To achieve this, Apple's "using battery data it has collected from users' devices to understand trends and make predictions for when it should lower the power draw of certain applications or features."
Between AI-powered battery optimization and the latest-and-greatest silicon battery, the iPhone 17 Air seems primed to leave the Galaxy S25 Edge in the dust when it comes to holding a charge.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Epoch Times
20 minutes ago
- Epoch Times
Dutch Defense Minister Warns of Escalating Chinese Spy Operations
Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans warned Saturday that Chinese cyber espionage targeting the Netherlands is intensifying, with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) particularly focused on stealing advanced semiconductor technology. 'The semiconductor industry, which we are technologically leading—or technology advanced, of course—to get that intellectual property, that's interesting to China,' Brekelmans told Reuters on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore on May 30.
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Blue Origin completes 12th human flight to space
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Space technology company Blue Origin successfully completed its 12th human spaceflight and the 32nd flight for the New Shepard program on Saturday morning, May 31. The launch took place from the company's facility outside of Van Horn and took a human crew to the Karman line, the internationally recognized boundary of space. The crew included: K-12 STEM teacher Aymette Medina Jorge; radiologist turned explorer Dr. Gretchen Green; former Panamanian ambassador to the United States Jaime Alemán; businessman Jesse Williams; aerospace executive Mark Rocket; and entrepreneur Paul Jeris. Including Saturday's crew, New Shepard has now flown 64 people into space — including four who have flown twice — among them scientific researchers, educators, physicians, explorers, and entrepreneurs. 'We thank our customers for trusting us to give them the opportunity to appreciate Earth's fragility from above, an experience that truly transforms those who embark on it,' said Phil Joyce, senior vice president of New Shepard. 'We look forward to seeing what our remarkable crew will do with this experience. I am proud of our team's dedication in making these moments possible.' Here is what Blue Origin said about the New Shepard program: 'Named after astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space, New Shepard is Blue Origin's fully reusable, autonomous suborbital rocket system built to fly humans and scientific payloads to space. The rocket is powered by one BE-3PM engine, which is fueled by a highly efficient and clean combination of liquid hydrogen and oxygen. During flight, the only byproduct of New Shepard's engine combustion is water vapor, with no carbon emissions.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max: The Best View Yet Of New Design Just Leaked
Updated May 31 with more analysis of the iPhone 17 Pro Max design in further leaks. When Apple releases its next iPhones this fall, it'll be clear whether reports of a thicker-than-ever iPhone Pro Max are true. How thick is too thick? A new video showing a dummy may give us clues and now the same source has provided us with a further picture of an iPhone 17 Pro dummy for comparison. More on that in a moment. It comes from prolific leaker Majin Bu, with the caption 'iPhone 17 Pro is beautiful,' followed by a 33-second video. To be clear, this is not the real thing, though it's a well-built mock-up. Assuming it's following the well-leaked details and dimensions (and assuming they are accurate in the first place), what does it tell us? This mock-up shows the rear camera panel in a shade that matches the rear of the iPhone, unlike most earlier leaks which showed the camera panel in black. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported in April that this wouldn't be the case. Here it looks like the camera panel, which stretches across the width of the phone, is made of glass, with the iPhone's color showing through. So, how thick is it? There have been several reports that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will be thicker than ever, potentially to provide a great benefit: increased battery life. In a separate post on X, Majin Bu has published an image showing and iPhone 16 Pro alongside a dummy of the iPhone 17 Pro, to show how the camera modules will change. It's hard to tell but it looks like the iPhone 16 Pro may have slightly larger lenses, though this could be down to the 16 Pro simply being nearer the camera. The most striking differences remain the full-width camera panel and the repositioning of the flash, LiDAR scanner and microphone. In the latest video, the dummy phone is shown from more or less every angle, including side-on. The iPhone 16 Pro Max measures 8.25mm from front to back, while reports have suggested this fall's replacement will be 8.725mm thick. That's a difference of 0.475mm, which isn't exactly gargantuan. As a result, it doesn't look much thicker, if at all, in the video. This may calm those who worry a thicker phone, especially of this screen size, could be too much in the hand. Of course, Apple will have thought of this and curved the edges, for instance, to mitigate this. Though since many people put this expensive piece of technology in a case, there's the thickness of the case to be factored in here, too. The dummy shows other elements just as you'd expect to see them, such as the volume rocker and Action button on the left edge, side button and Camera Control on the right. By the way, it looks like this dummy is a non-U.S. iPhone, as the SIM tray is there, where the mmWave antenna lozenge sits in American iPhones. Of course, if the dummy reflects accurately what the iPhone 17 Pro Max will look like, that SIM tray is likely to be the only cosmetic difference.
