Apple's iPhone 17 Air faces a new threat — Samsung's latest leak hints at a super thin phone with epic battery

Tom's Guide

a day ago

Apple is expected to launch its ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air in about a month, but new rumors about battery life could place the unreleased phone even further behind rival Samsung's own super-skinny Galaxy S25 Edge and next year's Galaxy S26 Edge.
Regular Samsung tipster Ice Universe posted that the S26 Edge might have a significantly bigger battery than the S25 Edge. "The battery information I got for the S26 Edge is 4,400 mAh," they wrote on X.
However, they also added a caveat that the there is "some conflict," and they are double checking the information.
If the rumor is true, that would be a major boost over the 3,900mAh battery featured in the current Galaxy S25 Edge. A previous rumor had suggested the battery would only go up to 4,200mAh, an improvement though not as much as what Ice Universe is now talking about.
In our Galaxy S25 Edge review, we found that the phone lasted 12 hours and 24 minutes in battery testing. That's two hours longer than the average phone but at least four hours shorter than what other Samsung models like the the Galaxy S25 Plus and Galaxy S25 Ultra can last. We also found that the S25 Edge's battery seemed to drain faster than other phones.
The iPhone 17 Air may already find itself at a disadvantage if rumors about the battery on Apple's unreleased phone prove accurate. Reportedly, the phone is set to use a 2,800 mAh battery. Even with Apple having a history of featuring smaller batteries than its competition, that's a noticeably petite power pack.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has reported that iPhone 17 Air battery life will be "on par" with other iPhone models, which is encouraging. Apparently, Apple is counting on power savings from a new A19 processor plus the Apple-built C1 modem to help the phone last long enough in spite of its smaller battery.
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Both Apple and Samsung have been rumored to mulling a switch to silicon carbon batteries from lithium ion ones in future phones. Silicon carbon is supposed to have higher density enabling more charge in smaller cell sizes.
Presumably, switching to the silicon carbon anode would enable the companies to slot in thinner batteries with similar capacity to lithium ion batteries they already use.
But that move is further down the road. For now, phone makers have to grapple with the challenge of fitting enough battery into increasingly slender models. And it's a challenge that Samsung appears to be meeting if this latest Galaxy S26 Edge rumor pans out.