Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max vs Apple iPhone Air
A spec-by-spec comparison of the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max and the Apple iPhone Air, taken from their full specification sheets. Green marks the better value in each measured row.
Head to head
| Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max | Apple iPhone Air |
|---|
| Our rating | 9/10 | 8/10 |
| Battery | 5,088 mAh | — |
| Wired charging | 40W | — |
| Storage (max) | 512 GB | — |
| Screen size | 6.9 in | 6.5 in |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | — |
| Main camera | 48 MP | 48 MP |
| Weight (lower is lighter) | 233 g | — |
| Released | Sep 2025 | Jul 2025 |
Summary: Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max is ahead on our rating, screen size.
Display
| Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max | Apple iPhone Air |
|---|
| Type | Super Retina XDR OLED, ProMotion technology (1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate), Always-On display, HDR, True Tone, Wide color (P3), Haptic Touch, 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio (typical) | Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion |
| Size | 6.9 inches | 6.5 inches |
| Resolution | 2868 x 1320 pixels, 460 ppi | Not specified |
| Protection | Ceramic Shield 2 (3x better scratch resistance) | Ceramic Shield |
| Brightness | 1000 nits (typical), 1600 nits (HDR peak), 3000 nits (outdoor peak) | — |
| Features | Dynamic Island | Rounded corners, follows curved design |
Platform
| Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max | Apple iPhone Air |
|---|
| OS | iOS 26 | iOS (latest version at launch) |
| Chipset | Apple A19 Pro (3nm process) | Apple A19 Pro |
| GPU | 6-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, Hardware-accelerated ray tracing | Not specified |
| CPU | — | Not specified |
Memory
| Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max | Apple iPhone Air |
|---|
| RAM | 12GB LPDDR5X | — |
| Internal Storage | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB (2TB option exclusive to Pro Max) | — |
| Card Slot | No | — |
| Card slot | — | No |
| Internal | — | Not specified (likely multiple storage options) |
Main Camera
| Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max | Apple iPhone Air |
|---|
| Triple | 48 MP, f/1.78, 24mm (wide), 2nd-gen sensor-shift OIS, 100% Focus Pixels, support for 24MP/48MP photos (Fusion Main); 48 MP, f/2.2, 13mm (ultrawide), macro capabilities (Fusion Ultrawide); 48 MP, f/2.8, 100mm (periscope telephoto), 4x-8x optical zoom, 40x digital zoom, tetraprism design (Fusion Telephoto) | — |
| Features | TOF 3D LiDAR scanner, Dolby Vision, ProRes, ProRes RAW, Photonic Engine, new pipeline for 12MP images, dual video recording, 8K video recording | No ultrawide, 10x digital zoom (limited performance) |
| Modules | — | 48MP Fusion Main camera with optical-quality 2x Telephoto |
| Video | — | Not specified |
Selfie Camera
| Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max | Apple iPhone Air |
|---|
| Single | 24 MP, Center Stage, square sensor, ultra-stabilized video, Dual Capture | — |
| Modules | — | 18MP Center Stage front camera |
| Features | — | Leverages square sensor for landscape selfies |
| Video | — | Not specified |
Battery
| Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max | Apple iPhone Air |
|---|
| Type | Li-Ion, non-removable, 4823 mAh (physical SIM) / 5088 mAh (eSIM) | Non-removable Li-Ion |
| Charging | USB-C fast-charge (up to 50% in 20 min with 40W+ adapter), MagSafe wireless, Qi2 wireless | All-day battery life |
| Endurance | Up to 39 hours video playback | — |
| Wireless charging | — | MagSafe |
Body
| Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max | Apple iPhone Air |
|---|
| Dimensions | 163.4 x 78.0 x 8.75 mm (6.43 x 3.07 x 0.34 in) | Ultra-thin profile (exact dimensions not specified) |
| Weight | 233 g (8.22 oz) | Lightweight (exact weight not specified) |
| Build | Glass front (Ceramic Shield 2), aluminum frame, Ceramic Shield back | Premium titanium frame, Ceramic Shield front and back |
| SIM | Dual eSIM (US, Guam, US Virgin Islands, Canada, Mexico, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Japan); Dual nano-SIM (mainland China); nano-SIM and eSIM (elsewhere) | Not specified (likely eSIM + physical SIM or dual eSIM) |
| Colors | Cosmic Orange, Deep Blue, Silver | — |
Comms
| Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max | Apple iPhone Air |
|---|
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 7 (Apple-designed chip) | Not specified |
| Bluetooth | Yes | Not specified |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS, QZSS | — |
| NFC | Yes | Not specified |
| USB | USB Type-C | Not specified (likely USB-C) |
| Positioning | — | Not specified |
| Radio | — | No |
| Other | — | MagSafe |
Launch
| Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max | Apple iPhone Air |
|---|
| Announced | 2025, September 9 | Late 2025 |
| Status | Available. Released 2025, September 19 | Available |
Frequently asked questions
Which is newer, Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max or Apple iPhone Air?
Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max — Sep 2025 for the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max versus Jul 2025 for the Apple iPhone Air.
Is the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max or the Apple iPhone Air rated higher?
We rate the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max 9/10 and the Apple iPhone Air 8/10.
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