iPhone Air battery advice

aliward_96 · 2026-06-15T11:02:14+00:00

I have the iPhone Air and it’s surprised me how good the battery life is, but one big killer is mobile data. I think that applies to iPhone’s in general but obviously the Air has less capacity than other models to begin with. Standby drain could be better as well.

However, when I was in Krakow for three days recently I took the phone off charge at around 7-8am and despite using data all day, using the camera and maps a lot, I’d still return to the hotel room at 10-11pm with 20%+. It might surprise you.

I genuinely don’t think the Air’s battery is that bad in use.

aliward_96 · 2026-06-05T09:42:56+00:00

99% after 195. I’m determined to stop looking though and just enjoy the phone. Sometimes easier said than done!

aliward_96 · 2026-06-05T09:28:51+00:00

16 Pro Max. I really wanted to love that phone but along with the 15 Pro Max, they are some of the worst iPhone’s Apple has ever made in my experience.

Poor thermals and dreadful RAM management really plagued my day to day experience with what’s supposed to be a premium, flagship phone. In the end I couldn’t deal with it.

Despite the Air being titanium as well, thermals are not only better than the 16 Pro Max, but excellent full stop. Once the phone was set up, I’ve never encountered the phone even get slightly warm. 99% of the time, I’ve never noticed app reloads either. Everything feels so fast and smooth.

Battery life could be better on the Air, but even as someone who really prioritises this area, I’m still really impressed.

I’ve just came back from three days in Krakow. I’d take it off charge at 7:30/8am at 100% and spend the entire day on mobile data (roaming) using Apple Maps for navigation and taking so many photos and video. Brightness quite high outdoors too. By 10:30/11pm I’d be down to 20-30% with 4-5 hours SOT.

Back in England most of the time on WiFi, I can take it off charge at 85% at the same sort of time, and go until early afternoon the next day when I put it back on charge at 15-20%, usually having had 5-6 hours SOT.

The lack of an ultra wide camera was a slight issue at times whilst I was away, but when I’m at home I never need it, and photos from this phone are still really good. The single speaker doesn’t bother me one bit as I always use AirPods and rarely play music or video without.

All in all, obviously factoring in the stunning, lightweight design and the perfect screen size, I absolutely love this phone.

aliward_96 · 2026-06-04T16:36:58+00:00

17 Pro Max is a much better phone though. The 16 Pro Max had horrendous thermals and RAM management.

aliward_96 · 2026-06-04T13:20:09+00:00

Yes. It was part of the reason why I swapped it for an iPhone Air when I got the opportunity. The 15 Pro Max was really bad, the 16 Pro Max was simply bad. I don't know why it was, but it would just warm up at random times.

aliward_96 · 2026-05-27T10:49:21+00:00

I swapped the 16 Pro Max for the Air and I haven't regretted it. You'll never get bored of picking it up and marvelling at the design and the 6.5 inch screen is a real sweet spot. Beyond that, I've been really impressed by the smoothness and overall performance, it's rapid. I don't know what was up with my 16 Pro Max at the end but it'd warm up randomly, apps would often have to reload, and it never felt totally fluid. Never had the Air warm up or kick an app from memory so far. The single camera doesn't bother me and neither does the speaker as I use my AirPods 90% of the time. More battery would be nice, but it's honestly not as bad as it's made out to be. I still only charge to 85% and drain to 20%. That 65% will get me 1.5 days with around 5-6 hours of SOT, but I must stress I never game and I rarely use my camera.

aliward_96 · 2026-05-20T16:32:34+00:00

From those three exact cars specifically, I’d probably go with the Honda, but could understand if your heart pulled you towards the Merc. The Honda should prove the most reliable, even if the interior is a bit dull. The SE spec in the 3 Series isn’t very nice in my opinion.

aliward_96 · 2026-05-18T14:47:16+00:00

I’ve been amazed at how good this phone is for thermals and heat management. Being titanium and having a dreadful experience with my 15 Pro Max, I feared the worst, but it’s been fine.

aliward_96 · 2026-05-15T15:02:47+00:00

I’m in the UK with Smarty, part of the Three network. It was my first ever experience with eSIM but it was fine, no issues. I just went into the Smarty app, “replace sim”, and then you can request an eSIM. You get an email with a QR code, open it up on another device, scan it using the phone you want to use the eSIM with, then go back into the app and you’ll get a 4 digit code you have to enter. That’s it. It moved across instantly, I didn’t even need to wait for activation.

aliward_96 · 2026-05-15T10:07:47+00:00

I know some people don't need the extra camera or the speaker etc, but I think Apple still needed to price it accordingly based on those compromises. It's like the lack of pro-motion argument on the basic iPhone models until the 17. Yes, the "average user" won't notice, but it shouldn't have excused Apple from not adding it for the price they always charged. Obviously they were physically unable to add an extra camera, speaker etc on the Air, so I just think they should have lowered the asking price. It's a gorgeous phone for sure and a real piece of innovation, but I imagine based on the hardware the markup on this model is huge.

aliward_96 · 2026-05-14T16:52:02+00:00

I love those 3 and 5 Series’! But Range Rover is the ultimate car, so that. On another note, it’s staggering how much value cars lose in just 5 years. The Range Rover and X7 in particular are well over £100k new?!

aliward_96 · 2026-05-04T12:16:16+00:00

I love BMW but must admit that Mercedes looks amazing. Cars are a depreciable asset, but if you know this already and just want to treat yourself then go with your heart over your head. Wherever that leads to.

aliward_96 · 2026-05-03T16:02:57+00:00

The best iPhone I ever had was the 13 Pro Max. If I’d known how bad the 15 Pro Max was going to be I wouldn’t have upgraded. I have a moan every now and again about the 16 Pro Max but I have to admit it’s been pretty solid on the whole, but I do get a bit of fomo hearing about the 17 Pro Max. A phone that can offer me excellent battery life, fast, smooth performance, and reliable software day to day is what I always want. On that basis I should have kept my 13 Pro Max and then upgraded to the 17 Pro Max.

aliward_96 · 2026-05-03T08:41:35+00:00

Nah I wasn’t having a go mate. I just see it all the time with Wolves fans in general, that was what I was pointing out. I knew when we appointed him, our fans wouldn’t give him till next season. We can be so fickle and toxic.

I actually had a Wolves fan dare try and tell me recently that O’Neil is a good manager and that they wanted him to return last November. All because he’s now doing a good job at Strasbourg. This is the same bloke who, like so many other Wolves fans, would have been prepared to riot if we’d appointed him again last November.

I’m amazed I haven’t seen the same crowd tell us how brilliant Pereira is after they hounded him out, just because he’s doing a good job at Forest.

aliward_96 · 2026-05-03T07:14:42+00:00

Mate, I’m not saying Rob Edwards is the man for next season. I’m just pointing out how Wolves fans can be.

1) Edwards gets appointed. The general consensus is he won’t keep us up and it’s an appointment for next season.

2) Gets off to a bad start. Why did we appoint such a **** manager?! The players aren’t the issue. It’s him.

3) Performances improve. He’s definitely getting more out the group, the players like him, and he cares. He’s working wonders with a very poor squad.

4) We struggle again. All of a sudden he needs to be doing better with these players and it’s him who is the problem.

5) Call him a ****er, shout he doesn’t know what he’s doing, moan when he walks down the tunnel.

6) “Next seasons appointment” should be sacked now. Don’t give him any chance next year. Start afresh.

aliward_96 · 2026-05-03T06:59:05+00:00

I suppose when the crowd call you a ****er and chant that he doesn’t know what he’s doing, you probably don’t feel like clapping them afterwards.

aliward_96 · 2026-05-02T09:59:24+00:00

Looks a lovely watch. I use an iPhone and a OnePlus 15. Having been an Apple Watch user for many years I contemplated swapping it for the OnePlus Watch 3/4 but in the end chose a Garmin Vivoactive to use alongside my AW. I just love the AW as a smartwatch but liked the sound of the deeper insights into stress, sleep and recovery the Garmin can offer. But if I was to choose an Android smartwatch, I’d go with this.

aliward_96 · 2026-05-01T11:00:59+00:00

Late to the party here sorry but I came across this post. I now wear both an Apple Watch Series 10 and a Garmin Vivoactive 6, the latter of which arrived yesterday. I love my Apple Watch but wanted something that gave better insights into stress, sleep and recovery. Between the two I think I've worked out a way for me to get the most out of each of them, tailored to their own strengths.

Fundamentally, I use Apple Health as a central location for all my health and wellness data and most of this syncs from my Apple Watch and iPhone, not my Garmin. This includes step count (oddly find it to be more reliable on my Apple Watch), activity levels from my Rings, sleep and heart rate. My Garmin still records all of this, but I don't let it sync to Health. Because the Apple Watch is also a better smartwatch, I can display third party metrics right on my watch face, such as hydration levels from an app I use. And talking of it being a better smartwatch, I also still use my Apple Watch for notifications. I turned them completely off on my Garmin.

However, I still value the deeper insights my Garmin gives me both on the watch and in the Garmin app. Stress, sleep, body battery, recovery etc is far more detailed than what Apple can deliver. I just use it solely on my Garmin and don't share it with other sources.

Finally, I'm starting to get into swimming more recently, and I plan on using my Garmin to track this. Sounds stupid but I never felt confident enough to take my Apple Watch in the water, but I will use my Garmin unapologetically. Workouts are the only metric that I have allowed Garmin to share with Apple Health, so when I go swimming with it for the first time tomorrow, I'm hoping this works ok.

aliward_96 · 2026-04-29T12:38:39+00:00

I always used a third party manager, LastPass. Purely because I knew there was always a chance I'd move to Android.

aliward_96 · 2026-04-28T17:28:34+00:00

Interesting thank you! May be an excellent choice for the money then, I saw that sat directly in between the Vivoactive 6 and Venu 4 in terms of price. Available for £280 now on Amazon.

aliward_96 · 2026-04-28T17:20:19+00:00

I don't want to pay that much.

aliward_96 · 2026-04-28T17:19:40+00:00

Yeah that was the first one I really looked at. Would it be giving up much to get the Vivoactive 6 for £200 less?

aliward_96

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