iPhone Air vs iPhone 17 Pro Max: screen size and viewport
The iPhone Air lays web pages out at 420 × 912 CSS px with a pixel ratio of 3; the iPhone 17 Pro Max at 440 × 956 with 3. The iPhone 17 Pro Max is 20 px wider and 44 px taller.
The two screens side by side
Specs compared
| Spec | iPhone Air | iPhone 17 Pro Max | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Viewport, portrait (CSS px) | 420 × 912 | 440 × 956 | −20 px wide, −44 px tall |
| Device pixel ratio | 3 | 3 | same |
| Physical resolution | 1260 × 2736 | 1320 × 2868 | iPhone 17 Pro Max: 10% more pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 | about the same |
| Visible height, portrait, with browser bars | ~722 px | ~766 px | −44 px for the iPhone Air |
| Landscape width (CSS px) | 912 px | 956 px | −44 px for the iPhone Air |
| Visible height, landscape | ~370 px | ~390 px | −20 px for the iPhone Air |
| First released | 2025 | 2024 | 1 year apart |
| Engine in MobileCheck | WebKit (Safari) | WebKit (Safari) | same engine |
CSS px are the units media queries see. Visible heights subtract the status bar and the Safari on iOS bars as set in our device profiles; real bar heights vary with settings and scrolling. The release year is that of the first model with each screen.
What this means for your layout
How the width difference affects your layout
The iPhone 17 Pro Max is 20 CSS px wider (440 vs 420, 5% more). One common breakpoint falls between them: (min-width: 430px) (a common large-phone test width) matches the iPhone 17 Pro Max but not the iPhone Air, so a rule written for that width applies on only one of the two.
In a 2-column card grid with 16 px page padding and 16 px gaps, each card is 196 px wide on the iPhone 17 Pro Max and 186 px on the iPhone Air. Check that buttons, prices and long words still fit in the narrower one.
Pixel density and image sizes
Both draw each CSS pixel with 3 × 3 device pixels, so text and icons are equally sharp. A full-width image (sizes="100vw") needs about 1260 px on the iPhone Air and 1320 px on the iPhone 17 Pro Max to look sharp.
With a srcset such as 640w, 828w, 1080w, 1290w, 1440w, 1640w, 2048w, the browser would normally pick the 1290w file on the iPhone Air and the 1440w file on the iPhone 17 Pro Max. Leave out the 1440w candidate and the iPhone 17 Pro Max upscales a smaller file.
Above 2× most people can't see much difference in photos, so capping photo candidates around twice the CSS width saves bytes on both. Keep SVG for icons and logos: they stay sharp at any ratio.
How much fits above the fold
On first load about 766 px of the page is visible on the iPhone 17 Pro Max and 722 px on the iPhone Air: 44 px less (6%) on the iPhone Air, roughly 1 line of 16 px body text at a 1.5 line height.
If your main button sits just above the fold on the iPhone 17 Pro Max, it can end up below it on the iPhone Air. Keep the headline and the main action within the first 722 px, and size full-screen sections with 100svh rather than 100vh — see the 100vh problem on mobile.
In landscape
Turned sideways, the iPhone Air is 912 px wide and the iPhone 17 Pro Max 956 px. The visible height drops to about 370 and 390 px, so a 64 px sticky header covers 17% and 16% of the screen — under the 25% at which MobileCheck flags fixed bars covering the page.
Same browser engine
Both are Apple devices, so both render with WebKit, the engine behind Safari. Engine quirks are the same; the differences above come from size alone. Chrome DevTools only emulates the size and still draws with Chromium, so check Apple devices in a WebKit browser — see how to test on an iPhone.
More about these devices
- iPhone Air viewport size
- iPhone 17 Pro Max viewport size — one screen for the iPhone 16 Pro Max / 17 Pro Max
Or open the free check with the iPhone Air and the iPhone 17 Pro Max preselected: full-page screenshots in WebKit, with problems such as small text and crowded buttons highlighted.
Related comparisons
- iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Galaxy S24 Ultra — 440 vs 384 px wide, 3× vs 2.813×
- iPhone 17 Pro Max vs Pixel 10 — 440 vs 412 px wide, 3× vs 2.625×
- iPhone Air vs Galaxy S25 — 420 vs 360 px wide, 3× vs 3×
- iPhone Air vs Pixel 9 — 420 vs 412 px wide, 3× vs 2.625×
- iPhone 17 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro Max — 402 vs 440 px wide, 3× vs 3×
- iPhone 15 Pro Max vs iPhone 16 Pro Max — 430 vs 440 px wide, 3× vs 3×
Compare other devices → · All mobile viewport sizes →
Frequently asked questions
Is the iPhone Air screen bigger than the iPhone 17 Pro Max?
In CSS pixels, which decide how much of a page fits, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is larger: 440 × 956 against 420 × 912. The iPhone 17 Pro Max has more physical pixels (1320 × 2868), which makes it sharper rather than roomier.
Do I need different CSS for the iPhone Air and the iPhone 17 Pro Max?
Only if your breakpoints fall between 420 and 440 px: a min-width query at 430px applies to one and not the other. A fluid layout handles both without device-specific rules.
How much of a web page is visible on the iPhone Air vs the iPhone 17 Pro Max?
About 420 × 722 CSS px on the iPhone Air and 440 × 766 on the iPhone 17 Pro Max when a page first opens in portrait, after the status bar and Safari on iOS's bars. Bar heights are our device profiles' estimates.