iPhone Air 9pm and Air's 256 still available for 19th ISPU....

[mlayer]

Strange how the iPhone X, which also sold for $999, didn't need much word of mouth or consumer hands on time to sell out. If you recall, some had serious doubts about Face ID and were shocked it didn't have Touch ID as backup.

I haven't been this excited about an iPhone release since the X. The Air will have to knock my socks off for me to buy it first day.

I got the X on release day at the Apple Store at was then the new spaceship campus because I happened to be in town that week. The 8 was released on the same day, so you had two choices.

 

[subjonas]

Strange how the iPhone X, which also sold for $999, didn't need much word of mouth or consumer hands on time to sell out. If you recall, some had serious doubts about Face ID and were shocked it didn't have Touch ID as backup.

I don't really understand this comparison. Is it just that the iPhone X was a major redesign? But it was the flagship, and especially 7 years ago, people were constantly hungry for the latest greatest iPhone. Of course a flagship redesign was going to sell out! Only nerds argued about Face ID.

People are much more calm about phones now. And the Air isn't the flagship, it lacks some bells and whistles, but maybe most importantly the thinness makes people very skeptical about its battery life. That's a real issue for a lot of people. At $1000, the only thing really going for the Air is something that really can only be appreciated in person. This is something repeated by pretty much everyone who has handled the Air so far that I've seen--that the thinness and lightness is surprising. Given all these things, it's totally unsurprising if the Air didn't sell out in preorder, especially considering not many other models seemed to have sold out either.

No one actually knows if it's going to be a blockbuster--I certainly have no idea--but I think if it's going to be any kind of a success, it will be a slow ramp up as people handle it for themselves. Or it may fall on its face, who knows.

Also, I find it so odd that people want to label a new product a bust so quickly. What do people get out of that?

 

[andyx3x]

I haven't been this excited about an iPhone release since the X. The Air will have to knock my socks off for me to buy it first day.

I got the X on release day at the Apple Store at was then the new spaceship campus because I happened to be in town that week. The 8 was released on the same day, so you had two choices.

The 8 and 8 Plus actually came out much earlier than the X. I believe they were September releases and I know the X came out in early November.

I have a 15 PM and I’m very intrigued by the Air. Like some others I’m going to have to wait at least a week after release to hear what people think about it. If the battery life isn’t too bad or it doesn’t have heat issues, I may have to pull the trigger and buy one.

I am surprised a little by the fact that at this moment you can order any Air for launch day pickup or delivery at my 2 local Apple stores. My guess is that most people finance their phones so the additional few dollars a month to get the Pros doesn’t really matter to them. They just want the best iPhone available or what they think is the best.

 

[drugdoubles]

What do we make of this.....demand not what people thought?

Someone in another post argues with me that Air would be the best seller ever, I can just laugh. Overheated, easily bended or broken reports don’t even come out yet

 

[drugdoubles]

I don't really understand this comparison. Is it just that the iPhone X was a major redesign? But it was the flagship, and especially 7 years ago, people were constantly hungry for the latest greatest iPhone. Of course a flagship redesign was going to sell out! Only nerds argued about Face ID.

People are much more calm about phones now. And the Air isn't the flagship, it lacks some bells and whistles, but maybe most importantly the thinness makes people very skeptical about its battery life. That's a real issue for a lot of people. At $1000, the only thing really going for the Air is something that really can only be appreciated in person. This is something repeated by pretty much everyone who has handled the Air so far that I've seen--that the thinness and lightness is surprising. Given all these things, it's totally unsurprising if the Air didn't sell out in preorder, especially considering not many other models seemed to have sold out either.

No one actually knows if it's going to be a blockbuster--I certainly have no idea--but I think if it's going to be any kind of a success, it will be a slow ramp up as people handle it for themselves. Or it may fall on its face, who knows.

Also, I find it so odd that people want to label a new product a bust so quickly. What do people get out of that?

It is just very simple that most people would not spend $1000 for a one camera phone

 

[JPack]

I don't really understand this comparison. Is it just that the iPhone X was a major redesign? But it was the flagship, and especially 7 years ago, people were constantly hungry for the latest greatest iPhone. Of course a flagship redesign was going to sell out! Only nerds argued about Face ID.

People are much more calm about phones now. And the Air isn't the flagship, it lacks some bells and whistles, but maybe most importantly the thinness makes people very skeptical about its battery life. That's a real issue for a lot of people. At $1000, the only thing really going for the Air is something that really can only be appreciated in person. This is something repeated by pretty much everyone who has handled the Air so far that I've seen--that the thinness and lightness is surprising. Given all these things, it's totally unsurprising if the Air didn't sell out in preorder, especially considering not many other models seemed to have sold out either.

No one actually knows if it's going to be a blockbuster--I certainly have no idea--but I think if it's going to be any kind of a success, it will be a slow ramp up as people handle it for themselves. Or it may fall on its face, who knows.

Also, I find it so odd that people want to label a new product a bust so quickly. What do people get out of that?

iPhones don't need to be flagships to sell out. Back in 2020, the regular $799 iPhone 12 sold out very quickly. Consumers buy iPhones if it resonates with them, flagship or not.

iPhone 12 Became the World's Top 5G Smartphone Within Two Weeks of Launch

A new report published today by Counterpoint Research finds that the iPhone 12 became the world's bestselling 5G smartphone in October, in spite...

www.macrumors.com

If battery life is the primary concern, what is waiting a couple weeks for the Air to show up in stores going to do? Are they going to stand in store for 8 hours testing battery life? Is Apple's credibility so poor that they can't trust the published numbers?

If so many people are tired of thick phones, seems to me they would immediately click "buy" to test one out. What's a few hours less of battery life? Or maybe, not that many are concerned about thickness.

Seems like there's a double standard. Somehow, 17 Pro Max, being the thickest iPhone in the past decade is quickly sold out. Meanwhile, the Air, thinnest iPhone ever - needs extra convincing, in-store and from friends. Because I guess most people don't have a pencil at home and can't fathom how thin it is?

 

[klasma]

Strange how the iPhone X, which also sold for $999, didn't need much word of mouth or consumer hands on time to sell out. If you recall, some had serious doubts about Face ID and were shocked it didn't have Touch ID as backup.

In that analogy, in terms of spec comparison the X is more like the Pro Max and the Air is more like the 8, so I don’t find it strange.

 

[klasma]

Or it may fall on its face, who knows.

As a funny aside, the Air marketing videos make a point of showing it falling on its face, to advertise the Ceramic Shield 2.

 

[mlayer]

The 8 and 8 Plus actually came out much earlier than the X. I believe they were September releases and I know the X came out in early November.

I have a 15 PM and I’m very intrigued by the Air. Like some others I’m going to have to wait at least a week after release to hear what people think about it. If the battery life isn’t too bad or it doesn’t have heat issues, I may have to pull the trigger and buy one.

I am surprised a little by the fact that at this moment you can order any Air for launch day pickup or delivery at my 2 local Apple stores. My guess is that most people finance their phones so the additional few dollars a month to get the Pros doesn’t really matter to them. They just want the best iPhone available or what they think is the best.

That would explain why when I arrived there was a line for the X and no line for the 8. The 8, like the 17 Pro/Max, are the known quantities. In 2025 the 17 Pro/Max are the "truck" and "full sized SUV" in the iPhone lineup. The Air is more like a sporty coupe or sedan. It's not for everyone. Will that change and allow for consumers to shift towards a lighter phone? Maybe, maybe not. I don't think Apple really cares except for the Air selling better than the Plus this year.

 

[rui no onna]

And most people and businesses do not buy directly from Apple. They get a new iphone from Verizon /ATT/T-Mobile etc. .

Our company issue phones tend to be on the low end though. I can't imagine them ponying up for a $1000 Air.

 

[rui no onna]

My guess is that most people finance their phones so the additional few dollars a month to get the Pros doesn’t really matter to them. They just want the best iPhone available or what they think is the best.

Also, on AT&T, you can get $1100 discount on the Pro with trade-in but just $830 on the Air which makes the Air effectively more expensive than the Pro.

 

[rui no onna]

If battery life is the primary concern, what is waiting a couple weeks for the Air to show up in stores going to do? Are they going to stand in store for 8 hours testing battery life? Is Apple's credibility so poor that they can't trust the published numbers?

Apple's published numbers are specifically for offline video playback (at least on the iPhone comparison page).

Apple says 17 hours video for my SE3 but my phone's almost dead by end of the workday with less than 30 minutes of onscreen time.

There are YouTubers who do battery life comparisons when performing other tasks like web browsing with lots of javascript. That's a better indicator for me than offline video playback numbers. Plus one can wait even longer (maybe a month or so?) for more real-world feedback from early adopters.

 

[LordArchie]

I will now step away from the keyboard. (at least the apple.com site)
Cancelled 9/25 Air, was just going to stick with the pickup (this may have been premature)
Cancelled 9/19 In store pickup when I saw that I can now get delivery on 9/19 (30 miles to store)
Cancelled AirPod Pro 3, decided to wait for engraved set (likely Sept 30) *Already have 2 x AirPod Pro (the 3 will be traveling set)

 

[subjonas]

iPhones don't need to be flagships to sell out. Back in 2020, the regular $799 iPhone 12 sold out very quickly. Consumers buy iPhones if it resonates with them, flagship or not.

iPhone 12 Became the World's Top 5G Smartphone Within Two Weeks of Launch

A new report published today by Counterpoint Research finds that the iPhone 12 became the world's bestselling 5G smartphone in October, in spite...

www.macrumors.com

If battery life is the primary concern, what is waiting a couple weeks for the Air to show up in stores going to do? Are they going to stand in store for 8 hours testing battery life? Is Apple's credibility so poor that they can't trust the published numbers?

If so many people are tired of thick phones, seems to me they would immediately click "buy" to test one out. What's a few hours less of battery life? Or maybe, not that many are concerned about thickness.

Seems like there's a double standard. Somehow, 17 Pro Max, being the thickest iPhone in the past decade is quickly sold out. Meanwhile, the Air, thinnest iPhone ever - needs extra convincing, in-store and from friends. Because I guess most people don't have a pencil at home and can't fathom how thin it is?

I know non-flagships can sell out, but don't flagships tend to sell out more? And in general iPhones seemed to sell out more back when there were fewer models in the lineup. So again my point was that the comparison has too many inequalities to make it a valuable comparison, in my opinion.

But to back up, all this debate kind of hinges on the assumption that selling out = high demand, so are we even so sure that Apple doesn't misjudge and either over or under produce supply for even the established popular models? Even though Apple has been doing this for a long time, the world and markets are always changing unpredictably. So I'm not sure that this type of debate has any grounds.

But that aside and moving on with our assumption...

I think some people might not fully trust the battery life numbers (equivalent to 16 Pro in a thin phone does kind of seem too good to be true), but more so I think a lot of people go with their initial gut reaction to seeing/reading about such a thin phone and assume it will have bad battery life and not bother to investigate any further. I've seen a lot of people online disparage the Air's battery life even after the specs were published.

I think many of the people who are concerned about thickness/weight in their phones have come to accept it as a necessary consequence of having good battery life and/or all the best features, so the Air might not register on their radar. Some of the ones who find out the battery life is decent may come around. I also think there's a group of people who aren't concerned about thickness/weight, but who will come to appreciate it because people often don't know they want something until it's introduced to them.

And yes, again, according to those who have handled the Air, the thinness/lightness seem to mean much more in person than on paper.

 

[Macbookey]

All the Air has to do is find a place in the line that is successful enough to warrant its existence. Something that the Mini and Plus did not do according to Apple’s standards. It doesn’t need to supplant the Pros and must continue to serve as an upsell to the Pro line, while finding its own niche. I hope it will and that future iterations will keep its place in the lineup. The pricing is showing that Apple is confident there is a market for this device, that will let it thrive. Once the foldable enters the market, you will have 2 niche device lines, and 2 top selling lines. Basically a consumer and pro model for each category (Air/Fold Base/Pros). The classic Jobs era Mac grid of four, but for iPhones. The absence of the numbering on the Air indicates to me that the Air and the Fold will see a different timetable, and the base and Pro/Pro Max will be annual releases. Or Apple will drop the numbering system altogether based on how things play out in the upcoming year. The Air and Fold are not going to be launch weekend hits. They are going to be sleeper hits if they do what Apple hopes that they do.

This all feels like the first gen iPod mini, the first gen MacBook Air all over again. So many reasons why they were such a poor value over their siblings, but future iterations went on to define the industry they were in, second gen  MacBook Air, iPod nano. Once the folding iPhone and iPad enter the market, along with the A series MacBook, I think the modus operandi will be revealed and the Air moniker will be fully realized. This is Apple! Controversial first gen, no floppy, no sim, no ports, no dvd drive, no command line operation, no this, no that. Who is this for and what are they thinking?! I love it! Some will fail and some will succeed. Sign me up.