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Apple Announces iPhone Air With Ultra-Thin Design

Notches, islands, plateaus... the Pro camera warts look like an archipelago.

For me, what would be an instant buy is a 17 Mini Pro... 120Hz ProMotion, 12GB RAM, USB-C (with 3.0 transfer speed), <=150g weight, even sticking with the dual camera setup using the 17 cameras, and with the smaller size, I think the full width plateau on the back of the mini would actually work out well allowing for extra battery, especially if using the Air battery tech, and zero wobble.

I can't speak for the world, but I know all couple dozen of us Mini fans lol would buy that configuration Day One.
 
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super chimp said:
I think you might be missing the point of the Air.
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Maybe new here? I can recall the distressing number of computer screens obliterated by half chewed carbohydrates as Macrumors posters screamed “Thin is not a feature!” In response to Steve and Jony rolling out the MacBook Air and MacBooks with dimensions no one else could copy.
 
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FeliApple said:
Now… is the 17 Air better than my 16 Plus? I’m also leaning “no”, honestly…
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Better is in the eye of the beholder. It is thinner and does have a somewhat better chip. It has a larger screen. It has the same ram. Your use case should drive which is best for you, not the people on here who decide it’s not for them and then proceed to try and convince everyone it’s not right for anyone. For me it fits my use case and I plan to purchase.
 
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conmee said:
Notches, islands, plateaus... the Pro camera warts look like an archipelago.

For me, what would be an instant buy is a 17 Mini Pro... 120Hz ProMotion, 12GB RAM, USB-C (with 3.0 transfer speed), <=150g weight, even sticking with the dual camera setup using the 17 cameras, and with the smaller size, I think the full width plateau on the back of the mini would actually work out well allowing for extra battery, especially if using the Air battery tech, and zero wobble.

I can't speak for the world, but I know all couple dozen of us Mini fans lol would buy that configuration Day One.
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What's equally frustrating is seeing that most all the techno guts appear to be in the Camera island/plateau thing ...

The rest is basically all screen & battery, which go hand in hand (smaller screen needs smaller battery).

Basically .. the Air shows that they absolutely could make a great "iPhone Air Mini" or just an iPhone Air in multiple sizes, one of which happens to be somewhat small.
 
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blairh said:
It's a single speaker. I saw an official image on X confirming it. Yikes.
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I believe the 16e is single as well. I don't use the iPhone speakers 99.9% of the time. I either use my AirPods, my HomePod, or CarPlay when I want to listen from the phone.

I can see the single speaker being an issue for those who live on their phone with social media and watching videos all day long, which seems to be what kids do now days (Shakes fist at tech cloud).
 
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Jimpilot said:
Better is in the eye of the beholder. It is thinner and does have a somewhat better chip. It has a larger screen. It has the same ram. Your use case should drive which is best for you, not the people on here who decide it’s not for them and then proceed to try and convince everyone it’s not right for anyone. For me it fits my use case and I plan to purchase.
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I believe the Air has 12GB of RAM whereas the 16 models have 8GB of RAM.
 
Jimpilot said:
Anyone know how much memory the Air has
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super chimp said:
They also say it only has 8GB of RAM like the base model and unlike the Pros.
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super chimp said:
8GB as per GSMArena.
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Turns out it has 12.


www.macrumors.com

iPhone 17, Air, and iPhone 17 Pro: Here's How Much RAM in Each Model

Apple does not advertise RAM amounts in iPhones, but MacRumors has confirmed this information in the latest version of Apple's developer tool...
www.macrumors.com www.macrumors.com
 
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Apple_Robert said:
I believe the 16e is single as well. I don't use the iPhone speakers 99.9% of the time. I either use my AirPods, my HomePod, or CarPlay when I want to listen from the phone.

I can see the single speaker being an issue for those who live on their phone with social media and watching videos all day long, which seems to be what kids do now days (Shakes fist at tech cloud).
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The 16e has stereo speakers.
 
DEMinSoCAL said:
Why does the 17 Pro get vapor chamber cooling for the A19 Pro, but not the iPhone Air? Does that mean the Air will throttle?
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If you perform tasks that result in sustained high workload, yes. But likely no more than a 16 Pro. If you have that need, you are likely buying a Pro for other reasons.
 
Apple_Robert said:
I believe the 16e is single as well. I don't use the iPhone speakers 99.9% of the time. I either use my AirPods, my HomePod, or CarPlay when I want to listen from the phone.

I can see the single speaker being an issue for those who live on their phone with social media and watching videos all day long, which seems to be what kids do now days (Shakes fist at tech cloud).
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I’m no kid believe me but I use my iPhone 13 Pro’s speakers a lot for listening to podcasts.
 
spaceywilly said:
But the battery life seems to have taken a hit (supposedly 8 hours). Who wouldn’t take 2mm extra thickness to get way more battery life.
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It has the same battery life as my current phone, which lasts me the whole day 350 days a year.
 
Can't wait to get my hands on one. I really don't care about battery life. I can easily get to 50% in 30 mins of charging that's not really an issue. I hate the current screen sizes of the Pro line-up and how bulky those devices are so this will definitely be my go-to choice this year. Upgrading or downgrading from 13 Pro Max.
 
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jpf293 said:
Looks good but too expensive for what it is considering the compromises that have been made to get it that thin.

The Pro at just $100 more is way better value.
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Unless you value thinness and looks 🤷‍♂️
 
This feel like when the MacBook Pro’s finally went to the thinner aluminum unibody with Retina displays for the first time.

I remember going into the Apple Store and thinking “Wow that quality of display in a laptop that thin is wild.” Even though the MacBook Air was already out and way thinner. But the screen/chassis combo felt magical.

So I’m wondering if that moment is going to happen again. I will go in store and be blown away by the brightness and anti-reflectivity of the screen in such a thin package. And add a pro chip to boot.
 
Velli said:
I’m curious, why is physical sim so important to some people? Carriers that don’t support e-sim?
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In my country, carriers charge about 10 euros just to issue an eSIM, which is pretty ridiculous. The biggest problem is that you can’t just move it over when your phone goes in for repairs. You’re forced to pay the fee again to get a new eSIM for the replacement phone, and then once your phone is fixed, you need to pay yet another fee for a fresh one. Because of this hassle, a lot of people prefer to stick with the old plastic SIM card—you just pop it into another phone and it works right away.
 
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Codestud said:
I’m not convinced this phone would wirelessly charge on my car’s flat charging pad. Surely the size of that bump means that the phone is not going to lay flat, and will therefore not make good contact.
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I don’t know for sure, but to me it doesn’t look like the bump is larger than on the other models. Just seem that way due to the thinness of the body. If you can’t charge the Air, you can’t charge any of them.

My cars charge quite slowly on my 16 Pro, but I don’t have a non-bump phone to compare with.
 
super chimp said:
I’m no kid believe me but I use my iPhone 13 Pro’s speakers a lot for listening to podcasts.
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It may be a good idea to do a hands on test at the Apple Store to better determine if a single speaker is a bust for you. One thing I failed to consider in my previous post was the sound of FaceTime and phone calls, which can also be a factor depending on surroundings.

If the single speaker ends up bothering me, I will make use of my return window and get that lovely orange pro I have been hoping for. lol
 
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