Now before people potentially explode or disagree. Please hear me out.
I don’t mean they had bad intentions with it at all.
If anything, I feel like they tried to give it an identity that it shouldn’t have had in the first place.
What are my reasons for this?
1. They intended for it to bridge the gap between the 17 and 17 Pro.
I’m sure we can all comfortably say it failed to do that.
Not because it’s a bad phone, but because if you look at it from a price-to-hardware ratio, it is a worse deal than buying the 17 for $200 less or the Pro for $100 more.
2. They marketed it as a luxury fashion accessory rather than a capable phone.
What I mean by this is if you strip away the titanium chassis and ultra-thin design, you are left with a device that has a speaker setup from 2015, a camera setup that you would not expect from a model that is meant to be a higher tier than its 17 counterpart.
It also has a slightly worse battery than the 17.
3. Thin was its entire personality, which is fine, but form should never beat function when you’re pricing hardware – but maybe that’s my opinion.
How can Apple fix it?
Well, rumour has it Apple are working on squeezing a second camera in there to bring it in line with the unannounced 18.
Potentially stereo speakers (they don’t have to match the 18 or 18 Pros because physics) but I feel they need to be included.
Battery life should improve further with the C2, N2 and A20 Pro chips, and fingers crossed it will be just enough to get people through the day
Yes, there are some arguments for it, such as if it’s the new 18 it shouldn’t have a Pro chip – and what about titanium?
Well, we know Apple moved away from titanium for thermal reasons, and the Air was never intended to win on raw power and sustained performance.
So maybe the A20 is enough.
Titanium is awesome and would still be in the pros today if the thermal wall wasn’t an issue.
So let the Air have its shiny chassis too.
It can be pretty without needing to make a statement.
Lastly
The elephant in the room: the standard 18.
Maybe it has to go?
Maybe making the Air 2 match the currently unannounced 18 and then be slightly better isn’t enough.
Maybe Apple, if they’re serious about the Air line, need to use it to replace the standard number models like 16, 17 and 18 etc.
Because in my opinion, if Apple does all of the above, it might just be the perfect standard iPhone model replacement.
Maybe Apple shouldn’t have marketed the Air as being professional luxury but perhaps marketed it as progress for the everyday person?
Either way, whatever Apple choose to do next with the Air 2 will most likely decide whether we’ll see an Air 3 or if it will just be another interesting chapter in iPhone’s history.
I don’t mean they had bad intentions with it at all.
If anything, I feel like they tried to give it an identity that it shouldn’t have had in the first place.
What are my reasons for this?
1. They intended for it to bridge the gap between the 17 and 17 Pro.
I’m sure we can all comfortably say it failed to do that.
Not because it’s a bad phone, but because if you look at it from a price-to-hardware ratio, it is a worse deal than buying the 17 for $200 less or the Pro for $100 more.
2. They marketed it as a luxury fashion accessory rather than a capable phone.
What I mean by this is if you strip away the titanium chassis and ultra-thin design, you are left with a device that has a speaker setup from 2015, a camera setup that you would not expect from a model that is meant to be a higher tier than its 17 counterpart.
It also has a slightly worse battery than the 17.
3. Thin was its entire personality, which is fine, but form should never beat function when you’re pricing hardware – but maybe that’s my opinion.
How can Apple fix it?
Well, rumour has it Apple are working on squeezing a second camera in there to bring it in line with the unannounced 18.
Potentially stereo speakers (they don’t have to match the 18 or 18 Pros because physics) but I feel they need to be included.
Battery life should improve further with the C2, N2 and A20 Pro chips, and fingers crossed it will be just enough to get people through the day
Yes, there are some arguments for it, such as if it’s the new 18 it shouldn’t have a Pro chip – and what about titanium?
Well, we know Apple moved away from titanium for thermal reasons, and the Air was never intended to win on raw power and sustained performance.
So maybe the A20 is enough.
Titanium is awesome and would still be in the pros today if the thermal wall wasn’t an issue.
So let the Air have its shiny chassis too.
It can be pretty without needing to make a statement.
Lastly
The elephant in the room: the standard 18.
Maybe it has to go?
Maybe making the Air 2 match the currently unannounced 18 and then be slightly better isn’t enough.
Maybe Apple, if they’re serious about the Air line, need to use it to replace the standard number models like 16, 17 and 18 etc.
Because in my opinion, if Apple does all of the above, it might just be the perfect standard iPhone model replacement.
Maybe Apple shouldn’t have marketed the Air as being professional luxury but perhaps marketed it as progress for the everyday person?
Either way, whatever Apple choose to do next with the Air 2 will most likely decide whether we’ll see an Air 3 or if it will just be another interesting chapter in iPhone’s history.
