Apple Said to Cut iPhone Air Production Amid Underwhelming Sales

[Sammy in SoCal]

Cool. Now, Apple, cancel this thing and give me the 17 mini. My 12 mini is in need of refreshment.

You and others of your ilk will not get it through your heads. The mini is dead. Sales didn’t pan out. It’s not coming back for the foreseeable future. But if battery technology advances to the point where smaller batteries
last as long as the current big ones in the pro maxes then maybe. Hopefully solid state batteries solve these issues.

 

[throAU]

It was a nice try but they really need to just cut that line. Mini, plus, now this. All sales bombs? Just do regular and pro max. That’s all that is needed.

I don't think they need to cut it at all, but unfortunately the air isn't a replacement for the mini at all.

It's a niche device, they don't need to make a heap of them.

Unfortunately I think the exact type of people wanting to get something like an air (fashion types, influencers, etc.) want the cameras it lacks.

 

[mdatwood]

I love my air, so does my wife and a couple of friends. Perfect device, not a brick. We are all coming from 16 pro max‘s

I have a 16PM and the Air is also the phone I find most interesting. I’ll probably just stick with my 16PM though.

 

[svish]

Definitely there will be a new Air next year but don’t know whether there will be any model beyond that. Don’t see any specific advantage in buying a slim phone. Felt nice holding it but it actually has less features for almost the same price as the normal flagship device. Apple is finding it difficult to have the fourth model.

Think for most the normal 17 will be more than enough and for those who want a telephoto lens and/or bigger screen can go for the Pro/Pro Max. Find it very hard to recommend the Air.

 

[chmania]

This is no longer interesting—it's a dead phone.

 

[Innovati0n]

it's a dead phone

This is a worse take than when people say "this is a dead video game" when it still has millions of active players.

 

[chmania]

...when it still has millions of active players.

And millions of returned phones...

 

[Tiger_Stud]

I totally get how people don’t fall in love with the Air. What I don’t get, however, is why that design nightmare Pro is selling so well.

 

[Innovati0n]

I totally get how people don’t fall in love with the Air. What I don’t get, however, is why that design nightmare Pro is selling so well.

What's not to get? "design nightmare" is subjective anyway but most people will use a case and cover the design of it regardless.

 

[venom600]

What's not to get? "design nightmare" is subjective anyway but most people will use a case and cover the design of it regardless.

You can’t understand why most people want the faster phone with better battery life and far better cameras that will live in a case for its whole life? Or that the benefits outweigh whatever issues you have with the design for most people?

 

[match14]

Is eSIM that terrible in other countries?

I've juggled AT&T and T-Mobile eSIMs back and forth between multiple phones (iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro, and Pixel 6a).

I've triggered eSIM downloads/transfers from within an app (AT&T), website (T-Mobile), via QR code, and even a "hold phones close together" method.

Transferring an eSIM was quicker than taking the phones out of their cases, finding a SIM removal tool or paper clip, physically ejecting and moving the SIM card, and putting their cases back on.

I was worried about eSIM when I first learned about it - I have too many memories of dealing with CDMA carriers like Sprint or Verizon where you had to call them up on the phone and give them both phones' IMEI or serial numbers or whatever to have them initiate a transfer (a process that could take hours or days), versus people on T-Mobile or Cingular that just had to move a SIM card from the old phone to the new one (a process that took minutes).

I could see eSIM being an issue when traveling internationally AND your existing carrier doesn't have roaming plans.
You'd be forced to use an eSIM app or service that may cost way more than just buying a SIM card somewhere.

I have been out of the country, and I simply paid for international data in the AT&T app, so I didn't need to worry about SIM cards.

A lot of mvno networks in the uk do not yet support eSIM.

 

[bassexpander]

This story is all wrong about the Edge phone by Samsung. Actually, they are dropping the "+" version and going with an expanded Edge -- possibly with updated battery tech. Source: Samsung workers I know.

 

[Innovati0n]

This story is all wrong about the Edge phone by Samsung. Actually, they are dropping the "+" version and going with an expanded Edge -- possibly with updated battery tech. Source: Samsung workers I know.

Source: Trust me bro

Well my cousin's girlfriend works for Samsung and she said differently.

 

[The Game 161]

They have only reduced for like 1 million think it’s overblown

 

[Innovati0n]

They have only reduced for like 1 million think it’s overblown

Depends what the total number was before, what percentage was cut.

 

[Shanghaichica]

another flop like mini.

people want power, not slim devices.

thin devices are too fragile.

To be fair there is a limit to what you can with all that power. I don’t think I’m doing anything differently than I did with my phone 5 years ago. Even upgrading every 2 years I’m seeing no difference in performance and even features.

 

[racer1441]

Eh, Air is fantastic for me.

I don’t give a flip about pro video or pictures. Nice big screen and the battery is fine, so the air is a great phone.

 

[amaze1499]

one speaker. small battery. but that thing has its fans.

 

[maflynn]

so the air is a great phone.

It seems few other people agree with that sentiment.

 

[samuraiQ]

Even without this news, I would have predicted that the Air would not sell.
That's why we should start selling the mini again now.

 

[turbineseaplane]

You and others of your ilk will not get it through your heads. The mini is dead. Sales didn’t pan out. It’s not coming back for the foreseeable future. But if battery technology advances to the point where smaller batteries
last as long as the current big ones in the pro maxes then maybe. Hopefully solid state batteries solve these issues.

The future is not written in stone.

And I realize it frustrates you, but maybe consider the fact that those of us are out here vociferously advocating for a mini because there is a market still.

 

[Vaga8ond]

Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec).

The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing significantly better than the iPhone 16.

The iPhone Air is apparently the outlier; Apple plans to reduce production by one million units this year. Meanwhile, Apple plans to increase production of all other models by two million units. The overall production forecast of the iPhone 17 series this year has also been increased from 88 million units to 94 million units for the start of 2026.

A separate report earlier today claimed that Samsung has canceled plans to release a successor to its own iPhone Air rival, the Galaxy S25 Edge, due to low sales. Nevertheless, the iPhone Air reportedly sold out within hours in China, despite lower than expected sales in western countries last month.

The same report from Mizuho Securities today revealed details about Apple's first foldable iPhone and other future devices.


Article Link: Apple Said to Cut iPhone Air Production Amid Underwhelming Sales

It was too expensive for what it was. The mimi failed for the same reason. People want a cheap ergonomic iPhone, not some expensive ergonomic phone with compromises. The rounded edge antenna lines would have looked much better than the flat ones.

 

[chmania]

Something like this, with no camera bump, would be welcome... if, of course, Apple can manage to achieve that.

 

[iMac The Knife]

Your reference point is five phones that are all 35-40% heavier and nearly twice as thick as the Air? Cool, go on.

Clearly you haven't read the entire discussion.

 

[nepalisherpa]

Something like this, with no camera bump, would be welcome... if, of course, Apple can manage to achieve that.

The only way to get around camera bump is to make the whole phone thicker/heavier (which some may like). A good camera lens has multiple elements arranged in multiple groups. No camera bump means going back to mediocre lenses from earlier iPhones.