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Maybe your right, I am not sure. I did notice that sales are down for the iPhone Air and pretty sure it is due to the 1 camera in the back. I don't take much pictures, and I am fine with one camera. Obviously, a lot of people are not, and the sales show that.
Firstly we don't know the stock allocation, but even assuming there were the same initial quantities made available for the Air as the other lines, it stands to reason that with it being a brand new third model, a lot of people will want to see it in person or hear reviews before taking the plunge on it.
 
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I get OP's point. Some people might ask, does the chassis depth still accurately represent overall device thickness?
That could be asked of the Pro and pro Max so again it applies to all phones.
 
I'll bear that in mind for the sum total of *checks notes* oh, zero, times that I hold the phone around the camera bump portion at the top.
It's relevant when you slide the phone into a tight pocket, like in jeans. It's also relevant in that it doesn't lie flat on a table, even when using a case. It wobbles a lot. It's furthermore relevant when you hold it in landscape for gaming or similar applications.
 
It's relevant when you slide the phone into a tight pocket, like in jeans. It's also relevant in that it doesn't lie flat on a table, even when using a case. It wobbles a lot. It's furthermore relevant when you hold it in landscape for gaming or similar applications.
Is it? 🤯 I don't think any of those three examples are remotely relevant to me.
 
It's relevant when you slide the phone into a tight pocket, like in jeans. It's also relevant in that it doesn't lie flat on a table, even when using a case. It wobbles a lot. It's furthermore relevant when you hold it in landscape for gaming or similar applications.
Wondering... does that not impact the pro's with the even larger camera bump?....
 
So the true thickness is basically double
The camera is about as thick (11.32 mm) as the regular iPhone 17 (11.4 mm), and thicker than the 16e (9.48 mm) which has a more modest camera. The camera plateau without the lens is 8.67 mm, about a millimeter less than the regular 17 (9.73 mm) but more than the 16 (7.80 mm) which doesn't have a plateau.
 
Wondering... does that not impact the pro's with the even larger camera bump?....
Yes and no. The added thickness of plateau and lenses over the body is 4.43 mm for both the Pro and the Pro Max, whereas it's 5.68 mm for the Air. So the "bump" on the Air is higher, creating more resistance when pushing or pulling against elastic fabric. The Air is more pointy, if you will. On the other hand, the Pros have a greater total height of 13.18 mm vs. the 11.32 mm of the Air.
 
Yes and no. The added thickness of plateau and lenses over the body is 4.43 mm for both the Pro and the Pro Max, whereas it's 5.68 mm for the Air. So the "bump" on the Air is higher, creating more resistance when pushing or pulling against elastic fabric. The Air is more pointy, if you will. On the other hand, the Pros have a greater total height of 13.18 mm vs. the 11.32 mm of the Air.
Wear looser pants man! and for god sake don't try to squeeze a pro max in there or you will damage yourself in terrible ways!
 
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Is it? 🤯 I don't think any of those three examples are remotely relevant to me.
Clearly you're the center of the universe that should be the sole yardstick.

Look, the Air is fine for some users but not for others. I'm not the OP who is dissing the Air left and right. I'm just pointing out that the plateau and lens are not irrelevant, depending on usage.
 
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For further comparison, I just reactivated an iPhone 12 to test iOS 26 on it, which has a total height of just 8.9 mm, and I still have an SE1 with total height of just 7.13 mm. Both are also more lightweight than the Air. Yes I know larger screen better camera yadda yadda, but as someone who actually prefers smaller dimensions and doesn't take a lot of pictures, the Air is a sidegrade at best, compared to those past devices.
 
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For further comparison, I just reactivate an iPhone 12 to test iOS 26 on it, which has a total height of just 8.9 mm, and I still have an SE1 with total height of just 7.13 mm. Both are also more lightweight than the Air. Yes I know larger screen better camera yadda yadda, but as someone who actually prefers smaller dimensions and doesn't take a lot of photos, the Air is a sidegrade at best, compared to those past devices.
It comes across a pretty desperate and cherry-picked attempt to downplay the iPhone Air if you have to go all the way back to iPhone 12 to make your argument.

Sure it's not entirely baseless, some people prefer compact/lightweight or whatever and may prioritise that over literally everything else.

But to ignore the massive advancements in technology, performance and usability which make iPhone Air a clear upgrade over the iPhone 12 (even if it is a whisker less lightweight) is a bit silly. The chip is ancient, the screen tech is lightyears away, the battery is worse, it has half the RAM and that's just off the top of my head.

To call it a "sidegrade" is preposterous.
 
It comes across a pretty desperate and cherry-picked attempt to downplay the iPhone Air if you have to go all the way back to iPhone 12 to make your argument.

Sure it's not entirely baseless, some people prefer compact/lightweight or whatever and may prioritise that over literally everything else.

But to ignore the massive advancements in technology, performance and usability which make iPhone Air a clear upgrade over the iPhone 12 (even if it is a whisker less lightweight) is a bit silly. The chip is ancient, the screen tech is lightyears away, the battery is worse, it has half the RAM and that's just off the top of my head.

To call it a "sidegrade" is preposterous.
The tech is nominally more advanced, but what I actually use the phone for is the same stuff as five years ago. There is little real-life benefit to those advances, aside from iOS needing more and more resources with each new version. There are too few upsides to offset the downsides of bulkier and heavier form factors.

Battery might be one benefit, but I rarely need it, only every few month when I'm travelling, and then I'm fine with a power bank as a fallback. And I'd rather opt for the 16e in that respect, which has great battery life and is more compact, while being as lightweight as the Air.

Why do I need more RAM when I'm using the same simple apps as years ago? The only thing that might benefit from more RAM in practice is Safari, however on my M4 iPad Pro it still reloads much more often than the browser on my Android tablet, so I'm blaming it on Safari (and I'm not the only one on that specific point). Moreover, RAM is cheap and has nothing to do with device form factor, so there is absolutely no connection between more RAM and larger/heavier devices.
 
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