iPhone Air Dreaming of the Air

[arc of the universe]

This is the thing I am most hesitant about. 80% of my photos are on the main camera and from what I've seen, the Air performs very well on that sensor. 4% are telephoto, but I can live without those photos, nothing special. But another 16% are ultrawide and have been solid and meaningful photos. It's not that I couldn't have gotten creative and found a way to get more in the shot or could have settled some of the time and been fine with the outcome.

The more I think about it, I feel that the weight makes up for the screen size as I could more easily manipulate it in one hand without dropping like the PMs I've had.

i was very hesitant at upgrading this year.
my trusty iPhone SE 2 was long overdue to be upgraded, and i hated that i would need to buy a much larger phone even if i went with the iPhone 17 or even the iPhone 16e.
the Air was so thin that i thought i would take the chance and try the Air, thinking that the feel in the hand would easily be able to feel nice.
i was right.
the Air - although it is larger - it took me about 1 day to get used to it.
i can't imagine going back to a smaller phone, or, to a larger and more unwieldy phone such as the 17 Pro Max.

 

[Meedoss]

How do you tell that? ^^

 

[Parowdy]

Just bite the bullet and trade it ……a year is a long time to go without such a beautiful phone in your pocket

Beautiful phone < being able to take pictures of your family you otherwise couldn’t

 

[Jackbequickly]

Not dreaming here. While the Air would have been great for the WOW factor, not giving up the battery and camera of my 17PM.

 

[jsmith1]

Beautiful phone < being able to take pictures of your family you otherwise couldn’t

I guess you don’t know how to use the camera then lol

 

[Tripps9000]

I will say I looked at the air on Saturday and it is a impressive phone it is one that would not work for me I have a 16 that I keep in a pretty heavy duty case for my job and I like having two stereo speakers 🔊 to listen to stuff on my phone👍🏻

 

[Jakimo]

I've had every iPhone save the 5S, and every Pro since they came out. This year, I knew I needed a change once I saw it presented, and I do enjoy taking photos.

I do *not* regret upgrading into the iPhone Air *one bit* - I love it entirely, such a great phone! This year, MKBHD did a huge disservice, and I felt was quite short-sighted, in his assessment of the iPhone Air. I tend to be much more in agreement with Brandon's recent take:

 

[Kjabean]

people make such a big deal about the camera which I find really weird. It is the exact same camera and lens that is on the pro.. it is an incredible camera and the best you can get.. you just don’t have the extra lenses for sub-optimal distance and some options for editing. I get the whole stereo speaker thing, it bothers me a little.. but if you’re not a professional photographer or something you will be fine.. with either phone really. They both are amazing and powerful. I have the air and my wife has the pro and we both like them both, not that big a difference and both are cool.. I would love either honestly.

 

[jonnyb]

people make such a big deal about the camera which I find really weird. It is the exact same camera and lens that is on the pro.. it is an incredible camera and the best you can get.. you just don’t have the extra lenses for sub-optimal distance and some options for editing. I get the whole stereo speaker thing, it bothers me a little.. but if you’re not a professional photographer or something you will be fine.. with either phone really. They both are amazing and powerful. I have the air and my wife has the pro and we both like them both, not that big a difference and both are cool.. I would love either honestly.

It’s not actually the same lens as on the Pro. It’s the same camera as on the base 17 (but still looks great in the reviews I’ve seen).

 

[Zensō]

people make such a big deal about the camera which I find really weird. It is the exact same camera and lens that is on the pro.. it is an incredible camera and the best you can get.. you just don’t have the extra lenses for sub-optimal distance and some options for editing. I get the whole stereo speaker thing, it bothers me a little.. but if you’re not a professional photographer or something you will be fine.. with either phone really. They both are amazing and powerful. I have the air and my wife has the pro and we both like them both, not that big a difference and both are cool.. I would love either honestly.

Agreed. Very few professional photographers do serious work on a phone. Phone cameras are overwhelmingly used for point-and-shoot snaps (family, travel, etc), which are covered very well by the main camera focal lengths.

There’s a fair amount of FOMO at work here. I would bet that if most people looked at the metadata of their last 6 months of photos, they would find that an exceedingly small number were made on the ultra-wide and telephoto lenses.

 

[surferfb]

No, I’ve been researching via video reviews on YouTube. The battery is poor and is probably the same as a depleted 16 Pro battery that’s a year old.

The numbers given by Apple were based on the user taking advantage of power efficiency settings rather than normal use. Check out Marques Brownlee, Dave2D and other popular tech reviewers.

The battery isn’t poor in my usage. I’m not using any power efficiency settings and am generally finishing the day with 20%.

 

[UnjustifiedBot]

The battery isn’t poor in my usage. I’m not using any power efficiency settings and am generally finishing the day with 20%.

Yup. I’ve found if you charge to 100% at night, the battery is pretty good. With a mid day top off, you’re golden. I have no issues or complaints about the battery.

 

[Andeddu]

The battery isn’t poor in my usage. I’m not using any power efficiency settings and am generally finishing the day with 20%.

It's all relative. We all have different use cases and SoT so what's fine for you may not be great for other people. I know that if I went with the Air, I would require the MagSafe battery pack specifically designed for it.

 

[surferfb]

Yup. I’ve found if you charge to 100% at night, the battery is pretty good. With a mid day top off, you’re golden. I have no issues or complaints about the battery.

I’m not even topping up most days.

It's all relative. We all have different use cases and SoT so what's fine for you may not be great for other people. I know that if I went with the Air, I would require the MagSafe battery pack specifically designed for it.

Agree. If I had to use the battery pack constantly then I wouldn’t use the Air (in actuality, I’ve only used the battery pack once and was more to try it out than actually charge the phone; debating returning it). I also wouldn’t get it if I was constantly on the road away from chargers.

But given my use case of being an office worker, I’d much rather use a phone that feels amazing in hand and makes me smile when I pick it up (even if that means I have to attach a battery or top up mid-day once or twice a month) than use a heavier, less svelte phone every day.

I just see constant complaints on here about the battery being terrible and it’s always from people who haven’t used it and just saw some YouTuber’s torture test that doesn’t reflect normal users’ actual use.

The battery is definitely better than my wife’s 16 Pro, and I find the battery definitely punches well above its mAh size; My theory is the Apple modem is much more power efficient. But over the last week I’ve finished the day with 26%, 40%, 17%, 30%, and 17% without the phone touching a charger. That’s not “poor” under any definition.

 

[NauticalDan]

The iPhone Air, like the MacBook Air, isn’t suitable for everyone. Even among its intended users, Apple has likely convinced many over the last few years that they need to carry three different camera lenses at all times, when they might only need anything other than the Main lens a few times a year.

The three main compromises are battery, speaker, and camera. The battery and camera haven’t really been a compromise for me - but I don’t use 100% of the battery in a day and haven’t really taken more than casual photos of friends or to send to my partner in a text message. The speaker I definitely notice, but for how often I use it and what I use it for, I can’t justify the extra weight in my had and pocket of another model.

 

[Andeddu]

I’m not even topping up most days.



Agree. If I had to use the battery pack constantly then I wouldn’t use the Air (in actuality, I’ve only used the battery pack once and was more to try it out than actually charge the phone; debating returning it). I also wouldn’t get it if I was constantly on the road away from chargers.

But given my use case of being an office worker, I’d much rather use a phone that feels amazing in hand and makes me smile when I pick it up (even if that means I have to attach a battery or top up mid-day once or twice a month) than use a heavier, less svelte phone every day.

I just see constant complaints on here about the battery being terrible and it’s always from people who haven’t used it and just saw some YouTuber’s torture test that doesn’t reflect normal users’ actual use.

The battery is definitely better than my wife’s 16 Pro, and I find the battery definitely punches well above its mAh size; My theory is the Apple modem is much more power efficient. But over the last week I’ve finished the day with 26%, 40%, 17%, 30%, and 17% without the phone touching a charger. That’s not “poor” under any definition.

There’s a lot of conflicting info floating around about the Air. I’m definitely sceptical of Apple’s battery claims, especially since they’re based on newer efficiency features that don’t reflect typical usage. That said, I don’t think the Air’s battery is awful either; it’d likely get me through half the time without needing a battery pack. My concern is more long-term; I suspect that a year from now, battery life could become a serious issue.

 

[Kjabean]

I charge to 80% and make it through the day, I haven’t ran out of juice yet. I’m mostly browsing the Internet, text, maybe an hour of YouTube a day.. I guess if you are on your phone all day get the pro.

 

[Kjabean]

It’s not actually the same lens as on the Pro. It’s the same camera as on the base 17 (but still looks great in the reviews I’ve seen).

I’m not sure it matters because they look the same to me, but from everything I have read they all have the same 48mp fusion camera. The regular 17 has two and the pro has three , correct me if I’m wrong.

 

[NauticalDan]

They’re both 48MP. And they’re both called a fusion camera in apple marketing. So they’re the same if you go by that. They’re different if you go by tech specs.

 

[surferfb]

I’m not sure it matters because they look the same to me, but from everything I have read they all have the same 48mp fusion camera. The regular 17 has two and the pro has three , correct me if I’m wrong.

Same lens, but different sensor in the Pros.

 

[Sammy in SoCal]

There’s a lot of conflicting info floating around about the Air. I’m definitely sceptical of Apple’s battery claims, especially since they’re based on newer efficiency features that don’t reflect typical usage. That said, I don’t think the Air’s battery is awful either; it’d likely get me through half the time without needing a battery pack. My concern is more long-term; I suspect that a year from now, battery life could become a serious issue.

It is justified to be concerned about that since we won’t know the truth until a year from now. But if you treat this phone as a yearly upgrade and possibly get a better iteration of the next air or move to Apple’s foldable, if they have it then, then the outlook isn’t too bad. You can “sacrifice” that 12 months with the air.

 

[rui no onna]

There’s a lot of conflicting info floating around about the Air. I’m definitely sceptical of Apple’s battery claims, especially since they’re based on newer efficiency features that don’t reflect typical usage. That said, I don’t think the Air’s battery is awful either; it’d likely get me through half the time without needing a battery pack. My concern is more long-term; I suspect that a year from now, battery life could become a serious issue.

I was concerned about battery initially but after seeing the mAh ratings, I was reassured it would fare adequately for my usage.

3274 mAh iPhone 15 Pro
3240 mAh iPhone 13
3149 mAh iPhone Air
2406 mAh iPhone 13 mini
2018 mAh iPhone SE (2022)

So far, I'm ending the day on the Air with the same or higher battery % as my 15 Pro.

 

[jonnyb]

I’m not sure it matters because they look the same to me, but from everything I have read they all have the same 48mp fusion camera. The regular 17 has two and the pro has three , correct me if I’m wrong.

As someone else said, it’s a different sensor in the Pros. The Air and the base 17 share the same sensor. Does it matter? Not much, judging by comparisons and reviews I’ve seen.

 

[Parowdy]

I guess you don’t know how to use the camera then lol

I guess you don’t what an ultra wide camera is

 

[jsmith1]

I guess you don’t what an ultra wide camera is

Yeah, I miss carrying around a 4 pound brick just to get an ultra wide shot lolol.