I don't think they did it to flex their ability. Its a manufacturing technique that will save them material and time - given that its possibly new technology or a new process, no one knows if its cheaper. One thing is for sure, we'll be seeing more 3d printed parts from apple and others.
The internet: I want a thicker phone with a larger battery
The 16e's camera is the smallest wart there is. But then the 16e as a whole is bulky-ish.
True, but Apple did have other options. Silicon carbon batteries exist, offering more energy in smaller packages. They could have used that but apparently showing off how skinny the Air looks next to the thicker Pro was more important.
Y’all are never happy
Agree. I have an M2 MBA, M1 MBP and iPad mini 6. All anodized aluminum. All look mint. To be fair, those sit on a temperature controlled, clean desktop 70% of their life. A phone, on the other hand, sees a bit more action.
Well, no - the article says that the Air relies on the "camera" bulge to fit in the logic board, so a smaller camera wouldn't get rid of that. Might avoid needing a second camera bulge on the camera bulge, though
But the area where magsafe connects is glas/ceramic. This has nothing to do with the Aluminum housing.
Of course. Those car crash tests are not done by the end buyers though.Actually, that is what they do in car crash tests
No one is going to make a modern smartphone without any cameras, and even Samsung is walking away from their under screen camera.
As a 13 mini owner, this is the first phone since 2021 that I’m actually considering upgrading to. From what I’ve read, the thinness and light weight make it easier to use one-handed, even with the bigger screen (plus, my eyesight isn’t getting any better). At least I’ll try it out.
I hear you my friend. I get the need of smaller phone but if market does not want it (and it doesn’t) there will not be small phones anymore.
I'll introduce a new philosophical conundrum: they did it so you could see how they did it.
The specs of the iPhone Air and 16e rear cameras are pretty similar, so it's likely their dimensions are essentially the same. The 16e doesn't have a camera plateau to house its camera module since it's thick enough to not need one.
The video shows that most of the logic board is just below the camera bulge, with only the A19 chip being in the bulge, but it's true that putting the A19 chip inside the bulge was necessary to fit in the bulk of the logic board so that it's nestled up against the bottom edge of the bulge.
Yeah. When fully assembled, the parts in the camera plateau, as well as the plateau itself, also serve as stiffeners between the antenna gaps at the top end of the Air, and there are parts in the bottom end that do this as well, and for what it's worth, the glass back and the glass screen also probably add some stiffening at these locations, and they're slightly flexible too before they break.
With today's camera technology, that would mean no camera altogether for a phone as slim as the Air. Metalenses might solve this problem in a few years.
