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Yeah, no. Maybe in cherry-picked scenarios.

I use my iPhone for video and it absolutely crushed anything by Samsung or Google. 4K ProRes Log destroys 8K gimmick on Samsung and Pixels can’t even record high frame rate HDR because their processors are too slow.

Snapdragon is pathetic. Has 8 performance cores and barely beat the A18 Pro while still behind on single core (the most important).
In 2025 Single Core is important but not as important as it was 5 years ago. Even on smartphones.

Videos are a different story. Apple is still superior there no doubt.
 
It’s really too bad that Anandtech is no more. They did, by far, the most in-depth technical analysis of new phones & processors.

Now we get YouTube style reviews and people running Geekbench complaint a few games instead.

He actually got hired by Apple. I also miss his articles.
 
Ugh the thumbnails. I’ll wait for genuine reviews. I’m sure these are great devices but these aren’t actually “reviews.”
Exactly! I much prefer reviews from Dave2D or from the regular person who talks about what he got and why and gives his own opinion rather than those plastic reviews.
 
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These reviews (mostly Arun's, since he went into the most detail) are making me less sure of the Air, and more positive about the base model. This is definitely the best base model phone they've released since they introduced the "Pro" line.
 
Chat is this true? 48 megapixel and 8x optical zoom?

48 megapixels at 4x, 12 megapixels at 8x.

Just like the main camera can do 48mp at 1x and 12mp at 2x.

By "optical" Apple means that you are getting 1:1 pixels on the 8x zoom images, from the center 12mp of the 48mp sensor. The image isn't being scaled aka digital zoom, just cropped and then processed by Apple's image pipeline.
 
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Very difficult decision, but in the end I decided not to get the iPhone air. The battery is a non factor given my current 16 pro gives me plenty of juice for the day and iPhone air is about same, performance is also not a factor as it's on par or better vs 16 pro which is plenty for casual games and some ai stuff.

The main issue is the lack of ultra wide and telephoto zoom cameras, this is such a miss on the iPhone air. They should just made the bump bigger like on the pro and included those cameras. I use them very frequently especially the 0.5 zoom to capture more real estate.

In the end it will just be another boring 17 pro max for me....hopefully the next iPhone air they will keep the camera same as the pro....it's sooo close they kept the cpu/memory/screen all the same, but apple being apple just have to miss that last bit and not give customer everything sigh
 
In other breaking news…

The MacBook Pro has some key advantages over the MacBook Air.

Personally I just can’t believe it.
 
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Ugh the thumbnails. I’ll wait for genuine reviews. I’m sure these are great devices but these aren’t actually “reviews.”
MKBHD's is just a first look. He doesn't rush to review a phone in four days like most of those other clickbait type reviewers. He said he'll do three proper separate review videos, probably starting with the iPhone Air since that's the one most of his followers seem to be interested in.
 
48 megapixels at 4x, 12 megapixels at 8x.

Just like the main camera can do 48mp at 1x and 12mp at 2x.

By "optical" Apple means that you are getting 1:1 pixels on the 8x zoom images, from the center 12mp of the 48mp sensor. The image isn't being scaled aka digital zoom, just cropped and then processed by Apple's image pipeline.

I don't get the logic behind the 12mpx at 2x. Shouldn't it be 24mpx?

Anyhow, I'm glad they improved it, because the 5x on my 16PM is poopoo.
 
It’s really too bad that Anandtech is no more. They did, by far, the most in-depth technical analysis of new phones & processors.

Now we get YouTube style reviews and people running Geekbench complaint a few games instead.
really goes to show you that the masses don't care about quality and in depth analysis. meanwhile those superficial reviewers are flourishing
 
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I honestly think the 17 is by far the best bang for your buck for all the new phones.

The air has a binned version of A19 pro so it's NOT the same chip (it has one less GPU). Also due to thermal throttling even if it was the same (and it isn't), it wouldn't be as performant as the 17 Pro

Yes it does, but it's a binned chip.
Even less of a reason for it to cost more than the standard iPhone 17.

Apple are treating their customers like fools with this Air imo, making them think it should be priced closer to the Pro than the standard 17.

At best, it should cost the same as the 17.
 
Cross-shopping the Pro and Air doesn't make any more sense to me than cross-shopping a full-size truck and a sport coupe.
Sure, but judging from some comments on MacRumors for the past few weeks, a fair number of people are weighing that choice.
 
The main issue is the lack of ultra wide and telephoto zoom cameras, this is such a miss on the iPhone air. They should just made the bump bigger like on the pro and included those cameras. I use them very frequently especially the 0.5 zoom to capture more real estate.
One of the main reasons the Air had to have only a single camera (at least for this first model, and probably for at least the next year or two) is to allow the battery to extend further up inside the housing, to make up for it being thinner. To achieve this, Apple had to move nearly all the circuit boards from the body of the housing, to just under the camera bump, and even then, the A19 chip is inside the camera bump. Making room for two or even just one more camera, by increasing the size of the bump, would have pushed the A19 chip and the other circuit boards downward, so that the battery wouldn't have been as tall, and thus there would have been less battery runtime.

Maybe in a near-future model of the Air, Apple will use more advanced battery technology like a solid-state material, and/or silicon-carbon anodes, allowing the battery to be a little smaller and thus allow its top end to come down lower, allowing the A19 chip to be moved below the camera bump, freeing up space for a second camera in the bump.
 
48 megapixels at 4x, 12 megapixels at 8x.

Just like the main camera can do 48mp at 1x and 12mp at 2x.

By "optical" Apple means that you are getting 1:1 pixels on the 8x zoom images, from the center 12mp of the 48mp sensor. The image isn't being scaled aka digital zoom, just cropped and then processed by Apple's image pipeline.
Since the "8x optical zoom" is really a sensor crop, it seems to be a redefinition of the term "optical" to mean "quality close to what you'd get if it were truly optical". Not sure Apple should have gone with that stretching of the terminology. I'm not sure how this sensor crop down to 12MP is as good as or entirely comparable to a true optical 8x, non-cropped 48MP image.
 
Great to hear it is a pretty good improvement. Thanks to iOS 26 breathing new life into my 14 Pro Max and the keyboard not sucking anymore, a LOT less typos on it now, then I think I shall grab me a refurb Orange or Blue Pro Max 17 next year. I was thinking of the folding iPhone, bad the sad reality is I know it'll cost 2 grand easy, and I have tried to set myself a limit of a grand for a phone... hence I buy refurb ones now.
What has changed in the keyboard? I also have the 14PM, but not seen the difference in the ios26.
 
@Bcn No idea what they have done but the autocorrect actually works now, and I am getting a lot fewer mistypes. It seems a bit easier to use in my eyes? Oh and it is translucent if course.
 
Think the Pro Max is a fantastic phone. Very happy with the bright color option. Finally a bright shade for Pro. Happily placed my order for the orange Pro Max. Cannot wait to use it. Hoping Apple will have at least one bright shade for the Pro every year.
 
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