joshwithachance
macrumors 68030
If Apple can keep the starting price at $999 I truly believe the Air 2 will be a big hit.
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iPhone Air 2 Could Get an 11% Battery Capacity Boost
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Contact_Feanor
macrumors 6502a
Silicon Carbon batteries start with higher densities, but also lose capacity more quickly than traditional lithium-ion batteries. In a lot of markets there is regulation on how much capacity you can lose within x number of years from purchase. That's why the big global phone makers like Apple are slow to adopt it.
minik
macrumors demi-god
That's a disappointment. My mum has an iPhone 14 Plus and I'm hoping to get her the iPhone Air 2 before the holiday trip. The 18 Pro Max offers a bigger display but also heavier.
The battery life has been great for me. I do wish the camera had better zoom, that's what I miss most from the Pro.
Whether I like it or not is not the point. My comment was to someone who stated they could not even fathom why someone would not want an iPhone Air. My post lists some reasons why, and that it really isn't hard to understand.
If thin-light is the end-all-be-all phone feature then more power to you and enjoy.
it seems like everyone who bought an air and likes it is a mac rumors forum user... it's a travesty imo and the objective sales don't lie. i hope all 50 people who bought one like the air 2 because unless it's less of failure it'll never make it to air 3
I'm sorry but the Air is the way forward. Hearing the 18 might be thicker etc. The receding apparent presence of technology so the implicit usefulness supercedes interaction is what Steve Jobs and Jony Ive strived for. In other words, you shouldn't notice technology for it to be successful. Notice how the iPad Air drove ALL future developments - thinner - much, much thinner designs across the entire tech industry.
On another note, at some point the ratio of smartphones, specifically iPhones starting the trend, started to disproportionately get taller (~1.89 to 2.1 over the last 19 years). It may not be much but UX has never abstracted what this should mean and evolve (e.g. perhaps lower right or left biased). If I recall, when I worked at Apple, we were a little surprised by the aspect change between 4 (including S) and 5 because of the extra reach needed to interact with iOS (of course, reflecting the top oriented worldwide notion of how you should interact with any OS in terms of heierarchy). In my opinion, this should have been deeply looked into when iOS 7 released and skeuomorphism was no longer a sacred cow. It absolutely should absolutely have been looked at when iPhone X was released and screen size ratios changed dramatically to stabilized in parity (~from 1.5 to 2.2) with what dimensions had experienced between the 4 and 5.
Anyhow. The vast majority of people are tired of new micro-features released through agile design/development methodology and just want bold takes on technology applications that simultaneously make them feel like they are less beholden to The Device. Jobs and Ive were always about experience and the minimalist elegant take on how to get that experience exquisitely.
The Air fundamentally is the spiritual heir of that desire. At this point people have decision fatigue in every facet of life. Apple should treat the Air lineup as the regular category (drop the "Air" in standard use or perhaps only use for a single release cycle whenever a substantively new take on thinness is revealed). I'm amazed Apple hasn't treated/promoted the Air as the premiere experience.
They could also use more design engineering to optimize the experience. e.g. Use interpolated motion signatures for the animations so you can reduce the hz/frame rate and improve battery life while still having smooth animations. N.B. Possible with 60hz displays even and would vastly improve UX.
I understand the need for Pro lineups but let's be realistic here, phone cameras have and will always be limited unless they start introducing fundamentally robust approaches to imaging (e.g. using full-frame or much larger sensors like in mirrorless). The approach of constantly increasing tiny sensors and enhancing digital processing is just not working. Sure, Samsung and iPhone and etc. can digitally zoom all they want and call things many megapixels or 2k-8k, but the shot and its data still relatively sucks... it does... we're not debating this. So, for the iPhone Air, its camera is fine for the vast majority of people and content creators.
I'm glad Apple is still going with this Air idea.
On another note, at some point the ratio of smartphones, specifically iPhones starting the trend, started to disproportionately get taller (~1.89 to 2.1 over the last 19 years). It may not be much but UX has never abstracted what this should mean and evolve (e.g. perhaps lower right or left biased). If I recall, when I worked at Apple, we were a little surprised by the aspect change between 4 (including S) and 5 because of the extra reach needed to interact with iOS (of course, reflecting the top oriented worldwide notion of how you should interact with any OS in terms of heierarchy). In my opinion, this should have been deeply looked into when iOS 7 released and skeuomorphism was no longer a sacred cow. It absolutely should absolutely have been looked at when iPhone X was released and screen size ratios changed dramatically to stabilized in parity (~from 1.5 to 2.2) with what dimensions had experienced between the 4 and 5.
Anyhow. The vast majority of people are tired of new micro-features released through agile design/development methodology and just want bold takes on technology applications that simultaneously make them feel like they are less beholden to The Device. Jobs and Ive were always about experience and the minimalist elegant take on how to get that experience exquisitely.
The Air fundamentally is the spiritual heir of that desire. At this point people have decision fatigue in every facet of life. Apple should treat the Air lineup as the regular category (drop the "Air" in standard use or perhaps only use for a single release cycle whenever a substantively new take on thinness is revealed). I'm amazed Apple hasn't treated/promoted the Air as the premiere experience.
They could also use more design engineering to optimize the experience. e.g. Use interpolated motion signatures for the animations so you can reduce the hz/frame rate and improve battery life while still having smooth animations. N.B. Possible with 60hz displays even and would vastly improve UX.
I understand the need for Pro lineups but let's be realistic here, phone cameras have and will always be limited unless they start introducing fundamentally robust approaches to imaging (e.g. using full-frame or much larger sensors like in mirrorless). The approach of constantly increasing tiny sensors and enhancing digital processing is just not working. Sure, Samsung and iPhone and etc. can digitally zoom all they want and call things many megapixels or 2k-8k, but the shot and its data still relatively sucks... it does... we're not debating this. So, for the iPhone Air, its camera is fine for the vast majority of people and content creators.
I'm glad Apple is still going with this Air idea.
If the Air 2 does not improve sales wise, then Apple 🍎 won’t make a Air 3. Apple will just have a Standard/base iPhone and a iPhone “e” and of course the pro iPhone and Ultra Fold iPhone.
This will be Apple’s second try at this Air iPhone.
ikir
macrumors 68020
Poor sales = all others vendors hoping to have similiar “poor” sales
Here's the thing - sales are the product of marketing, which Apple knows full well. You rarely see Apple full-scale commercials anymore in the wild. As I was growing up, the ads were everywhere. When the iPad first launched, we were amazed, but people absolutely chomped at the bit of the next leap - higher resolution, thinness, etc. We're seeing diminishing design returns even if the engineers are ever the champions of the future.
You started seeing this market-reaction trend increase HEAVILY under Cook vis-a-vis going public, and it's only served them well because of the momentum that Jobs and Ive imparted to the corporation and its presence as a optimal, idealistic, futurist company for America and the world.
What it's done is keep people locked in reservedly because there's nothing better, they're accustomed to it, or the ecosystem works for them and they don't want to change. That's a **** way for Apple to be considering its legacy. It was never under the label "good enough" with amazing marketing, it was confidently "the best" with amazing marketing. When they used superlatives, the descriptions were arguably accurately apt relative to others in the market.
While Apple engineers have essentially kept Apple being the best at what they are, the actual corporation of Apple has become such an identity-fragmented garbage-output design works that they are coasting.
Every business decision is intentional. So perhaps the Air is merely a test case for more advances in other designs. However, it was released almost apologetically, where under Jobs or Ive it would have been a spectacular achievement... which it is if you actually use it.
Let me be blunt - the Air is remarkable engineering. Remarkable. It's also remarkable design. Remarkable.
Let that sink in.
I’d also take a single camera, with stereo speakers at a cheaper price.
But we know that won’t happen.
The problem Apple has now is they’re needing to do more with the Air 2 right after they’ve done an across the board price hike.
Even if the ram shortages wasn’t an issue Apple still had a challenge to make the air 2 more attractive if trying to keep the same price point.
1rottenapple
macrumors 603
1rottenapple
macrumors 603
I want a zoom lens man. These animal pics need 8x zoom. Come on apple push the tech if you want us to spend 1k on a gimp phone.
decypher44
macrumors 68000
If it gets a 2nd camera, 2nd speaker, and a modem with mmWave, I might be tempted. Always bought pro models, but not really utilizing the “pro” features as I get older.
Wahlstrm
macrumors 6502a
All it really needs is a second speaker.
If there’s no Air 3 then I might buy the Air 2 in late 2028-ish.
If there’s no Air 3 then I might buy the Air 2 in late 2028-ish.
I really like my Air, battery life is fine for my use as well. But yes can see it if one is all day our and a heavy user that something bigger is required.
However, I find it overheats with the current capacity as it does quite quickly. Never had so many I am hot messages with my Pro and Pro Maxes like ever. And yes the cameras, I really miss the cameras. I can't even take a picture of food without moving to the table behind me.
However, I find it overheats with the current capacity as it does quite quickly. Never had so many I am hot messages with my Pro and Pro Maxes like ever. And yes the cameras, I really miss the cameras. I can't even take a picture of food without moving to the table behind me.
spaceballl
macrumors 68030
I have a 16 Pro, and my wife has an iPhone Air. Every time I pick it up, I'm slightly jealous of the fact that her screen is bigger than mine while it's lighter and nicer to hold. So that leaves two drawbacks: battery and camera.
- Battery: This just isn't an issue for her, and I think me too. 90% of life, we're not that far away from a Qi charging stand or something like that, working from home, working from an office, or traveling in a car. Then on the big travel days, going to Disneyland, or music festivals or whatever, we just pack a slim wireless battery, and then the battery is great.
- Camera: I'm actually surprised she isn't more annoyed by it. It would be kinda annoying losing my zoom lens, but when I look at my pictures, my zoom shots never look that great anyways... So maybe I just take the ultrawide on the Air 2 and call it a day.
I am glad to hear this as it makes it more likely that my next phone (I currently own an iPhone 17 Pro Max) will be the Air. I tried the current Air alongside the 17 Pro Max and ended up, reluctantly, with the Pro Max due to the lack of flexibility in the camera for the Air. Battery life was adequate but not assuring when out for the day. So slightly longer battery life and added wider angle camera in that robust chassis, that is lighter, smaller (less bulky) and with a decent screen size will make me the ideal phone. I look forward to it, although the prices, these days, may make me cringe.
Populus
macrumors 604
Yeah, sure. Better battery life at the expense of making it heavier, which counters the main selling point of this device, which is being thin and lightweight. Also some rumors point at a slightly bigger display (from 6.5” to 6.55”), which may be achieved by making the bezels even thinner. But what we need is the device being slightly smaller instead.
So tired of big, bigger and giant smartphones…
So tired of big, bigger and giant smartphones…
mattopotamus
macrumors Pentium
I would love to know the statistics of people with the Air that would upgrade to the Air 2. There really is nothing that would make me even consider an upgrade. More camera's, more battery, better speakers, etc. will all add to the overall size, which to me is the best part about using the phone. It feels so damn good in hand.
M4irmidnight
Suspended
Telephoto > Ultra Wide
Apple is reportedly working on a second-generation iPhone Air that's expected to launch in spring 2027, and one of Apple's main aims is to improve battery life. We now have the first rumor suggesting what kind of improvement could be coming.
In a post on Weibo listing supply chain predictions, serial leaker Digital Chat Station said the iPhone Air 2 is expected to feature a 3,500mAh battery. That's up from the 3,149mAh battery in the current iPhone Air, indicating around a 11% increase in raw capacity.
A larger battery capacity usually implies either a physically larger battery or a denser one, but it does not automatically mean a bigger phone. Apple may also be able to improve internal packaging to fit a larger battery in the same chassis. Either way, it's going to be another tight squeeze.
Multiple prior rumors have suggested Apple is adding a second camera to the iPhone Air to address the main customer complaint about the device. The current model has a single rear Wide lens, which makes it less versatile compared to the more affordable iPhone 17 in terms of photography. Reports suggest Apple will add an Ultra Wide lens to the iPhone Air 2 to address this.
Multiple technologies are housed in the plateau of the iPhone Air to maximize space for the battery, so Apple would presumably need to redesign the internals considerably to fit in another camera. Whether that will impact the battery packaging design remains to be seen.
The device will use an A20 chip built on Apple's new 2nm process, so it could feature better efficiency, which should help battery life regardless of any change in battery capacity. In addition, according to a separate report, Apple is said to be adopting a Samsung-made OLED technology called CoE (Color Filter on Encapsulation), which could make the iPhone Air 2's display thinner. That could allow Apple to slide in a slightly larger battery while retaining the same device dimensions.
The iPhone Air 2 is expected to launch in the first half of 2027, alongside the regular iPhone 18 and the lower-cost iPhone 18e.
Article Link: iPhone Air 2 Could Get an 11% Battery Capacity Boost
please no second camera! and if any, then a telephoto lens.
more battery and better stereo speakers would be great. but not at the cost of more weight or a thicker case.
more battery and better stereo speakers would be great. but not at the cost of more weight or a thicker case.
The Game 161
macrumors Nehalem