I purchased two airs yesterday for myself and a family member. For my family member the weight/size was a critical factor (some health concerns), so not much more to say there.
For me, I have used and gotten the new gen of pro/pro max every year for a few years and honestly was just excited about a new form factor. Main concerns were battery life, camera.
My first actions/impressions:
*I immediately put screen protectors on my phones (don’t overthink this as commentary on durability- I have done it for every phone I own because the nature of my job makes it important)
*I’m a case user (again, all phones) so I immediately put it into a relatively slim case (picture any clear silicone case)
*I was not super impressed by the size. Obviously it’s thinner but I genuinely was like “what did I just spend $1000 on”
*we had gotten a couple of different cases just to try, so I swapped out cases and got to our slimmest one- now I’m having a “whoa” moment. This is actually weirdly light and airy… then on a whim, because I’m at home and a case is less critical, I do what I rarely/never do, and use the phone without a case. For the rest of the day. Holy **** guys, it does feel like you are just holding display. I went from second guessing myself to being sold hard on this form factor and am in love. Probably I will use the slimmest case possible when need but may stick to caseless at home for the first time since iPhone X (this is a big deal for me). I do still find certain cases to allow for a better grip on phones, that remains the case (heh) but at least I’m not having this phone constantly sliding down in my grip or weighing down my pinky.
*Cameras - it’s exactly what you think it is, if you came from a pro. A compromise. I’m not sure yet if it’s one I’m willing to make but I’ll use the return window and some travel I have in the next few days to challenge how stuck I am on the pro camera system. I’m not a professional photographer, so it’s less about the high quality, but I’m like every user I personally know with a pro- I did in fact use all three lenses even as a layperson.
*No comment on battery life, I wait for a few days with all phones to have a sense of this
*I got one of the white phones. Having seen them all in person I’m actually disappointed in Apple. They basically gave us two colors. There is no meaningful difference between silver/gold/blue in different lighting and I just wish mine popped more as a color.
*I got the MagSafe battery. Candidly don’t think I will keep it. The cost is not prohibitive, but it weighs more than you might think and I have a couple of very sleek MagSafe power banks with built in cables (which I use to attach magnetically but charge WIRED and then remove ASAP rather than keeping it on half the day). I was a big fan of the OG MagSafe battery given options at the time, but this one charges too slow, charges only wirelessly whereas my MagSafe banks with cable will use the MagSafe functionality to stay attached but charge (much) faster than MagSafe wireless supports thanks to the cable. Also when MagSafe battery v1 came out I just think the market for MagSafe power banks was terrible. They all were heavy clunky and got insanely hot. And slooow. Right now other power banks beat MagSafe battery v2, and they give me a battery % on an LCD without having to use the battery pack, which I really appreciate and still is not a thing for the new MagSafe battery. Basically no meaningful indicator of charge status until you attach it to a phone, which is wildly bad UX on Apple.
This phone requires trade offs. I wish more people framed it that way than being defensive about it (ha! Who needs all those cameras and battery life!) or aggressive about how pointless this air is. It is beautiful and brilliant to use, it just may not be for everyone. If you’re even remotely curious I suggest trying it out. Please go in open minded vs decision oriented and you might experience what a lot of us are experiencing, the first feeling of magic in phone tech in a decent while.
