So I caved and returned the pro for air. Can’t believe how bad the process for exchange is when you do carrier financing and the trade in was already turned in 🙃 luckily enough I got my last trade in as gift card value, and then I had a spare pixel I could use as trade in so I could still get the promotion.
Anyways, I really liked the pro. But I kept seeing reviews of the air, and also getting an opinion from my coworkers who got it. The air’s form factor is amazing, and I don’t mind the compromises as much as I thought I would.
My worries were battery, speaker, camera, and heat with the air compared to pro. The pros battery felt AMAZING, even coming from a 16 Pro Max. I thought the 16PM got too big for my liking, having pro max since technically the XS, as well as all the previous plus model phones besides the 8.
But I digress, back to battery; I’m always near a charger throughout my day, so I don’t feel like it will make a big difference for me. I picked up the air battery back for only emergencies when I need it because I plan to not have time to charge normally.
I don’t use a phone speaker as a full on Bluetooth speaker. The pros speaker although loud, the air still sounded fine to me for what I do on my phone when I don’t use headphones.
I feel like I’ll miss macro and ultra wide.. but I don’t use it as much as I think I do. And the air’s main sensor still looks great! I never record in proraw.. never even bothered using it even though I knew it was available.. and I don’t record 4k 120 because 60 is just fine and 120 takes up more storage.
Phone was warm setting up but felt like a normal phone warm.. not even close to how hot my 15 and 16 pro max were. So I think I’ll be fine. I don’t play super intense games on my phone other than COD and Fortnite… like twice every few months 😂
The pro’s design wasn’t ugly to me as others were saying, but I definitely felt more paranoid keeping it out of the case after seeing those scratching issues. I’m sure it would’ve been fine but the camera plateau was a weak point. I did also like the pro size much better than the max.. but I believe the air does have the peak iPhone design currently, and I wanted to actually feel like I have a new phone. It’s beautiful, the weight is light and feels much better in the hand to me than the pro max did. I feel like 6.5 is the perfect screen size for a “bigger” phone, but the thinness makes it so easy to hold. This phone I can rock with no case and AppleCare and be happy about it.
I’m happy the phone has the pro chip, so it’s still efficient and quick, and I think I’m happy with my choice

whoever has also done the same and switched to air, I think you’ll all be very happy with your decision if you’re a casual phone user as myself that still wants the good features but also appreciates beautiful design.
I’ve seen others say, this is an iPhone Steve Jobs would’ve made. I don’t disagree. He probably would’ve preferred it smaller, but nonetheless this brings me back to my first iPhone, the iPhone 4. The wow factor is definitely there, and I don’t see it wearing off anytime soon.
Edit: forgot to mention lol, went from 17 pro dark blue, to cloud white air. Haven’t had a silver/white phone since the iPhone 4