iPhone Air iPhone Air First Impressions Mega-Thread [MERGED]

[Macdctr]

The best feeling… I do occasionally use the aramid Mous case which is only 1mm thick, it’s as close to naked feel as you’ll get with a case.
The vast majority of the time it’s completely naked.

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I have the Pitaka Aramid carbon magsafe case. It is just as thin and agree having it on is the next best thing to having a “naked” Air. I cycle between my Pitaka case and my Tekmomo Sophie Blue leather magsafe case although the leather case is much thicker. Sometimes I want the feel of leather which my brother introduced me to. 😂

 

[c613m]

Finished my first full day with the phone yesterday at 21%. Off charger from 5:30am to 10:30pm. Light usage but all my regular stuff (4.5-5 hrs screen time) including an hour of wireless CarPlay (without charging it). Given that it's probably still indexing and doing its thing, that's pretty good for my use case. There's definitely the odd days where I will more heavily use it I'm sure. But this is what I was hoping / expecting.

So far, very happy with the switch, still takes some getting used to size wise because I'm so used to carrying a brick for so long. Even having this Air in my front pants pocket is so different, usually it would bulge with the Pro Max and actually pull my shorts. I hope Apple continues in this direction and further improves on it, because the Air is an awesome phone.

 

[Sensamic]

I replaced my 15PM with a 512Gb Air that I got from Amazon Sweden on a great deal of around €900. That’s a €700 discount from retail price, so it was a no-brainer for me. My 15PM will sell for at least €700 too.

Really love the Air so far. I’m not using all the pro features of my 15PM, and mainly use 35 or 50mm equivalent lenses so the Air will suffice. While I do love the 15PM, it always felt too heavy, it was my first Max size. The Air screen size is perfect. I was a bit worried that I’d miss the slightly larger display of my Max, but I only notice the difference if I put them side by side.

Battery life seems to be just shy of what my 15PM had, I had it replaced on AC+ last year so it had 100% battery health for me to compare with. I’m not a power user, mainly forums and YouTube besides calls and messages.

I usually end my day with 10-20% battery left if I don’t top up which is good enough for me. I can charge everywhere so battery life is not an issue for me. My 15PM was rated for two hours of video playback more than the Air, so not a huge difference.

The iPhone Air feels almost magical in hand, I have to comparisons and that was when I bought the 3G, the 4 and the X. This is such a nicely made phone.

It is delicate and thin, but feels very substantial and durable at the same time.

I’ve been using my phones naked for years, and of course the same with the Air. I always get AC+ for my phone, that’s my case if you will.

Needless to say I’m very happy with my Air!

I just recently got the Air two weeks ago, 512GB black color, brand new sealed, for 575€!!

It's even cheaper than iPhone 15 128GB right now in my country and both iPhone SE!!

 

[James6s]

Is anyone running iOS 27 on their Air? I want to install it but don’t want to take a massive hit on battery life 😃

 

[c613m]

Is anyone running iOS 27 on their Air? I want to install it but don’t want to take a massive hit on battery life 😃

I usually wait for an RC release before diving into a new OS. And we're pretty close to that, 1-2 weeks I would imagine.

 

[Macdctr]

Is anyone running iOS 27 on their Air? I want to install it but don’t want to take a massive hit on battery life 😃

I have iOS 27 Developer Beta 6 (24A5418b) installed on my Air. I have been running iOS 27 Developer Beta since WWDC in June and have enjoyed the new iOS. On installation the Air got warm and was running lots of background tasks while it was getting set up. Since then I haven’t experienced any major issue regarding battery drainage while using my device. I have no regrets upgrading.

 

[James6s]

I have iOS 27 Developer Beta 6 (24A5418b) installed on my Air. I have been running iOS 27 Developer Beta since WWDC in June and have enjoyed the new iOS. On installation the Air got warm and was running lots of background tasks while it was getting set up. Since then I haven’t experienced any major issue regarding battery drainage while using my device. I have no regrets upgrading.

Sounds good! So there wasn’t any major differences regarding battery drain vs iOS 26? I see a lot of people talking about how long indexing takes.
I may install it and see 😃

 

[Brettka7]

Interesting development on my iPhone Air. I’m at 486 cycles, 92% health and noticed my rear glass is bulging a teeny tiny bit. Probably 1mm.

I asked for diagnostics via support and it turns out my battery is swelling and pushing on the glass!

Apple support didn’t seem tooo concerned and offered me zero same-day options. Called the local store, same thing. I’m doing an express replacement and sending this one back to them.

 

[subjonas]

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Interesting development on my iPhone Air. I’m at 486 cycles, 92% health and noticed my rear glass is bulging a teeny tiny bit. Probably 1mm.

I asked for diagnostics via support and it turns out my battery is swelling and pushing on the glass!

Apple support didn’t seem tooo concerned and offered me zero same-day options. Called the local store, same thing. I’m doing an express replacement and sending this one back to them.

Whoa crazy. Maybe that has some correlation to your more than usual degraded battery capacity. Apple should definitely replace that for free under your warranty. Good thing it happened in under a year.

 

[Brettka7]

Whoa crazy. Maybe that has some correlation to your more than usual degraded battery capacity. Apple should definitely replace that for free under your warranty. Good thing it happened in under a year.

I think the wear and tear is technically my fault because I use it a LOT. I just recently started using a shortcut to stop charging at 80% any time I plug up after 8am, so now it only charges to 100% at 5am right before I wake up.

Previously, I was charging to 100% 2-3 times per day and it was usually accidental because I forgot to unplug. Hopefully that helps me keep the next battery healthier.

 

[James6s]

I think the wear and tear is technically my fault because I use it a LOT. I just recently started using a shortcut to stop charging at 80% any time I plug up after 8am, so now it only charges to 100% at 5am right before I wake up.

Previously, I was charging to 100% 2-3 times per day and it was usually accidental because I forgot to unplug. Hopefully that helps me keep the next battery healthier.

You could’ve set a charge limit and it would’ve stopped automatically.

 

[Brettka7]

You could’ve set a charge limit and it would’ve stopped automatically.

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I use my phone too much for 80% at the beginning of my day, so I need it to be 100% when I wake up.

 

[subjonas]

I think the wear and tear is technically my fault because I use it a LOT. I just recently started using a shortcut to stop charging at 80% any time I plug up after 8am, so now it only charges to 100% at 5am right before I wake up.

Previously, I was charging to 100% 2-3 times per day and it was usually accidental because I forgot to unplug. Hopefully that helps me keep the next battery healthier.

It's designed to be used, so I don't think any amount of usage from one person should cause enough wear and tear to naturally result in a swollen battery already. Maybe if you're running stress tests on it 24/7 or something, otherwise it has to be a defective unit.

 

[Brettka7]

It's designed to be used, so I don't think any amount of usage from one person should cause enough wear and tear to naturally result in a swollen battery already. Maybe if you're running stress tests on it 24/7 or something, otherwise it has to be a defective unit.

Oh yeah I just meant the 92% health feels like normal wear and tear for how many cycles I’ve burned through already. I agree.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Personal Air
Maximum Capacity 100%
Cycle Count 187
First Use 10/2025 (Traded black model for Cloud White. Otherwise, my first use would have been 9/2025.

Work Air
Maximum Capacity 100%
Cycle Count 151
First Use 9/2025

 

[James6s]

I have iOS 27 Developer Beta 6 (24A5418b) installed on my Air. I have been running iOS 27 Developer Beta since WWDC in June and have enjoyed the new iOS. On installation the Air got warm and was running lots of background tasks while it was getting set up. Since then I haven’t experienced any major issue regarding battery drainage while using my device. I have no regrets upgrading.

I updated to iOS 27 public beta 4 last night, and it feels amazing! The extend image tool has sort of given the Air an ultra wide perspective lol

Original

Extended

 

[Macdctr]

I updated to iOS 27 public beta 4 last night, and it feels amazing! The extend image tool has sort of given the Air an ultra wide perspective lol

Original

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Extended

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Those pictures look amazing! Thanks for sharing 🙂

 

[c613m]

After 3 days with this phone, I can easily say that it’s the best iPhone I’ve ever had. My concerns of battery life, none. It’s 7:30pm and I still have 42%. Speakers, I thought this would be noticeable and I’ve been watching YouTube videos in my hammock by the fire one handed, perfect. The camera being the last point of contention, not even noticeable for a novice like me. I can fairly say that my Pro Max phones over the past 6-7 years, while I loved them, are simply not as good for me as the Air. So happy I made the switch.

 

[Phonzoxd]

Just ordered a gold 1tb model.

Verizon gave me a hell of a deal, no trade in required (meaning i get to keep my 15 Pro Max), and $830 off on any plan.

With a likely price increase, air 2 delayed to 2027, and having to trade in my phone for a deal, this was a no brainer.

I get it next week though.

Edit: just found out this uses USB2. It probably wont but makes me wonder if it’ll effect me in anyway. I dont do transfers much.

 

[James6s]

Just ordered a gold 1tb model.

Verizon gave me a hell of a deal, no trade in required (meaning i get to keep my 15 Pro Max), and $830 off on any plan.

With a likely price increase, air 2 delayed to 2027, and having to trade in my phone for a deal, this was a no brainer.

I get it next week though.

Edit: just found out this uses USB2. It probably wont but makes me wonder if it’ll effect me in anyway. I dont do transfers much.

Welcome to the Air club! I got a great deal on a space black 1TB back in May. So much storage headroom! No worries of it ever filling up as I take a lot of photos.

If you rarely transfer anything then I wouldn’t worry about USB2. I never use it for wired transfers, so none issue at all.

 

[James6s]

Some more examples of the excellent extend image tool in iOS 27, very useful given the Air doesn’t have an ultra wide camera!

First photo is shot with the main camera at 26mm, second image is the extended version of that photo.

 

[stanza.richi]

This excellent extend image tool could be a real game changer!!

 

[Macdctr]

Some more examples of the excellent extend image tool in iOS 27, very useful given the Air doesn’t have an ultra wide camera!

First photo is shot with the main camera at 26mm, second image is the extended version of that photo.

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Yeah, with iOS 27 having the extended image tool really improves the picture. They all look fantastic! Thanks for sharing!

 

[James6s]

Yeah, with iOS 27 having the extended image tool really improves the picture. They all look fantastic! Thanks for sharing!

Thank you! And thank you iOS 27, love the extended image tool 🤩