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iPhone Air Flop Sparks Industry Retreat From Ultra-Thin Phones

Nimrad said:
They did that with the 12 and 13 mini, but it was the same story. In spite of the mini’s popularity in this forum, in YouTube reviews etc. it just didn’t sell enough. There’s a reason it was discontinued.
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Mini's sold just fine.
Airs are selling fine too.

The problem is Apple having turned into "if every product doesn't sell CARGO SHIPS FULL times INFINITY!" they have no interest.

We're all worse off for so enthusiastically supporting such a lack of hardware diversity.

Having options to suit various user preferences is good for all of us as users.

So when folks dog on the Air, or dog on the Mini, or dog on the Plus ... it's really just doing a disservice to everyone, including the folks doing the denigration of devices they may not personally have an interest in at that time.
 
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I just hope they take note in the rumored thin-isation of the next generation MacBook Pros. Power users want thin and slick machines, but to a point, not at an exchange for features and performance.
 
turbineseaplane said:
Mini's sold just fine.
Airs are selling fine too.

The problem is Apple having turned into "if every product doesn't sell CARGO SHIPS FULL times INFINITY!" they have no interest.

We're all worse off for so enthusiastically supporting such a lack of hardware diversity.

Having options to suit various user preferences is good for all of us as users.

So when folks dog on the Air, or dog on the Mini, or dog on the Plus ... it's really just doing a disservice to everyone, including the folks doing the denigration of devices they may not personally have an interest in at that time.
Click to expand...
The problem is the dumbed down features on the Air and astronomical price tag! If the Air was priced at $799 it would have been much more successful.
 
I thought Apple already figured this out with the MacBook Pros. They used to try to make them as thin as possible but when the Apple silicons came out they thickened it up again. I was perfectly fine with that because I'd rather have better cooling / performance and and more battery life compared to having my laptop look thin.
 
ikir said:
I have an iPhone Air and the speaker thing is minimal. Single camera can be an obstacle for work and a limit for personal photos. All around iPhone Air is pretty impressive, I'm enjoying it a lot.
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It is minimal to you. Great. Not everyone shares that sentiment.
 
Too thin, too big, and too nerfed. All at the same time.

The innovation is great, but it's concerning that Apple shot themselves in the foot a bit on this one. For all the testing, and focus grouping they do before investing billions into R&D, it's a corporate problem that they missed this one. It's a big deal.

I would also argue that the "mini" market is much more robust than the "thin" market.
 
Obviously.. who actually asked for a thinner iPhone?

Sure, a slimmer device feels nice in the hand, but at what cost? The price doesn’t match the overall offering. With a battery that’s already underwhelming, this essentially becomes a one-year phone. Regular use will only degrade the battery further, pushing you toward a replacement or an upgrade sooner than expected. And having just a single camera doesn’t help its case either.

On paper, the phone looks great. In real life, it’s simply not practical.

If the price were lower, that might change the equation.. but as it stands, it’s hard to justify.
 
I have zero desire for a slimmer phone. Smaller, yes, slimmer no. And although marketing does it all the time, describing any phone as sexy is laughable.
 
geta said:
I checked out the Air few days ago in the store, and while it's thin it's still too big and overpriced for what you get.

Instead, they should bring back smaller phones with 5.4-5.8” screens that are easier to use and carry around.
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The market already showed people are not looking for small screens…
 
While I have no dog in this fight, I find it very concerning to mis-forecast demand so badly. If in fact this is true, then it suggests very strongly to me that there are real problems in product management/development. Not getting good signal re: demand for a product line with 3 variants, and with lots of sales history for two models that are simple extentions... Man. Good, well structured research would have a very high probability of this result not surprising Apple.
 
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I decided to save $200 and bought the base model.

I played with the Air in the Apple store, but it didn't feel comfortable in the hand. It kind of dug in as I wrapped my fingers around it.

It does have a bigger screen than the base model, which I liked, but the base model just feels much nicer to hold.

I guess most people put cases on their phones, so that issue is completely solved, but I'm currently caseless most of the time and - having come from the iPhone 11 - the screen size is fine. I don't miss what I never had.
 
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geta said:
I checked out the Air few days ago in the store, and while it's thin it's still too big and overpriced for what you get.

Instead, they should bring back smaller phones with 5.4-5.8” screens that are easier to use and carry around.
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This is exactly right and it's a shame reviewers focused on "battery" and "camera" rather than the enormous size of the phone. Its massive size is the reason it's not selling.

It's literally larger than the 17 Pro in hand, so people who want a smaller phone are forced to use the thick 17 Pro.

I tested the Air for 2 weeks and wanted to love it. The battery is outstanding (maybe unless you're gaming / watching TV on it), I had no doubt it would get me through a day (and I'm a heavy user, tons of twitter, Instagram reels, Slack, etc). I just couldn't get my hands used to the size (coming from the 16 Pro) and had to downgrade to the 17 Pro because I need a phone I can use with one hand.
 
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Excuse me, but who didn’t see that one coming? It must’ve been planned as a decoy for iPhone 17.
 
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I had the Air for about a week. Decided to go with a 17 Pro Max. In hindsight, I could have made the Air work and been very happy with it. Holding that phone was jaw dropping amazing every time I picked it up. Never had a mobile device feel so nice in the hand. 17 Pro Max just crazy heavy and big - that pressure on the pinky just didn't exist with the Air.

Battery life and telephoto lens were the big issues for me - but again, I could have made the Air work and been totally fine (should have stuck with it).

Agree with @turbineseaplane here 100% (see below).
turbineseaplane said:
Mini's sold just fine.
Airs are selling fine too.

The problem is Apple having turned into "if every product doesn't sell CARGO SHIPS FULL times INFINITY!" they have no interest.

We're all worse off for so enthusiastically supporting such a lack of hardware diversity.

Having options to suit various user preferences is good for all of us as users.

So when folks dog on the Air, or dog on the Mini, or dog on the Plus ... it's really just doing a disservice to everyone, including the folks doing the denigration of devices they may not personally have an interest in at that time.
Click to expand...
 
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