iPhone Air Reviews: Is the Ultra-Thin Design Worth the Compromises?

[A.F]

Based in today’s exchange rate.

Apple.com $999 +Sales tax (€843 + tax)
Apple.ie €1007 +VAT ($1194 + VAT)

(On Apples.se it's the eq of $1200 + VAT as well).

In terms of %, that’s probably one of the worst cases I’ve ever seen from Apple.
(A few % to cover currency fluctuations is expected but not 20%..)

Thank you for taking the time, as originally mentioned, had not yet bothered myself, as am currently lacking the funds

1) It's apparently 1239(!!!) euro down here, for a base 256 variant at that:

iPhone Air 256GB Sky Blue

iPhone Air. Το πιο λεπτό iPhone που έχει υπάρξει ποτέ. Οθόνη 6,5 ιντσών, ανθεκτικό Ceramic Shield μπροστά και πίσω, A19 Pro chip, σύστημα κάμερας Fusion 48MP και εμπρόσθια κάμερα Center Stage.

www.istorm.gr

2) Having never looked for Apple phones before the current MBA purchase, i am kinda surprised, the difference between Air and Pro is so small as to be negligible; so now i'm not sure i see the point in this either, lol
Sincerely imagined some insane monetary difference.. but this? I mean, why?

So now i'm /confused


Edit: Props to Apple for being Apple of course. Must be some unicorn-infused, special unobtainium flash chips they're using! The extra 256 to 512 "upgrade" surcharge is ludicrous.

 

[DDustiNN]

Thanks for correction, 17 base model is $800. I just feel A19 Pro in the Air will still be throttled most of the time, not to mention 5 GPU cores vs 6 in the 17 Pro/Max. I just feel the thinness compromises so much it may performs closer to base 17 instead. In the end it feels like a concept tech demo instead of a phone that people should buy.

Do you argue this vehemently against the MacBook Air versus the MacBook Pro?

Some people simply don’t want massive, heavy devices. It’s as simple as that. The Pros are becoming bricks, getting slightly larger every single year.

What’s wrong with having options?

Buy your brick and move on with life.

 

[Wahlstrm]

Thank you for taking the time, as originally mentioned, had not yet bothered myself, as am currently lacking the funds

1) It's apparently 1239(!!!) euro down here, for a base 256 variant at that:

iPhone Air 256GB Sky Blue

iPhone Air. Το πιο λεπτό iPhone που έχει υπάρξει ποτέ. Οθόνη 6,5 ιντσών, ανθεκτικό Ceramic Shield μπροστά και πίσω, A19 Pro chip, σύστημα κάμερας Fusion 48MP και εμπρόσθια κάμερα Center Stage.

www.istorm.gr

2) Having never looked for Apple phones before the current MBA purchase, i am kinda surprised, the difference between Air and Pro is so small as to be negligible; so now i'm not sure i see the point in this either, lol
Sincerely imagined some insane monetary difference.. but this? I mean, why?

So now i'm /confused


Edit: Props to Apple for being Apple of course. Must be some unicorn-infused, special unobtainium flash chips they're using! The extra 256 to 512 "upgrade" surcharge is ludicrous.

Are you sure that €1239 doesn’t include the (20-25%) VAT?

 

[macjaffa]

Thanks for correction, 17 base model is $800. I just feel A19 Pro in the Air will still be throttled most of the time,

makes no difference

not to mention 5 GPU cores vs 6 in the 17 Pro/Max.

who cares ? do you care/know how many cores your TV has?

I just feel the thinness compromises so much it may performs closer to base 17 instead.

Feelings mean nothing. Wait for reviews.

In the end it feels like a concept tech demo instead of a phone that people should buy.

That's your feelings again. (opinion) .

 

[jmpage2]

Any Android phone is just a counterfeit iPhone. Android is counterfeit iOS, and it's about as bad as any counterfeit.

I'm old enough to remember when Jobs announced the iPhone. Android at that moment was counterfeit Blackberry. It sucked. The day Jobs demo'd the iPhone, they started counterfeiting iOS.

Android still sucks. Just get an iPhone.

I like iOS but there's no disputing that on the hardware front Samsung and others have been pushing the envelope much further than Apple.

iPhone 17 is for all intents and purposes an iPhone X from seven years ago, just with some modest hardware improvements.

On the Samsung end you have massive photo sensors, dual aperture cameras, folding phone screens which create new form factors, etc.

Early on a lot of what Samsung was doing fell into the "gimmick" category.. things like useless styluses.

Now though there is a noticeable gap between Apple and Samsung hardware. I will still choose iPhone because I very much like using iOS over Android.

 

[iSayuSay]

makes no difference



who cares ? do you care/know how many cores your TV has?



Feelings mean nothing. Wait for reviews.


That's your feelings again. (opinion) .

Why wait? Reviews are here, including iPhone Air, go watch it. He said Air is a total flop, and of course you would also argue because THAT review is also an opinion?

Lower geekbench score
Gets throttled faster
Average battery life
Lesser quality bokeh for Air's rear camera
All those quality features for $999
That's facts, not opinion 🤷🏼‍♂️😂

But be my guest, just buy an Air, it's your money.. duh

 

[macjaffa]

Why wait? Reviews are here, including iPhone Air, go watch it. He said Air is a total flop, and of course you would also argue because THAT review is also an opinion?

Lower geekbench score
Gets throttled faster
Average battery life
Lesser quality bokeh for Air's rear camera
All those quality features for $999
That's facts, not opinion 🤷🏼‍♂️😂

But be my guest, just buy an Air, it's your money.. duh

Thanks for your permission to buy an air.

 

[A.F]

Are you sure that €1239 doesn’t include the (20-25%) VAT?

You guys have sales tax, which unless i'm mistaken you somehow/usually never include when naming the price;
Custom down here is naming the real, actual pricing, aka VAT included.

My fault for not specifying

 

[iSayuSay]

Thanks for your permission to buy an air.

Well, you hate my opinonated biased "feelings", you asked for facts. So I gave you facts. You love iPhone Air so so so much? Well that's like, your opinion too 🤷🏼‍♂️😁

 

[mgymnop]

I am getting the air because not everyone is a podcaster and I've been looking for a new design change. For some reason all of these manufacturers think we have all turned into photographers.

They should call the iPhone Pro "OnlyFans" edition. For photography and video I still prefer my Sony Alpha A6700. Maybe not as portable but the picture quality is far better. For web etc the iPhone Air is good enough and as long as Apple has not even real AI running on their phones I am not concerned at all about battery life.

 

[macjaffa]

Well, you hate my opinonated biased "feelings", you asked for facts. So I gave you facts. You love iPhone Air so so so much? Well that's like, your opinion too 🤷🏼‍♂️😁

dude chill. you are so wound up. I don't 'hate' your biased feeling. I don't 'love' the iphone Air. You do know that not everything has to be full extreme for or against. It is possible to take a moderate stance on things.

I also didn't ask for facts. I merely pointed out that your 'passionate' posting was based on your (obviously) intense feelings on this subject rather than objectivity. FOR EXAMPLE: "In the end it feels like a concept tech demo instead of a phone that people should buy."

You are suggesting people should not buy the air based on your feeling that it's a tech demo ? Can you hear yourself?

Do you accept that some people might prefer a thinner, lighter iphone, and that the Air serves this preference perfectly since it is a thinner, lighter iphone?

 

[mathiasinthe314]

I am seriously contemplating cancelling my 17P order and putting in an order for an Air because my Apple store still has availability. Even if I don't do it ahead of time, I might still decide once I am there and actually touch one. It's soooo beautiful. My only two hesitations are the lack of the ultrawide camera, which I do use frequently enough that I'll miss it. Telephoto I barely use and the photos I have with it, I don't really care for. Second, just the screen size. I am downsizing from the Pro Max to the Pro this year for weight and one handed usability. I just don't know how that extra .2" will fare for one handed use. I have normal size hands for a 6'2" man, but the Pro has a great size screen for my hands.

 

[mlayer]

iFixit's teardown of the MagSafe battery considers the possibility that it might be the same as the internal iPhone Air battery. 🤔

The clue might be that the MagSafe battery cell is also housed in a metal can, just like the Air.

 

[ignitedvelocity]

The 16 range of iphones and before is NOT suited to apple AI.

We Melted iPhones for Science

OASIS generated real-time video with on-device AI. Four years later, Apple redesigned the iPhone so that AI won't burn your hand -- and admitted that we were right.

accelerateordie.com

Wow, that’s a fascinating article and it makes a ton of sense. This year’s release is even more important for Apple than I thought.

 

[jmpage2]

Well, you hate my opinonated biased "feelings", you asked for facts. So I gave you facts. You love iPhone Air so so so much? Well that's like, your opinion too 🤷🏼‍♂️😁

You found a review that is very critical of the Air and reinforced your opinions, there are other reviews that have more positive opinions of the Air.

The top reasons that reviewers argue that the Air is a "flop" is that you should either just get an iPhone Pro Max.... which isn't a good option for people who want a pocketable phone... or they should just get a regular iPhone 17... which is a lower performance phone with a smaller screen, similar battery life, and worse camera sensor in the main camera.

 

[iSayuSay]

You found a review that is very critical of the Air and reinforced your opinions, there are other reviews that have more positive opinions of the Air.

The top reasons that reviewers argue that the Air is a "flop" is that you should either just get an iPhone Pro Max.... which isn't a good option for people who want a pocketable phone... or they should just get a regular iPhone 17... which is a lower performance phone with a smaller screen, similar battery life, and worse camera sensor in the main camera.

It's always one way or the other, some reviewers love it while the others not so much. You can also reinforce your opinion with the opposite. I simply pointed out that Air has to compromise with so many tidbits just to have that kind of thinness.

You may or may not agree with my opinions, of course. That doesn't change the fact that those compromises are there. If you or some people can live with it, then great, go and get one. I just said I can't, so I missed the part where that's my problem.

 

[killhippie]

Just watched the UK apple lover “the tech chaps” videos review. Far left is iPhone 16 pro max the, Air hit over 60 Celsius after 10-20 minutes of gaming, interesting that the 16 pro max looks cooler without a heat pipe unlike the others 17’s minus the Air. It could a bad video but I thought the whole point was to take heat away from that glowing supernovae of a camera bump which doesn’t seem to be happening in this image. Link below. Heat image at 1:43 onwards

 

[DDustiNN]

It's always one way or the other, some reviewers love it while the others not so much. You can also reinforce your opinion with the opposite. I simply pointed out that Air has to compromise with so many tidbits just to have that kind of thinness.

You may or may not agree with my opinions, of course. That doesn't change the fact that those compromises are there. If you or some people can live with it, then great, go and get one. I just said I can't, so I missed the part where that's my problem.

But are you this vehemently against the MacBook Air compared to the MacBook Pro?

What’s wrong with options?

Some people like thinner devices. Nobody expects full Pro experience in an Air form factor.

It’s not that serious.

 

[BigDO]

If battery life is merely good enough on a brand new device with 100% Battery Health, that's not a great sign for real world owners because it's only going to get worse over time.

And just imagine what iOS 27 will do to it 😊

Still, I will be getting one. It’s just too good looking, and the first fresh design in ages. I simply can’t resist a shiny new thing.

 

[BigDO]

Agreed. I actually bought a $7 Air case on Amazon to see the size, and I decided upgrading from my 15 Pro would significantly affect my ability to use my phone one handed. I use it a lot one handed.

I went from 15PM to 16P because the PM is too big for one handed use (and that’s how I use my phone 90% of the time).

I’m hoping that the 6.5” combined with being much lighter/thinner makes it possible to keep one handed use on the Air. Otherwise, I’ll have to return it. I’ll be keeping my 16P in any case as a fallback.

 

[iSayuSay]

But are you this vehemently against the MacBook Air compared to the MacBook Pro?

What’s wrong with options?

Some people like thinner devices. Nobody expects full Pro experience in an Air form factor.

It’s not that serious.

It’s not that serious, yet here you are 😄

Macbook Air costs way less than Macbook Pro. Lesser features, lesser specs and lesser price.

iPhone Air costs significantly more than base 17, or slightly less than 17 Pro, which are more compact, perform just as good if not better. See the problem?

Yet again, if you want it that much, go ahead and get one. It’s not that serious.

 

[cardfan]

Cost isn’t a concern for me but I almost went with the iPhone 17 which is $800 not $700. It is a better value.

I chose the Air because it has a slightly larger screen and 50% more memory and a much faster CPU. I do use business applications and those improvements will be well worth it for me personally.

Its one camera also has a better sensor than the one on the 17.

Except it’s slower than the 17. So you don’t make much sense.

 

[jmpage2]

Except it’s slower than the 17. So you don’t make much sense.

By less than 1% in Geekbench. It's worth noting that the Pro models with their advanced cooling solution (aluminum construction plus vapor cooling chamber) are still only able to get a 10% bump on the other phones.

We also don't know why Apple chose the pro model CPU for the Air if the performance is this close. It might mean that the pro CPU will be further optimized in future versions of iOS.

The Air still has 50% more RAM than the base model iPhone and that will help business users who are frequently swapping between large office type applications.

I agree that the base model 17 offers the best value this year and that the Air only makes sense for people who want the thinnest lightest most pocketable iPhone that has a larger display size.