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iPhone Air Sales Are So Bad That Apple's Delaying the Next-Generation Version
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I upgraded from a 12 mini and I am very pleased with the thin and light aspects but a larger screen for my aging eyes. I’m not a camera snob. I just do casual shots, and I only listen to podcasts on the speaker which does not require high fidelity. I had a XS Max before the 12 mini and it was very uncomfortable.
People like to hate things. Some people haven’t even seen, used, or held the phone, and are giving their opinion. We’ve been conditioned to buy the Pro because it’s better, but the Air has the same chip, the same great display.
The camera bump… the poor battery life, sub par camera… and the price… this is why it's not flying off the shelves
The only thing wrong, for me, with the Air is the one camera and lack of a second camera (be it wide angle or telephoto). I had one for about 9 days and very nearly kept it but in the end the lack of that second camera killed it. I had no issue with battery life or the one speaker (I never ever listen to anything requiring stereo speakers on an iPhone, the separation with two speakers on a standard iPhone is a joke).
I do find the hate in this thread to be a trifle over wrought especially as a I suspect the majority of the hate is coming from people who have never ever used it for more than, at most, a few minutes picking it up in an Apple Store, and are going by all the hate being espoused by influencers and reviewers. This phone is nearly there and I am happy to pay more for a phone that is lighter, thinner and better built than the chunky, aluminum and ugly current iPhone 17, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max. As a side note I have yet to find a single review for any product (whatever it is) matches my experience of the product in question. I read reviews and view videos to get a sense of the size and finish and get the technical specs. Once I have that I try it, if it passes muster.
I do find the hate in this thread to be a trifle over wrought especially as a I suspect the majority of the hate is coming from people who have never ever used it for more than, at most, a few minutes picking it up in an Apple Store, and are going by all the hate being espoused by influencers and reviewers. This phone is nearly there and I am happy to pay more for a phone that is lighter, thinner and better built than the chunky, aluminum and ugly current iPhone 17, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max. As a side note I have yet to find a single review for any product (whatever it is) matches my experience of the product in question. I read reviews and view videos to get a sense of the size and finish and get the technical specs. Once I have that I try it, if it passes muster.
You're missing the point of what I'm saying.
The special form factor (thin) is precisely what doesn't allow for the extra camera and speakers.
Perhaps a future product will combine all aspects, but not right now.
Nobody is salivating, but rather commiserating.
Don't you realize that Mini fans are allies here?
We should all want everyone to get the various types of models we all prefer.
What was the point of the Air other than it was super thin? Apple bloggers/pundits using to complain about the company’s obsession with ‘thinness’ but for some reason with the Air no complaints were to be found and it was all about this being an experiment Apple needed to try.
I don't get it, mostly because I absolutely could not be happier with the Air. I wouldn't expect everyone else to agree with me, but it's hard for me to imagine that my experience is so different from others'.
I would have gotten the base 17. But 6.3 inch screen is a bit too small for me. 6.5 inches is the sweet spot IMO.
Its the price. If it was 599-699 it would have sold like hot cakes.
Technically they have 5 iPhones with the e model. Why is Apple so stubborn. Do they really thing they can sell more phones if the introduce more models. The pros are the best selling ones so their costumer base is the premium market. There whole brand identity is don’t offer bload so why force a fourth device. They won’t grow by offering more bload. They already have the perfect formula. One regular and two sizes for Pro. The Air cancellation also means no splitting up the line up in fall and spring I guess.
The same thing will happen to fold. Air flop was foreseeable but it was Apple so people had hopes. Same with fold. Folds are a flop. What is it 2% market share overall. If you think rationally and consider the high price, that its a gimmick, and has worse Pro features it will definitely flop.
Tim Apple should have green lit an iPhone mini 17!
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The bean counter idea is probably if we offer more models we sell more phones. Which is not true and Steve proved that already by eliminating the multiple model offering idea by offering only the minimum. The Air is probably creating choice paralysis for costumers and thats only five models. Some shareholders want probably Apple to offer even more models.
They should just replace the 16e with the air with an older processor and drop the price. It’ll be a success.
I hope unsold iPhone Airs begin showing up on Woot or somewhere like that… at half price. I’d pick one up just for jollies while keeping my 16 Plus.
I don’t see this news as anything new really. When I heard rumors that Apple would split up future releases of Pro first then regular in Spring, combined with the fact they called it Air and not “17 Air”, I already expected they wouldn’t release on an annual schedule but occasionally.
This form factor and feature combination is the best they could do right now.
I’d expect an update maybe in 18 months, if by then they can figure out a way to get better battery tech and thus be able to make room for a second camera.
It’s clear the Air form factor is the future. It may be a niche product for a couple of cycles but it’s hard to imagine flagship iPhone (regular) not being Air thin in 3-5 years.
This would match the MacBook story where the Air was a niche product, almost double the price of a normal MacBook, and with an SSD even $1,000 more than the Pros at the time.
At the same time it was a big step down in power and capabilities. The gap of functionality and price was way, WAY larger than the gap between the regular iPhone and the Air today.
Then after some years the Air became the lowest end/standard MacBook.
This form factor and feature combination is the best they could do right now.
I’d expect an update maybe in 18 months, if by then they can figure out a way to get better battery tech and thus be able to make room for a second camera.
It’s clear the Air form factor is the future. It may be a niche product for a couple of cycles but it’s hard to imagine flagship iPhone (regular) not being Air thin in 3-5 years.
This would match the MacBook story where the Air was a niche product, almost double the price of a normal MacBook, and with an SSD even $1,000 more than the Pros at the time.
At the same time it was a big step down in power and capabilities. The gap of functionality and price was way, WAY larger than the gap between the regular iPhone and the Air today.
Then after some years the Air became the lowest end/standard MacBook.
Well done, Tim Cook! Well done!
Great phone, terrible pricing. Tim let the marketing team wreck another product and did absolutely nothing about it. Sad to see a product people worked so hard on basically flop and tossed into history books because of Tim’s incompetence.
Great phone, terrible pricing. Tim let the marketing team wreck another product and did absolutely nothing about it. Sad to see a product people worked so hard on basically flop and tossed into history books because of Tim’s incompetence.
Not used to being an Apple outlier . . . .
From a product segmentation perspective, the Air is caught in the middle between value (iPhone 17) and capability (iPhone 17 Pro/Max). If people want to pay more for a phone, they want all the cameras and features that come with the Pro models. If they don't want to pay that much money, they want the best value. The Air is caught in the middle.
What it needs is a feature that the base model iPhone 17 doesn't have, over and above being thin and light.
Another indicator it flopped. Of all new models the Air is the only one here in my country offered brand new at a discount in multiple stores. They offer it for the same price as the regular.