Very happy with my Air, but I’ve yet to see another in the wild. I get why. You have to be comfortable with its compromises, as I am.
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iPhone Air to Get Minor Refresh This Year, Claims Leaker
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All fine updates but the lack of a second speaker for louder sound and stereo output is still a dealbreaker
They won't make it thicker, because it's a tech demo for the foldable which will need to be thin. It only exists to get back some of the r&d costs before the actual fold comes out, and maybe see reactions to design decisions, like the single camera.
I was just laying in my bathtub watching an episode on my iphone. Without a headset, because why the hell would I use one in my own home.
I also hate all the airpods, but that's a different matter.
PlasmStudios
macrumors member
Has to be a Telephoto, I can think of no practice use cases for an Ultrawide. Just give me a secondary telephoto lens and better battery life, I'll be happy to upgrade
turbineseaplane
macrumors Penryn
I would take all the downsides of the Air if they had a smaller variant of it.
It's too wide and tall.
It's too wide and tall.
ThomasJL
macrumors 68020
What a mess! Wasn’t one of the first things Steve Jobs did when he returned to Apple was cutting down the computer product line from many computer models to just a few? Tim Cook is too clueless and mediocre to understand the benefits to customers in doing that because he’s only interest in maximizing profits for shareholders.
I count lightness/thinness (comfortable use and pocketing) as a feature though. That's the selling point of a lot of ultralight camping equipment, which is more expensive than regular equipment due to special materials, design, and construction. You do give up some other features though, so like all products it's really just about hitting a set of trade offs that some people may prefer.
JulianFrance
macrumors member
I never used the ultra-wide lens on my iPhone Pro because the quality is significantly worse than the standard lens. But for people who like that, the front camera can replace it. It's a 20mm equivalent and the quality is comparable to the rear ultra-wide lens. Simply turn the phone over to take the photo…
I use a cheap waterproof Bluetooth speaker when I'm in the tub/shower. Better/louder sound than even my Pro Max!
mansplains
macrumors 68000
klasma
macrumors G4
I don’t agree that was the case. The battery of the Air is very good, on par or better than the iPhone 16. And as far as there was a wrong perception of it, which there was, I don’t know how making the battery even better will substantially change that. The bigger complaint was the single camera, and there were many other complaints, like the mono speaker, C1 modem, thick camera plateau, being too large or too small, having a throttled SoC, no physical SIM (outside the US), etc.
In Aus, the air has been discounted down to the same price as the regular 17; unsurprisingly they're starting to move.
one more
macrumors 603
Do people really use speakers? When you do everyone gives you the look of annoyance. It’s seen as rude to be blasting. You’re sort of expected to have ear pods, headphones, etc.
But would you take the subsequent battery hit? I know I would, but I don't know how many else would.
Or rather, I suppose the question is how much of a battery hit would you take? Because then that would determine how much smaller it could be. For reference, the (6.1") iPhone 15 base and (6.7") iPhone 15 Plus have the same thickness, and the base takes about a 20% hit on battery life for about a 9% screen diagonal size reduction. That much size reduction would only work if one thinks the Air's current battery life is over-abundant (which I do, but again I don't know how many are in the same boat). Making it thicker would add some battery life back, but then it starts to become less "Air", for what it's worth.
My biggest gripe with my iPhones for years is not being able to mute the speakers all the time.
Quickly so they don't disturb the rest of us.
I think the niche of people who use the speaker for audio calls in their own space to be even smaller than the niche of people who like the iPhone Air.
100% agree - this is definitely my favourite phone. The camera limitation is something I can live with but wouldn't object if it improved without more size added.
The two speaker thing is just a non-event for me. I can't remember the last time I used the speakers on a phone for audio beyond FindMy and getting notifications.
My only gripe with the iPhone Air is forgetting I have it in my pocket and spending time looking for it...
We have four models don't we - the Air, Regular, Pro and Se - everything else is just spec differences that give users choice. I think introducing the fold will add the complexity across product lines and blur between iPad and iPhone.
Source me: The Battery 🪫 sucks on the iPhone Air and I returned it for a 17 Pro Max 🔋 The Air battery would deplete sooo fast. 1st gen product Air had to go back for the Pro Max.
That crap battery was so bad on the Air, that I returned it for the Pro Max and there are Multiple videos of other people doing the same thing. The Battery sucks on the Air. It depletes too fast. Probably will just stick to the Pro Max from now on. Way Better battery and 40w fast charging.