I'm sure they're planning to launch new colours early next year when sales flatten out.
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iPhone Air's Durability Put to the Test by Apple Execs
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JerryRight will put a point blank period to this.
Following the iPhone 17 event earlier this week, Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak and Apple hardware engineering chief John Ternus did an interview with Tom's Guide's Mark Spoonauer to discuss the iPhone Air. During the interview, Joswiak demonstrated the iPhone Air's durability by handing Spoonauer an iPhone Air and encouraging him to try to bend it.
Spoonauer says that it survived the bend test. "I used all my strength, and the 5.64mm thin phone bowed (slightly), but did not break," he said. TechRadar's Lance Ulanoff was also part of the interview, and he too was unable to get the iPhone Air to bend. It did flex, but it returned to its original position, which Joswiak said was meant to happen.
The 6.5-inch iPhone Air has a grade 5 titanium frame, and with the iPhone 17 Pro models transitioning to aluminum, it's now Apple's only titanium iPhone. When announcing the iPhone Air, Apple said the titanium frame "exceeds" its "stringent bend test requirements."
The bendability of an iPhone has been something people pay attention to since the 2014 launch of the iPhone 6 models. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus became famous for "bendgate" after users found that the iPhones could bend in a pocket.
According to Ternus, multiple factors needed to align for Apple to design a thin and light iPhone. "We needed advancements in our materials development, Ceramic Shield on the back to be able to create that hollow plateau. If you look at the inside of the iPhone Air, almost the entire phone is living right up there in that top and that in that plateau. And then we need the efficiency of Apple silicon. So it was all of these pieces that had to come together," he explained.
Spoonauer says that he asked about the "plateau" naming for the camera bump, and it's a word that Apple has been using internally "for a while."
The interview continued with TechRadar, where Ternus and Joswiak discussed the iPhone 17 Pro models.
Apple set out to make the iPhone 17 Pro models the "most Pro phones" possible, leading to improvements in battery life, new camera technology, and durability. On the transition from titanium to aluminum, Ternus said there were "two undeniable wins for aluminum." Apple used a custom aluminum alloy, and it is 20 times better at thermal conductivity than titanium so it is better able to spread heat. Aluminum is also lighter than titanium, which allowed for more battery weight. "And then the icing on the cake is it allowed us to anodize it," said Ternus, referring to the Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Pro.
"Look, for years we've had Pro customers say 'Hey, how come the other part of the line gets all the fun colors, you know, and we don't?' And it's like Okay, you want a fun color? How about Cosmic Orange, baby?" Joswiak said.
Both interviews are worth watching for those who are interested in additional details on the iPhone Air and the iPhone 17 Pro models. Apple's new devices will be available for pre-order starting on September 12, with a launch planned for September 19.
Article Link: iPhone Air's Durability Put to the Test by Apple Execs
Let me give it a try, pretty sure myself and everyone else on this forum could bend it. Many of those execs aren’t used to lifting anything heavier than a cappuccino 😂
That's the entire point. The logic board is entirely in the "camera plateau", not spanning the length of the phone's body.
People are going to need to let go of old expectations to see the Air for what it is... a fresh take on how a phone is assembled.
This is NOT a critique—I’m genuinely curious about this. I am a photographer, but not as a profession (I do architectural work for free to get buildings on the historical register). Are you not shooting a log profile and color grading on a desktop with calibrated monitor? Again, not a videographer and genuinely curious.
Yeah. The “phone guts” are mostly in the bump—err, plateau. I think people have missed this bit.
I’m not sure that any of these points are relevant, it’s not even the thinnest smartphone around, 120 Hz isn’t really a factor and the iPad Pro is even thinner than this phone and I have one. The thermals are fine, and that thing is running an entire M4 chip with a massive screen on top.
The battery will be fine and the thermals will be fine.
It's a step towards a foldable phone that isn't twice the price.
Evolution is how Apple rolls. What they learn from this phone being in the wild will help ensure their foldable tops the market.
If you're a monstrous fat ass, perhaps. But a person can easily apply more than a 100 lbs of force with their hands in a bend test. Good luck applying more direct force than that with just your ass.
Not half as weird as grown adults walking around with what looks like a small tv in their front pockets.
There will still be people on here that will claim that it is easy to bend. Don't worry.
Watching them do that gave me such anxiety, I would assume it would bend easily, but it barely flexed.
That still does not answer the questions, who is this for and how does this make the pro more pro?
I can answer that for me. The Air is for someone who has used a Pro for years, because they use it for work (and play), but they want an iPhone that is so pro, and maybe exchanges some features for a more svelte device.
You’re not sitting right. Aww shoot bad joke i should have left it in my mind before I typed it!
If the animations Apple released Tuesday are accurate, showing the internals of the iPhones floating and rotating in the air and then self-assembling, in the Pro models the logic board containing the A19 Pro chip and some other parts is near the rear middle of the housing, and the camera plateau contains only camera parts.
It’s nothing to do with Apple. Dude became toxic and bitter with everything. Jim Darymple knew when to quit, John was way past expiry date past 4-5 years.
