That’s on Apple if they’re not advertising it. All the tech influencers were all talking about it and they said the same thing I said.
The pros always sell well and this year the base 17 is a good deal, price and feature wise. The air is just there
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New iPhones See 'Stronger Than Expected' Demand With One Exception
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The pros always sell well and this year the base 17 is a good deal, price and feature wise. The air is just there
The Air should have a long tail unlike the mini and the Plus. The pioneered tech within it - yes, pioneered - should slowly but surely impact the rest of the line including the Pro/Pro Max. Better battery tech and packaging of multiple cameras will allow those features to be included in future editions. I'm an early adopter who loves it as it is, who also tired of the bloat of the previous Pro phones. When the Air eventually gets approval in China and the resultant boost in sales, what will the naysayers say then?
My assertion stems from empirical evidence. I printed a paper mock-up after the announcement to verify that the iPhone Air would not stick out of a pocket, went to the Apple Store on launch day to see how the iPhone Air felt in my pocket, and have been using the iPhone Air since September 28. I sent my iPhone 13 mini to Apple yesterday after four years of daily use. Based on all of this real world experience, the iPhone Air feels less constricting in a front pocket than the iPhone mini. I suggest trying it yourself in an Apple Store.
Literally everyone years ago used cameras with 2-3 megapixels and they were happy. Literally everyone years ago used flip phones and they were happy. Pretending that past technological standards compare to those of the present is not a good argument. Likewise with the battery life compromise.
Your argument is that people don't understand the Air. Mine is that they do understand: people don't want to pay more money for a phone that is more expensive, has a smaller battery, and has fewer cameras, just because it's thinner. Uniqueness is not a primary driving factor behind phone purchases - otherwise, more people would have Android phones.
The Air in its current form, with all its compromises, simply doesn't represent what most consumers are looking for, especially when compared to the other 17 models. It may gain popularity in the future, especially if Apple improves specs or adds features (e.g., extra cameras), or if they simply replace the base iPhone line with the Air (e.g., to make room for a foldable).
Pro and Pro Max all colors is on backorder at T-Mobile online, Air can ship overnight.
People have gotten used to the Pro models and going backwards on camera and battery can be a dealbreaker.
People have gotten used to the Pro models and going backwards on camera and battery can be a dealbreaker.
Why make a thin phone that requires a thick case to protect it?
Of course you can use the phone without a case, but very soon you will end up with an expensive iCrack or in this case an Air Crack.
Of course you can use the phone without a case, but very soon you will end up with an expensive iCrack or in this case an Air Crack.
You are not looking at the product from Apple's perspective. This so called Air is just an SE with a price tag nearing an Pro model.
In other words a phone thats cut in half, but with the full price remaining.
Thats what the Air is about. Selling "air" to people for big money. This is just testing the waters...
I think the Slim is a great phone. I need the better camera & battery life, but if I didn't, it'd be my choice.
I think it’s the pricing — too close to the Pro, too high a premium over the regular 17, and over the single-camera 16e at similar weight — in combination with multiple drawbacks over the regular 17, and either too little screen size difference (0.2”), or buyers not wanting a larger screen in the first place.
Especially with the very strong value proposition of the regular 17 this year, the trade-offs between both are such that they should really be priced much closer.
Somehow Apple keeps messing up their line-ups, launching the iPhone mini just months after the SE2 (where SE1 owners were already barely hanging on after four years of no updates), and now launching the Air in parallel to the strongest entry-level iPhone update since forever.
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No RAM issues for me at all. My current iPhone 15 has 6 GB of RAM and handles everything I want it to extremely well. I don’t play games or use any RAM intensive apps on my iPhone. Besides,
the iPhone 13 is the most common iPhone in circulation (in terms of active devices) and it has 4 GB of RAM.
While I picked up a silver 17 PM this cycle, and loving it, the Air is by far the most interesting iPhone this round - if not since the X.
Sure, there are some well-documented limitations and better value to be had. But for 98% of users, it seems a pretty perfect device. As soon as I pulled a demo unit off the charging stand in the store, I was pretty blown away. It’s comically thin and light - which means it’s easier physically navigate its large screen. Maybe some of the spec limitations would prove too much for me over time. But in the few minutes I spent with one, it seems it would be a fun/enjoyable daily driver.
Sure, there are some well-documented limitations and better value to be had. But for 98% of users, it seems a pretty perfect device. As soon as I pulled a demo unit off the charging stand in the store, I was pretty blown away. It’s comically thin and light - which means it’s easier physically navigate its large screen. Maybe some of the spec limitations would prove too much for me over time. But in the few minutes I spent with one, it seems it would be a fun/enjoyable daily driver.
That’s the problem, it’s a phone with too many ifs.
Some bloggers say: “Hey, I am gonna make iPhone Air my main iPhone this year, but I am also gonna carry iPhone 17 Pro for when I need to snap that great photo.” This is well ridiculous, IMO:
The Air is definitely not the most durable iPhone ever made, what a silly thing to post. I love my Pro, it’s fast, has three amazing cameras and the battery lasts such a long time. You cannot say that about your Air 😜
Not suprising. The iPhone 17 is arguably a better phone in every sense expect thinness and weight, for a substantially lower price.
For all other line-ups the Air is typically the cheaper/entry model or at least sits on the lower end of the scale. This new iPhone is confusing in that respect.
For all other line-ups the Air is typically the cheaper/entry model or at least sits on the lower end of the scale. This new iPhone is confusing in that respect.
Preface: Not disagreeing at all about having more RAM is better.
Just saying the apps refreshing might be architectural/by design. I've had the M1 iPad Pro with 8GB of RAM since day 1 and apps still gets refreshed occasionally, even when it wasn't running out of memory. It happened during the first year when basically that was the only iDevice in the entire lineup that has that much RAM.
This is all about cutbacks and the pro doesn’t seem to be producing great pictures, they are blown out and the pipeline can only be tweaked as its baked into the silicone. It scuffs easily, you need a military grade drop case for a 2 foot fall which is ridiculous, and they made one the same colour as the United States president, and you’ve got the N1 Wi-Fi chip which is a real unknown too.
Never buy version one of anything from any company, especially Apple. I truly hope next year they might have worked out how they’re going to expand the phone with everything being crammed into that plateau which is now jam-packed solid with all the phones components, which means you’ve got one large ugly area of vulnerability that could bring the phone to its death f it gets damaged and no room for expansion.
Guess I’ll be holding onto my 16 pro for a few years to come it seems.
Never buy version one of anything from any company, especially Apple. I truly hope next year they might have worked out how they’re going to expand the phone with everything being crammed into that plateau which is now jam-packed solid with all the phones components, which means you’ve got one large ugly area of vulnerability that could bring the phone to its death f it gets damaged and no room for expansion.
Guess I’ll be holding onto my 16 pro for a few years to come it seems.
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And Apple has the option or more importantly, an obligation to shareholders to discontinue a product that’s performing poorly in the market because that’s how a business works to stay in business. It’s not Apple’s responsibility to provide options to a relatively small subset of customers. It’s unfortunate, but that’s the way it is. My mom loves her 13 mini and she’s not looking forward to replacing it with a larger iPhone. Thankfully it’s only two years old and has 99 percent battery health. I upgraded her 12 mini to a 13 mini in September 2023 because the battery life wasn’t good on the 12 mini. The 13 mini’s battery life is noticeably better.
You’re assuming it would be a hit in China. I think most Chinese consumers will see it the same way that most US/European consumers see it as either not as good a value as the 17 or lacking too many features compared to the 17 Pro/17 Pro Max.
The Air had weaker demand, and the iPhone 17 had stronger demand than expected.
It’s simple. The Air is compromised, is $200 more, and its only advantage is thinness.
A worse camera array, worse battery life, one speaker, etc, for the amazing discount of $200 more.
I think the general userbase has long preferred thicker phones with better specs by now. This caters to a smaller proportion of iPhone buyers, and if you don’t care (maybe disproportionately so) about thinness, the Air makes absolutely no sense.
The numbers reflect that.
It’s simple. The Air is compromised, is $200 more, and its only advantage is thinness.
A worse camera array, worse battery life, one speaker, etc, for the amazing discount of $200 more.
I think the general userbase has long preferred thicker phones with better specs by now. This caters to a smaller proportion of iPhone buyers, and if you don’t care (maybe disproportionately so) about thinness, the Air makes absolutely no sense.
The numbers reflect that.
Figures -- the one iPhone I actually like isn't doing great. The Air is amazing. It is thinner and lighter than the base model. For me, the ultra wide camera is of dubious usefulness and hardly a loss. Contrary to prognosticators, the battery life is excellent, far far better than my iPhone 15 base was. The difference in thickness doesn't sound like a big deal on paper, but when it comes to pocket presence, it makes a *huge* difference. I was a big fan of the iPhone Mini, but I actually like this better -- it's bigger, but feels smaller, because the mini was small but fat.
But no one likes it, because people all buy Pros which are absolute freaking bricks. I just don't get it. Most people aren't content creators recording 4K60 to RAW or something. The processing power of the higher end phones is wasted on 99% of people, they are heavy and ugly, but everyone buys them, and I have no idea why. Honestly an iPhone SE from 2020 has more than sufficient processing power for me in a phone -- I have an iPad Pro for a reason and do real work on a computer. My purchase decision on a phone is 100% form and 0% function, because I desperately want a small light phone that actually fits in a pocket
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To add -- I hope they keep this around, to me the issue with the Plus from a biz perspective is it cannibalized the Pros directly -- they'd rather people who want a phablet have to buy a Pro. This doesn't seem to canibalize anything -- no one who really is set on a Pro would consider the Air. It's basically an upsell from the Base, so even if it doesn't move a huge amount, if it at least does OK, it may be worth keeping around.
But no one likes it, because people all buy Pros which are absolute freaking bricks. I just don't get it. Most people aren't content creators recording 4K60 to RAW or something. The processing power of the higher end phones is wasted on 99% of people, they are heavy and ugly, but everyone buys them, and I have no idea why. Honestly an iPhone SE from 2020 has more than sufficient processing power for me in a phone -- I have an iPad Pro for a reason and do real work on a computer. My purchase decision on a phone is 100% form and 0% function, because I desperately want a small light phone that actually fits in a pocket
.[EDIT]
To add -- I hope they keep this around, to me the issue with the Plus from a biz perspective is it cannibalized the Pros directly -- they'd rather people who want a phablet have to buy a Pro. This doesn't seem to canibalize anything -- no one who really is set on a Pro would consider the Air. It's basically an upsell from the Base, so even if it doesn't move a huge amount, if it at least does OK, it may be worth keeping around.
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You could still Preorder for in-store pickup on launch day, and this week you can still do the same. This wasn't the case last year, or with the 15 pro, or even 14 pro if I recall correctly.
Maybe supply got better, but I don't see many in the wild, and availability is far from scarce.
For the most part 1 camera is okay, but I often miss the ultra wide, but still rarely use the zoom but it is nice to have. I am sure the olioclip could resolve some of that (I have one lost in a drawer someplace) so for situations like that the air could be decent. I REALLY miss having this size of phone, and since I charge daily with device of this size anyway, it still has reasonable day life in my use case.
My issue with the Air is the massive forhead that could potentially make the device less than ideal to slip in or out of a pocket. Due to cables and other security at the store I have not actually tried to pocket one, but it is hard to ignore the change in thickness. Running my OG iPhone 7 without a case, zero issues, in fact, the curve to the frame around the camera makes it quite slippery to slip in and out of a pocket.
Does the Pro have the same problem. Sure, but it isn't being sold as the "thinnest iphone ever" so the difference in thickness more excusable IMO.
Maybe supply got better, but I don't see many in the wild, and availability is far from scarce.
I have put a SIM back into my iPhone 7 (not Plus) to test out for a week.
For the most part 1 camera is okay, but I often miss the ultra wide, but still rarely use the zoom but it is nice to have. I am sure the olioclip could resolve some of that (I have one lost in a drawer someplace) so for situations like that the air could be decent. I REALLY miss having this size of phone, and since I charge daily with device of this size anyway, it still has reasonable day life in my use case.
My issue with the Air is the massive forhead that could potentially make the device less than ideal to slip in or out of a pocket. Due to cables and other security at the store I have not actually tried to pocket one, but it is hard to ignore the change in thickness. Running my OG iPhone 7 without a case, zero issues, in fact, the curve to the frame around the camera makes it quite slippery to slip in and out of a pocket.
Does the Pro have the same problem. Sure, but it isn't being sold as the "thinnest iphone ever" so the difference in thickness more excusable IMO.
The mini sold well over 11,000,000 units each year. That may not have met Apple's expectations, but it was most certainly NOT a catastrophic failure.
Thank you 🙏
I didn't have the energy to refute that point about the Mini earlier. I'm totally worn out on people trashing it unfairly and acting like nobody bought it.
Out of ~230,000,000 units each year. That’s a failure. Which is why the mini is the quickest product line Apple has ever discontinued.
4% is just too niche. And it’s okay to admit that it’s a product line that may have a vocal minority that loves it online, but the general public truly didn’t give a ****.