iPhone Air People buying iPhone Air, which iPhone are you coming from?

[pin87a]

Yes I absolutely do. The difference between mono and stereo speakers is night and day mate on an iPhone.

Bluetooth speakers are going to absolutely blow away the sound quality of a mono iPhone speaker. That's an absurd comparison.

Nobody here has heard the speaker on the iPhone Air.
As I said, if it sounds like total crap, I'm with you, it does matter.

You are making an assumption that it's going to sound terrible just because it's mono and that's not fair. Maybe Apple decided to use the space for one kick-ass speaker instead of two sub-par speakers? We really don't know.

My point was that mono vs stereo isn't the only deciding factor. If you agree that a mono bluetooth speaker could possibly be acceptable then you should agree that a mono phone could possibly be acceptable as well.

Regardless, we will know in a week.

 

[blairh]

Nobody here has heard the speaker on the iPhone Air.
As I said, if it sounds like total crap, I'm with you, it does matter.

You are making an assumption that it's going to sound terrible just because it's mono and that's not fair. Maybe Apple decided to use the space for one kick-ass speaker instead of two sub-par speakers? We really don't know.

My point was that mono vs stereo isn't the only deciding factor. If you agree that a mono bluetooth speaker could possibly be acceptable then you should agree that a mono phone could possibly be acceptable as well.

Regardless, we will know in a week.

It’s a tiny earpiece speaker on a smartphone. Of course it’s going to sound terrible on its own.

 

[bperkins]

16 Pro Max....debated between Air and that super cool Cosmic Orange PM. Only real concerns I have is if I will miss the larger screen, .5x optical zoom....use that setting frequently and no spatial photos. But super excited for the weight and thinness.

 

[KneelbfZod]

Look mate, if it works for you, awesome. But let's stop acting like the majority of iPhone users don't appreciate the stereo sound that we've had for nine years.

I'd bet you a ton of money the average non-tech consumer would never be able to tell the difference and certainly doesn't know the iPhone has stereo speakers.

 

[someone33]

It’s a tiny earpiece speaker on a smartphone. Of course it’s going to sound terrible on its own.

I had an iPhone 6 which had a mono speaker. I don’t remember it being an issue, all I remember is that it was a great phone that served me well until the iPhone X.

And when I got my iPhone X I don’t remember being like “whoa stereo speakers now!” I’m sure it sounded better but that was insignificant to all of the other differences/upgrades.

It will be the same with the iPhone Air. The speaker will sound just fine and surely better than the iPhone 6 speaker which nobody had any issue with.

 

[blairh]

I'd bet you a ton of money the average non-tech consumer would never be able to tell the difference and certainly doesn't know the iPhone has stereo speakers.

The difference between mono and stereo iPhone speakers is night and day. And yes anyone can tell. Whether they care is another matter.

 

[blairh]

I had an iPhone 6 which had a mono speaker. I don’t remember it being an issue, all I remember is that it was a great phone that served me well until the iPhone X.

And when I got my iPhone X I don’t remember being like “whoa stereo speakers now!” I’m sure it sounded better but that was insignificant to all of the other differences/upgrades.

It will be the same with the iPhone Air. The speaker will sound just fine and surely better than the iPhone 6 speaker which nobody had any issue with.

Once you’ve had stereo you don’t want to go back to mono. I’m sure that is true for most people.

 

[tolili alert]

Mate, do you really not realize how often we use our stereo speakers?

Playing games.
Watching any sort of video content.
Video chats.
Audio calls.
Music & podcasts.

If you don't care, fine, but please don't act like stereo speakers aren't vitally important for the majority of consumers.

I don’t play games.
To watch videos I put on my Air Pods Pro 2.
I don’t make videocalls.
I don’t make phone calls through the speakers. Maybe just a few seconds when you talk to a machine and have to press numbers.
Music??? Air Pods Pro 2… Listen to music from iPhone 13 PM speakers??. I've never been so desperate to do such a thing.

I don't even have an alarm or sound notifications on my iPhone, everything goes through the Apple Watch via vibration.

The normal and desirable thing would have been to have two speakers, but the speakers on a phone are rubbish and I don't think it's a big loss.

 

[Donkey Man]

Mate, do you really not realize how often we use our stereo speakers?

Playing games.
Watching any sort of video content.
Video chats.
Audio calls.
Music & podcasts.

If you don't care, fine, but please don't act like stereo speakers aren't vitally important for the majority of consumers.

The tiny distance between the speakers makes the “stereo” concept basically irrelevant - your concern would be valid only if the volume of the stereo models is much higher than the mono ones.
Sound channel separation being important in a phone? Forget it.

 

[blairh]

The tiny distance between the speakers makes the “stereo” concept basically irrelevant - your concern would be valid only if the volume of the stereo models is much higher than the mono ones.
Sound channel separation being important in a phone? Forget it.

It simply does not. Sound coming from an earpiece only versus an earpiece and bottom firing speaker is extremely noticeable.

 

[Oohara]

Once you’ve had stereo you don’t want to go back to mono. I’m sure that is true for most people.

We're just talking about what we *think* here, but for me personally, sure I use my stereo phone speakers for games, vids, speaker phone calls etc., and yes I do enjoy it - but not having that is just not a deal breaker for me. And my guess would be that most people who are interested in an Air will not refrain from getting it just because it doesn't have stereo speakers.

 

[MrAperture]

It simply does not. Sound coming from an earpiece only versus an earpiece and bottom firing speaker is extremely noticeable.

Cmon now, it’s Apple, they have the best sounding phone, tablet and laptop speakers in the market.

You know darn well that they designed the Air to produce clear sound from the mono speaker. It will be fine. You don’t need stereo sound from a small screen device. It is a need? No. A bonus? Yes.

 

[blairh]

Cmon now, it’s Apple, they have the best sounding phone, tablet and laptop speakers in the market.

You know darn well that they designed the Air to produce clear sound from the mono speaker. It will be fine. You don’t need stereo sound from a small screen device. It is a need? No. A bonus? Yes.

There are serious limitations with a mono speaker. It doesn’t matter who is making the smartphone. Nobody in their right mind wants to lose stereo sound from their iPhone. If you or someone else can live with it, so be it.

 

[Donkey Man]

There are serious limitations with a mono speaker. It doesn’t matter who is making the smartphone. Nobody in their right mind wants to lose stereo sound from their iPhone. If you or someone else can live with it, so be it.

Explain such “limitations” to us, please.

 

[MrAperture]

There are serious limitations with a mono speaker. It doesn’t matter who is making the smartphone. Nobody in their right mind wants to lose stereo sound from their iPhone. If you or someone else can live with it, so be it.

You’re obviously not the target consumer for this product.

The Air compromises battery life, cameras and speaker for a lighter, modern design while still having a bigger screen than the base iPhone.

The Pro phone is perfect for your needs.

 

[blairh]

Explain such “limitations” to us, please.

You seriously don’t realize how sound coming from one tiny speaker is not going to be limited versus adding a second large bottom firing speaker?

 

[blairh]

You’re obviously not the target consumer for this product.

The Air compromises battery life, cameras and speaker for a lighter, modern design while still having a bigger screen than the base iPhone.

The Pro phone is perfect for your needs.

The S25 Edge is essentially identical in depth and weight and it has a second speaker. I think Apple just blew it on that front.

 

[MrAperture]

You seriously don’t realize how sound coming from one tiny speaker is not going to be limited versus adding a second large bottom firing speaker?

Have you heard the sound from the Air yet? I highly doubt it.

Apple engineers have surely thought about your exact thoughts.

It will be fine. They wouldn’t release a phone with a speaker that wouldn’t be able to project sound in a decent manner.

 

[4sallypat]

Have you heard the sound from the Air yet? I highly doubt it.

Apple engineers have surely thought about your exact thoughts.

It will be fine. They wouldn’t release a phone with a speaker that wouldn’t be able to project sound in a decent manner.

Yes, that is correct.

I never use my iPhone to listen to stereo sounds or music - I leave that with my home Mac Studio with DAC surround sound system.

My iPhone gets used for speaker phone (monophonic) and tones/alerts (monophonic).

 

[stormchasejg]

Give me data for these claims, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone that uses their phone speakers over headphones for that.

I also don’t see how the Airs speaker quality would be an issue for someone that obviously don’t care about audio quality since they are fine listening to the terrible phone speakers in the first place.

I personally listen to music from my phone speakers daily when at work, much of the time I'm the only one in the room or away from others and for safety we often can't have headphones in so phone speaker it is, I also find headphones/AirPods can hurt my ears if I wear them for hours on end so I for one enjoy the stereo speakers and is one of the reasons I stuck with the Pro Max line over choosing the air. Every time I listen to music from my phone speakers after periods of listening on Bluetooth speakers or AirPods Pros I remember just how good they sound when paired with Dolby Atmos lossless Apple Music tracks

 

[Knowimagination]

You could not pay me to listen to iPhone speakers on a regular basis.

Essentially the only time I use them is for FaceTime which is basically not able to utilize the stereo part and is concerned with volume.

Either AirPods 4, my favorite pair of koss headphones or some type of speaker or speaker system.

 

[Donkey Man]

You seriously don’t realize how sound coming from one tiny speaker is not going to be limited versus adding a second large bottom firing speaker?

That has NOTHING to with stereo/mono, genius - but just the size of the speakers - and as I said above, the only concern might be with the overall volume of the speaker; not channel separation.

 

[blairh]

That has NOTHING to with stereo/mono, genius - but just the size of the speakers - and as I said above, the only concern might be with the overall volume of the speaker; not channel separation.

Actually it has everything to do with stereo vs mono.

Play anything on your iPhone right now. Then cover the bottom speaker with the same audio still playing. It sounds far inferior without that bottom firing speaker. I honestly can't believe you need me to point this out.

 

[MrAperture]

Actually it has everything to do with stereo vs mono.

Play anything on your iPhone right now. Then cover the bottom speaker with the same audio still playing. It sounds far inferior without that bottom firing speaker. I honestly can't believe you need me to point this out.

It sounds inferior without the bottom firing speaker because these phones are designed with that bottom firing speaker in mind.

The Air is designed without the bottom firing speaker, so you can bet Apple has made the mono speaker sound decent.

 

[Oohara]

16 Pro Max....debated between Air and that super cool Cosmic Orange PM. Only real concerns I have is if I will miss the larger screen, .5x optical zoom....use that setting frequently and no spatial photos. But super excited for the weight and thinness.

What about the mono speaker on the Air, isn’t that a concern for you?