Claims to be the same as the 16 pro, which I have now. So it shouldn’t be any worse. Even if it is, my phone never gets to below 50% in a regular day use. So for me it’s non-factor. Granted everyone has their own use case and it may be a sacrifice.
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iPhone Air People Just Don’t Get the Point of the iPhone Air
- Thread starter Sami13496
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Coming from a 13 mini, I think I'll live. Appreciate the kind words!
We've had high inflation but wages haven't exactly kept up so that means less money for luxuries.
The equivalent to the $749 Xr is the $799 iPhone 17. The Air is more of a luxury model kinda like the iPhone X when it was first released.
Xr was popular precisely because it featured the new design language at $749.
The Air looks great but the price point is going to be a deterrent for many.
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I think we must separate here. We have two “users”:
-Those who upgrade yearly
-Those who don’t.
I think that yearly upgraders can do whatever they want and it doesn’t matter - after all, they can accept anything and everything and they will have a new iPhone the following year.
I belong to the second category: I keep iPhones forever and never update iOS. I upgrade when the original iOS version is too incompatible, or when I feel like it.
I’ve used the 5s, 6s, 7+, Xʀ, and after a long upgrade break, my current 16 Plus.
For long-term users, I struggle to see the point of the Air. Sure, yearly upgraders can take as many feature hits as they like because it doesn’t matter.
Long-term users:
-Only one camera, which a flagship-level iPhone (or one at this price point) hasn’t had since the iPhone 7 or the 6s, depending on how you consider the Plus
-No Macro
-No stereo speakers
-No Ultra Wide
-No Cinematic Mode
-Battery life TBD, video-decoding efficiency notwithstanding.
-No mmWave
All for the amazing discount of… $200 more expensive than the base iPhone, which has all of this.
So, I’m not upgrading, but if I were (say, if I had the iPhone 11, or 12), why in the world would I choose the Air? It costs more and I get less. If battery life were significantly worse for general usage I’d even lose battery life, depending on the iPhone I’d be upgrading and its battery performance on its original iOS version. I’d need to see real-world battery tests though, and I might be wrong about this.
But with all of this missing, why would I buy this to use for 4+ years? It makes no sense at all unless I REALLY wanted the thin design and unless I were okay with the constraints (which I am not, I’m not going back to a single-camera iPhone).
-Those who upgrade yearly
-Those who don’t.
I think that yearly upgraders can do whatever they want and it doesn’t matter - after all, they can accept anything and everything and they will have a new iPhone the following year.
I belong to the second category: I keep iPhones forever and never update iOS. I upgrade when the original iOS version is too incompatible, or when I feel like it.
I’ve used the 5s, 6s, 7+, Xʀ, and after a long upgrade break, my current 16 Plus.
For long-term users, I struggle to see the point of the Air. Sure, yearly upgraders can take as many feature hits as they like because it doesn’t matter.
Long-term users:
-Only one camera, which a flagship-level iPhone (or one at this price point) hasn’t had since the iPhone 7 or the 6s, depending on how you consider the Plus
-No Macro
-No stereo speakers
-No Ultra Wide
-No Cinematic Mode
-Battery life TBD, video-decoding efficiency notwithstanding.
-No mmWave
All for the amazing discount of… $200 more expensive than the base iPhone, which has all of this.
So, I’m not upgrading, but if I were (say, if I had the iPhone 11, or 12), why in the world would I choose the Air? It costs more and I get less. If battery life were significantly worse for general usage I’d even lose battery life, depending on the iPhone I’d be upgrading and its battery performance on its original iOS version. I’d need to see real-world battery tests though, and I might be wrong about this.
But with all of this missing, why would I buy this to use for 4+ years? It makes no sense at all unless I REALLY wanted the thin design and unless I were okay with the constraints (which I am not, I’m not going back to a single-camera iPhone).
You are precisely describing the exact same scenario with the original 2008 MacBook Air.
The standard white plastic MacBook was technically better for it specification for specification, and it was thousands of dollars cheaper.
Meanwhile, for $2000 more, the MacBook Air got you a futuristic SSD but only with 1/4 the storage, a significantly thermally constrained and underpowered Intel chip, but a significantly thinner design, one of the thinnest laptops of the time.
2 1/2 years later, the MacBook Air had become the default laptop, most of the compromises had been either accepted or improved on, and it replaced the white plastic MacBook.
The iPhone is in a similar spot right now, I think it’s very clear the Air will become the new standard regular model probably within the next three years.
The base iPhone seems to be slowly on the way being phased out, first it doesn’t get no new design whatsoever, next year it’s not rumored to be updated at all until the spring of 2027, if anything it in the e will just converge into the budget model.
Also, I think the iPhone air begins the slow but inevitable process of them phasing out iPhone numbers, it’s just “iPhone Air”. Not “17 Air”, just “Air”.
Air will have horrible selling number comparing to pro and base, you will see who is nonsense.
It was an entirely different situation with MacBook Air. Computers were 4-5 lbs heavy and 1-inch thick. There was an appreciable quality of life difference.
For iPhone, most people are not complaining about thickness or weight, especially for the base model. Screen time is increasing each year and people want more and more battery life. Yes, there’s a small niche group that wants thinner and lighter.
This is why Air adopters feel they’re being attacked. They don’t seem to realize the majority of consumers don’t have this problem. Instead, they believe anyone who has anything negative to say about Air is just purely there to attack them.
depends on what you define as function. I don't care about the camera besides the one or two I take per month, and the one in my iPhone 15 has been great. I preferred the iPhone 12 mini, 14 plus (2nd lightest of the 14 models), and 15 for their weight vs the others in their lineups. So I like form factor, weight (since I hold it so much), and don't care about camera or screen size.
To me, almost nobody ever needs to buy a 17 pro or pro max. I don't know why people ever buy them.
I see a boat anchor and a cell phone
People say the weight and bulk of a phone doesn’t really matter but to a lot of us it does. Not everyone carries their phone in a back pocket or bag.
Your points are quite valid.
I was using a 1-inch thick, 4 lb. Laptop when the original MacBook Air was slipped out of the Manila envelope onstage by Steve Jobs and shown to the world. What a moment that was in Apple history. Traveling extensively for work, my MacBook Air was delightfully easy to carry.
Regarding iPhones again I concur, out of the vast group of users at work I cannot remember anyone wishing for a thin phone. Yet here we are, with Apples experience, resources and vast user base, it’s obvious they’ve done the research and determined there is a market for this new model.
People get it probably more than you do because their perspective includes the price. For $200 less you actually get more phone with the regular 17
Reminds me of the original MacBook Air. The thing was universally laughed at for its high price tag and lackluster performance. The target audience ended up extremely niche until the price was lowered and it became the budget offering, after that they were everywhere. Apple just being Apple and unable to stay away from repeating exactly the same mistakes of its past over and over.
Honestly you could appy that to just about every product Apple has ever released.
I’m upgrading from a 15 Pro to a 17 air.
If the battery life is actually better as claimed (will see next week in reviews), than I think for my use cases as a casual user, the camera is the only real significant trade off.
I didn’t realize I used the ultrawide 0.5 zoom as much as I did - I found out looking through my old pics at lens information. In a lot of cases, that’s the lens that automatically gets used. Also saw I used telephoto quite a bit, but I think that’s not as much of a loss. On the other hand, I use the front camera a lot too and that’ll be a nice upgrade on the 17 air!
But I wonder how much worse my pictures in restaurants, vacations, some low light situations, etc. might be on the 17 air compared to my 15 Pro. I’m fine with some loss of quality - I just want to take “good” pictures. Trading some camera downgrades for a bigger screen and more pocketable phone i think is a good deal. Carrying around and holding extra weight for the few times I might want a BEST camera doesn’t seem worth it.
If the battery life is actually better as claimed (will see next week in reviews), than I think for my use cases as a casual user, the camera is the only real significant trade off.
I didn’t realize I used the ultrawide 0.5 zoom as much as I did - I found out looking through my old pics at lens information. In a lot of cases, that’s the lens that automatically gets used. Also saw I used telephoto quite a bit, but I think that’s not as much of a loss. On the other hand, I use the front camera a lot too and that’ll be a nice upgrade on the 17 air!
But I wonder how much worse my pictures in restaurants, vacations, some low light situations, etc. might be on the 17 air compared to my 15 Pro. I’m fine with some loss of quality - I just want to take “good” pictures. Trading some camera downgrades for a bigger screen and more pocketable phone i think is a good deal. Carrying around and holding extra weight for the few times I might want a BEST camera doesn’t seem worth it.
More importantly, there was very well known demand for thin and light notebooks. Toshiba, Lenovo, Fujitsu, and Sony all had similar thin and light products before MacBook Air.
There is no such proven demand for thin and light smartphones. This goes back to the iPhone 12 mini story. Either Android manufacturers, who have tried everything, are really stupid, or the market isn't that big.
Cognitively, the comparison to MacBook Air is easy, which why some people are parroting it. But when you dive deeper, it's not a valid comparison.
I see your point. I think ”innovation” is a bit subjective in this case. For some, it can be innovative that the phone has been made so thin, if that’s what they value the most. The original MacBook Air also involved many compromises to achieve that thinness. In both cases, the thinness and appearance were the most important features, and the product was aimed at those who valued that over more powerful specs.
Dozens of folks. who. attended. the event in Cupertino who actually did. TOUCH. it. posted things like:
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"The iPhone Air is a contradiction in your hand — and I mean that in a good way. It feels almost impossibly thin and light yet it also feels rock solid."
"I would definitely slide this into my front pocket"
"My instant verdict is that it’s stunning and sexy. The keynote videos and glossy press shots capture its elegance, but the iPhone Air is even more impressive in the flesh."
"The Air is not top-heavy or bottom-heavy; it’s pretty well balanced, and can be held comfortably with just one hand"
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This doesn't sound "undetectable" to me; rather, this sounds like the difference between reading (or watching videos) about something, and you know, actually holding it for real. Or a vast conspiracy.
As a 15PM user, I can confirm one-handed use is usually a disaster waiting to happen, and my thighs are bruised for all eternity for being so dumb as to take on a decent bike ride with the 15 in my front pocket.
I’m 100% with you on this. I loved the iPhone 6 when I had it because the whole phone was thin. I’d gladly take exactly this kind of fully slim design. Personally, I mostly take photos of receipts and the occasional random snapshot.
But I know that many Air users want a good enough camera, so most would probably disagree. And I get that.
For the general public, I find it almost laughable that it has reached so many people that it is better to be able to take ProRAW photos or ProRES videos than to use a phone that is much more comfortable every second you have it in your hand.
It's clear that the marketing people know what they're doing..
I have a launch day 13 Pro Max. I only have taken 12 cinematic videos (almost all of them in my first days with it), 5 ProRAW photos and 0 ProRES videos. And I take many many many photos and a few videos now and then.
What is true is that I have used the 0.5x zoom a lot more, but basically for crappy photos to show my three cats around me on the sofa and little else. I can live without it, but obviously I would have liked to keep that option.
I take a few macro photos. This was very usefull 2/3 years ago in one specific situation. But, in a daily use… Many times I had to disable macro photos because the result was worse than with the main camera. For QRs you don’t need macro photos…
I care very little about the optical zoom. The few photos I've taken with zoom on my 13 PM have been using the maximum digital zoom...
I care very little about the optical zoom. The few photos I've taken with zoom on my 13 PM have been using the maximum digital zoom...
For me this is much more important:
- iPhone Air: 6,55” screen, 165 g and 5,6 mm thick.
- iPhone 13 PM: 6,68” screen, 240 g and 7,6 mm thick (not bad when you see the 17 Pros at 8,8 mm…).
13 PM screen is 1,99% bigger (i like big screens), but… it is 45,45% heavier and 35,71% thicker…
17 Pros are 57% thicker than the Air…
F*** the 0,5x crappy photos and all that “Pro” s*** and embrace the s**** mono speaker.
It's clear that the marketing people know what they're doing..
I have a launch day 13 Pro Max. I only have taken 12 cinematic videos (almost all of them in my first days with it), 5 ProRAW photos and 0 ProRES videos. And I take many many many photos and a few videos now and then.
What is true is that I have used the 0.5x zoom a lot more, but basically for crappy photos to show my three cats around me on the sofa and little else. I can live without it, but obviously I would have liked to keep that option.
I take a few macro photos. This was very usefull 2/3 years ago in one specific situation. But, in a daily use… Many times I had to disable macro photos because the result was worse than with the main camera. For QRs you don’t need macro photos…
I care very little about the optical zoom. The few photos I've taken with zoom on my 13 PM have been using the maximum digital zoom...
I care very little about the optical zoom. The few photos I've taken with zoom on my 13 PM have been using the maximum digital zoom...
For me this is much more important:
- iPhone Air: 6,55” screen, 165 g and 5,6 mm thick.
- iPhone 13 PM: 6,68” screen, 240 g and 7,6 mm thick (not bad when you see the 17 Pros at 8,8 mm…).
13 PM screen is 1,99% bigger (i like big screens), but… it is 45,45% heavier and 35,71% thicker…
17 Pros are 57% thicker than the Air…
F*** the 0,5x crappy photos and all that “Pro” s*** and embrace the s**** mono speaker.
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