Report: Apple Considers Adding Second Camera to Delayed iPhone Air 2

[ryannel2003]

I’ve had my Air since launch day and I can say now it’s definitely my favorite iPhone (4, 5S, 6, 6S, 7, 8, XS, 12 and 14 previously). With that being said it’s a comprised device at the price.

 

[cforbesdesign]

I love my Air. Only a Wide (macro) camera and second speaker would make it perfect. Many years of Pro Max. Tired of brick. Tried a Pro. Smaller, still a brick. Went to Air. Perfect.

I wonder if more efficient battery tech would allow them to add a speaker on the bottom as well.

 

[uacd]

Or…



Agreed. Get a real camera if you want better results.

iPhone was once best camera for me, I mean best pocketable camera. It kinda went downhill after many years. I remember how older iPhones even had better natural bokeh (non-computational) than current ones, focused much closer and also had much less processed photos, more natural and true to life.

Camera is a must but on the other hand there are few disadvantages:

- Weight, complicated use. You gotta either buy one good zoom lens+decent body or many lenses and juggle thru them. Minus of zoom lens - it is large, minus of primes - well, you gotta zoom with your crop or feet…

- Lack of good compacts on the market. Smartphones have largely “outsmarted” old compact camera market. Last Sony RX100 was released back in 2019, still has outdated micro USB port, a hard pill for me to swallow considering I don’t even have these cables anymore, all USB-C. Others are kinda lackluster like Canon SX740 (no RAW, blurry noise reduction processing) or Panasonic ZS/TZ99 (sensor smaller than iPhone, though a very decent zoom range);

- Smartphones can shoot in any weather. Snow, dust storm, sand, rain. It won’t probably handle humidity though, but most of the advanced cameras cannot handle those scenarios either, they won’t necessarily break but they are only “sealed”, not fully protected;

- Smartphones got largely normalized as everyday devices. So you won’t even collect looks when trying to take a photo. Standalone cameras, well… some concert and event organizers go as far as ban them, while smartphones are smh allowed. Cameras these days get looks, which isn’t ideal for all shooting scenarios.

Thus I kind of still stick to smartphones for photography these days. Simple, fast and convenient

 

[Kkspire]

I love the iPhone Air so much but the thermals are the biggest problem for me. I don’t mind having to charge a little more often, but I can’t do a longer FaceTime without the phone throttling and chopping the video. When summer comes, I’ll be willing to be I can’t FaceTime outside. Maybe they can do something with software. For the camera, personally I would appreciate being able to shoot further versus macro.

 

[Takeo]

…

 

[fatTribble]

I use the telephoto lens much more often than the ultra wide. I guess I’m in the minority.

 

[ThailandToo]

Even $899 would have been a better price point. The $200 charge would hit consumers emotions way more as tech reviewers also have it a slight. It’s way more durable than the 17 or Pro models. The material is just way stronger. Now holding my 17 Pro Max feels like a brick. The lack of ultrawide camera is the only thing I care about for them to fix it. So many said the second speaker and stuff but I really don’t think it ruins the experience that bad. The battery is great.

 

[xxFoxtail]

The reason I bought the Air was for its sleek design. Adding a second camera ruins that a bit in my opinion. If I wanted function over looks, I would have bought the 17 or 17 Pro instead.

 

[maflynn]

I never understood the idea of the air, a phone that is more expensive, potentially slower, has less features including the cameras then the base mode. Its only "advantage" is that its thinner.

 

[StuBeck]

I'm just happy that we've seen pushback on making everything thin for the sake of thin, without any actual benefits other than "hey look its thin!".

 

[Agent007]

Honestly for this type of device it should have been a new iPod touch. Call it the iPod nano or iPod air or something. Focus on the music and bring back what made Apple great back then. Sell it for $299 without a SIM card. Great for kids. No need to worry about expensive phone contracts or a $999 device. Can also be a perfect home device to replace a controller for Apple TV. So many possibilities. Maybe have it come with a dock too. Sigh missed opportunity.

Now that no one makes calls, they'll definitely never do an iPod Touch again. Ever. It would eat into phone sales.

 

[hoodlum90]

Yea Cook nice one, I'm sure another lens with that hideous bump will finally trigger sales.

That seems to work with the other iPhones.

 

[hoodlum90]

Unless it is a 4x telephoto won’t even look at it. I don’t want or need ultrawide, macro is a stupid reason to include it, better to have actually close focusing main camera. It is high time for Apple to do something to their obsolete lens system that still allows lots of flares, doesn’t focus close and protrudes a lot from all devices

Both of those can be easily accomplished with a smaller image sensor. While low light images won't be as good, I doubt anyone posting to Social Media would notice.

 

[BigDO]

I love my Air. Only a Wide (macro) camera and second speaker would make it perfect. Many years of Pro Max. Tired of brick. Tried a Pro. Smaller, still a brick. Went to Air. Perfect.

I’d swap the wide for the tele, but yeah.

FWIW, I don’t see them cancelling it.

 

[TVreporter]

Reminds me of ….

 

[d5aqoëp]

I genuinely think the first gen Air is a really good phone. As technology allows, it’ll only get better, and looking forward to seeing where Apple goes with it (so long as it isn’t scrapped).

Good phone at extremely poor pricing. It should have been slightly lower priced than plain 17 series to see traction. Apart from form factor, there is nothing premium about it and people of 2025 are far more intelligent to understand that concept.

 

[definitive]

they should have had 2 cameras on air 1. would have sold more units. people don't want to sacrifice their camera functions for a slightly thinner phone.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I think we can stop pretending Apple "knows what the customer wants".

 

[Lwii2boo]

If they really want this model to have correct sales vs base model / pro they need at the bare minimum to both things :
1/ add an extra lens (ultra wide or telephoto) for more flexibility and more high-end looks. Looks may look irrelevant but not for the Air target audience.
2/ descrease MSRP by $100

I would never be the target demographic for this product but honestly it's not hard to see that it targets a niche audience. Air is probably quite more niche than iPhone SE and mini back in time.
I also dont thinks it's that good in ergonomics vs base iPhone 17 because Air is really thin but not spectaculary light iPhone 12 is lighter for instance. The most important metric for one hand confort is not weight or thickness but width and due to its big display for most small hands 6.1-6.3" iPhone are more conformtable. If you have big hands then Air / Pro Max are a better fits for most.
Once again brillant engineering but niche audience due to pricing

 

[GioGiusi]

All they need to do is merge iPhone Air with iPhone 18 and it will be a hit.

 

[bmark]

Apple's brain trust is like throwing darts blindly hoping something sticks!

 

[bbates123]

I never understood the idea of the air, a phone that is more expensive, potentially slower, has less features including the cameras then the base mode. Its only "advantage" is that its thinner.

And crucially...lighter! And I think that's the point that most people who don't care about weight miss about this phone. For many it is a feature more important than extra cameras or speakers. For the crowd that is sick of bigger heavier phones ever year, this phone was a blessing.

 

[Cervisia]

For me the single camera is actually a good thing. I find the Air ugly, and way overpriced for what is it: a tech demo for upcoming foldables.

 

[bbates123]

So glad to hear that they are still considering a new model, even if it's delayed. I've said it here many times before and I'll say it again, the main thing this phone is missing is marketing. Nobody knows about it. I honestly believe that if more people knew about it, it would sell much better. When you see ads on TV for the new iPhones, what are they? Always the 17 Pro/Max!

 

[turbineseaplane]

And crucially...lighter! And I think that's the point that most people who don't care about weight miss about this phone. For many it is a feature more important than extra cameras or speakers. For the crowd that is sick of bigger heavier phones ever year, this phone was a blessing.

Absolutely!
iPhone "air" isn't "air" at all, when considering weight and many previous iPhones, or even the current 16e.


iPhone 16e: 167 grams

iPhone Air: 165 grams

iPhone 12: 164 grams
iPhone 8/SE2: 148 grams
iPhone SE3: 144 grams
iPhone 13 Mini: 141 grams
iPhone 7: 138 grams
iPhone SE1: 113 grams