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...and that's what you get when you put form over function.
Except it’s not true.
Just surprised that so many people had to actually buy it to work that out. Perhaps it's related to really wanting to believe that a phone which, in photos, is clearly about 11mm thick at one end at is only 5.6mm thick.
I ended yesterday at 40% battery.

Where the Air starts to make sense is if you combine it with a couple of those MagSafe battery packs and, effectively, make a full-thickness iPhone with a hot-swappable battery. Or, maybe, Apple could just have used all that design and manufacturing ingenuity to just make a 11mm-thick phone with a removable battery in the first place...
I’d rather have an incredibly svelte phone 95% of the time and put on a battery the one or two days a month I need it than carry around a much thicker phone “just in case”.
 
I never bought the Air because I knew it didn't have what I wanted in a phone before It was available.

Would you buy a car and then complain that it didn't have sat nav or some other convenience feature? No, you find out all that before you commit to the purchase!

Unlike the iPhone, before buying a car I can go to the showroom to look at it, sit inside and take it to a test drive before I order it.
 
Unlike the iPhone, before buying a car I can go to the showroom to look at it, sit inside and take it to a test drive before I order it.

Long before you go for the test drive you're aware of how big the car is, if it has the features you want, mpg etc and if it will do what you need. I have never test drove a car knowing it wouldn't be suitable from the get go.
 
Ok so I’ve been testing both the 17 pro in blue and the Air in white . I’ve never had such a hard time trying to decide on what phone . I love the design of the air , the speaker for me is a non issue for me where I’m struggling and thinking the pro is the choice for me is camera and battery. And I’m thinking i will get the air 2 next year if they improve the areas that i just mentioned. As i write this now I’m still not sure 😅
 
Ok so I’ve been testing both the 17 pro in blue and the Air in white . I’ve never had such a hard time trying to decide on what phone . I love the design of the air , the speaker for me is a non issue for me where I’m struggling and thinking the pro is the choice for me is camera and battery. And I’m thinking i will get the air 2 next year if they improve the areas that i just mentioned. As i write this now I’m still not sure 😅

I've decided to wait for the Air Mini.

Screenshot 2025-09-24 at 09.23.29.png


BELIEVE.gif
 
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I think the Air is a great design and definitely feels good to hold. I think it would have sold better obviously with less compromises, a second camera and perhaps a bit more battery life would have it a slam dunk for most people. Anyway I am sure, like always, we will see Apple improve on the next generation Air.
 
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I never bought the Air because I knew it didn't have what I wanted in a phone before It was available.

Would you buy a car and then complain that it didn't have sat nav or some other convenience feature? No, you find out all that before you commit to the purchase!
In all fairness there is no way to get a clear picture of the battery issues before trying it and seeing if it suits your usage pattern. The battery is the only issue for me and it has been disappointing. I'm taking some steps to see if it can be improved and if not I will very sadly have to return it.
 
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Screen size, thickness, screen display all good. my issue is with the low volume telephone calls - need to use earpods or use speaker volume to hear decently. strangers audio volume on web sites is ok. at least compared to the iphone 26 i had.
probably this will make me return for either the 17 pro or regular 27
What do you mean by "or use speaker volume"?
 
Can someone tell me how to rollback to my 16PM from my new Air? I decided to keep my 16PM after having the Air since launch day. How do I reactivate my 16PM and send the Air back? I bought AppleCare + for it too so not sure how that works. Reason I’m returning the Air is battery life and speaker quality. I’m not a power user but I do scroll tik tok, Facebook, news, Spotify etc. I’d say I’m a normal user. Even on a long phone call the battery would just drain. I find myself with hard to hear speaker conversations clearly and it had to be at max volume. I never had that issue on my 16PM. Is it easy to just go back to your old phone? I really like the air form factor but should have waited.
 
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Can someone tell me how to rollback to my 16PM from my new Air? I decided to keep my 16PM after having the Air since launch day. How do I reactivate my 16PM and send the Air back? I bought AppleCare + for it too so not sure how that works. Reason I’m returning the Air is battery life and speaker quality. I’m not a power user but I do scroll tik tok, Facebook, news, Spotify etc. I’d say I’m a normal user. Even on a long phone call the battery would just drain. I find myself with hard to hear speaker conversations clearly and it had to be at max volume. I never had that issue on my 16PM. Is it easy to just go back to your old phone? I really like the air form factor but should have waited.
Did you wipe your 16PM? If so do a device to device transfer from Air back to 16PM. In terms of your eSIM,got settings on 16PM / cellular and add a new connection. Follow instructions to to transfer from the Air back to your original phone.
 
OP here. :)

"Why didn't I buy it in store?"
I pre-ordered. Tried it out on the day that it arrived. Then I went to the Apple Store to return it. I enjoy doing this because I get to go to the Apple Store to return instead of buy – avoiding the lines to buy on day 1.

While I was in the Apple Store, I got to 'try' a number of iPhones. Trying it in store isn't the same as trying it at home.

I was genuinely excited for the Air. But the compromises were too much.
It will probably be a few years from now, but we can probably expect Apple's engineers to work out a way to get it down in size a little, put a 2nd camera in, put a bottom speaker in, and give a little more battery life.

They'll call it iPhone Air (A22, 2028) or something. The iPhone normal series might just disappear once a full-featured Air is made.
 
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Did you wipe your 16PM? If so do a device to device transfer from Air back to 16PM. In terms of your eSIM,got settings on 16PM / cellular and add a new connection. Follow instructions to to transfer from the Air back to your original phone.
No, I did not wipe my old phone yet. How do I activate it back on the T-Mobile cell network?
 
No, I did not wipe my old phone yet. How do I activate it back on the T-Mobile cell network?

Settings->Cellular->Set up cellular, when I did this it said “transfer number from x’s iPhone Air”. I had the new phone next to the old phone - not sure if it’s necessary or not.

Didn’t go further than that because I don’t actually want to transfer, but hopefully it’s straightforward after that.
 
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Settings->Cellular->Set up cellular, when I did this it said “transfer number from x’s iPhone Air”. I had the new phone next to the old phone - not sure if it’s necessary or not.

Didn’t go further than that because I don’t actually want to transfer, but hopefully it’s straightforward after that.

This is the way. It’s as simple as doing the sim transfer. Very easy. My partner and to do it when he decided to go back to his 14 PM. He did have both phones near each other.
 
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Beyond spoiled with the Air. Picked up the 17 Pro and it feels so terrible in the hand. Heavy, dense, unbalanced, digs into your palm.

Once you go Air, it’s hard to go back.

With all its faults, it’s still a better option than the 17 Pro (for me) simply by the extreme comfort of holding and using it.

Plus it looks a generation ahead of the 17 Pro design-wise.
 
If you want a smaller screen, then you will be sacrificing even more battery. Think about it.
Yeah that's physics unfortunately. To get the same battery life, if it gets smaller in one dimension(s), it has to get thicker in the remaining dimension(s).

Not a total 1:1 relationship though, since the smaller screen uses less power--but screen size is not the only factor of battery usage as some people here seem to be suggesting. The screen is only a fraction of the energy budget. It may be the largest single fraction in many cases, but it's nowhere close to 100% of the energy usage (unless maybe one uses their phone almost exclusively as a white screen and no other function), and probably not even majority. So while the smaller screen would help, the battery would still have to get thicker. And proof of this is to just look at the battery life of iPhone 13 vs 13 Mini; or the 14 vs 14 Plus, etc. Identical phones except length and width, and the larger phone has the longer battery life--conversely, the smaller phone has the shorter battery life. That's a significant reason why people like larger phones--for some the longer battery life is even more important than having the larger screen.
 
Yeah that's physics unfortunately. To get the same battery life, if it gets smaller in one dimension(s), it has to get thicker in the remaining dimension(s).

Not a total 1:1 relationship though, since the smaller screen uses less power--but screen size is not the only factor of battery usage as some people here seem to be suggesting. The screen is only a fraction of the energy budget. It may be the largest single fraction in many cases, but it's nowhere close to 100% of the energy usage (unless maybe one uses their phone almost exclusively as a white screen and no other function), and probably not even majority. So while the smaller screen would help, the battery would still have to get thicker. And proof of this is to just look at the battery life of iPhone 13 vs 13 Mini; or the 14 vs 14 Plus, etc. Identical phones except length and width, and the larger phone has the longer battery life--conversely, the smaller phone has the shorter battery life. That's a significant reason why people like larger phones--for some the longer battery life is even more important than having the larger screen.

True.

The reality is I don't really need a super thin phone like the Air (or a hypothetical Air mini). I'd have been a lot happier if Apple had just shrunk the bezels and kept the 6.1" size on the iPhone 17.

I think 5.8" iPhone X with the bezels shrunken down and the body a bit thicker to accommodate a larger battery would be pretty good. Sadly, the days of sub-6" displays are long behind us.
 
Of course I realize that. In my opinion there are people who try their best to make a purchase that will meet their needs. But even with all that effort, sometimes a purchase doesn’t work out.

On the other side are those who return the blue because it’s not the right shade of blue for them. There are people who buy multiple iPhones so they can try them out at home. They don’t put any effort into the purchase before they make it. They buy an Air only to find it has a single camera. How much effort does it take to stop and think about whether you use a lens other than the main lens?

I would never say returns shouldn’t be allowed by Apple.
I will say consumers should try to avoid returns by using thought and research before they make a purchase. Just my two cents. I already know people disagree.
Other than the climate element, Apple is clearly happy with the current process or they would change it. They actually benefit from all the YouTuber’s buying multiple configs and cases. Apple’s release approach makes it difficult not to order multiple devices. What they should probably do is put them on display in stores the day th products are announced so people can go check them out before they place an order - but Apple choose not to do this, thus, they are happy with the no-question return rates.
 
I wonder if JerryRigEverything takes advantage of the 14-day no questions asked return policy...
He probably claims on Apple Care+. But in all honesty, given his influence and following size, it wouldn’t surprise me if Apple actually sent him the device post lunch.
 
In all fairness there is no way to get a clear picture of the battery issues before trying it and seeing if it suits your usage pattern. The battery is the only issue for me and it has been disappointing. I'm taking some steps to see if it can be improved and if not I will very sadly have to return it.
I got the impression from the keynote that there were concerns over the battery when Apple announced the battery pack for the Air alongside it. Quite a few of the reviewers I have watched came to the same conclusion and it felt like Apple were addressing the shortfall with this £100 accessory from the get-go. A phone that thin has to come with some compromises and as longterm smartphone users, we know what we expect from devices by now and the battery is always an important feature for most of us.
 
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