As someone who doesn’t take professional photos/videos or play graphic intensive games on my phone the Air is sounding better and better (for me) with every review I watch. Can’t wait!
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iPhone Air The Air reviews have dropped and the speaker's junk
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and life has been so AMAZING ever since! If we're going to get so excited over something this ridiculous, it might be nice to get terminology straight. There is no such thing as a "mono speaker".
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iPhone Air review: The thinnest iPhone ever, but at what cost? - 9to5Mac
Every so often, Apple makes a design decision that draws a line in the sand. One that feels like a...9to5mac.com
- The iPhone Air has a single speaker, located in the earpiece at the top of the device. There isn’t a speaker on the bottom like there is on other iPhone models. This was noticeable right away to me. If you regularly listen to podcasts or music using just your iPhone speakers (especially in the shower), you’ll want to invest in a Bluetooth speaker.
It's a no buy from me
I can’t even get my iPhone 16 Pro Max’s volume above 30% on speakers without my wife complaining. Single speaker is fine for me lol
I don't think Apple's worries too much about excuses. They're probably more focused on the 25 to 50 million of these phones they're going to sell in year one.
Why are you "sure it's perfectly fine and adequate when listening to it in your house in a quiet environment?" It seems to me that it would be likely that a single speaker would be lame, period; and that Air users should expect to use pods or headphones. Just a trade-off to get a thin device.
We can start getting real info after Friday. Until then all we have is clickbait noise.
The point is if you use the built-in speaker for anything you should test it out before buying.
I don't know how useful testing the speaker would be in a fairly noisy environment.
Obviously folks should test before buying. I would never listen to music on an iPhone, but I listen to audiobooks all the time; sometimes through AirPods but half the time using the iPhone speakers. Given that I find the 16 PM just barely loud enough, my guess is that the iPhone Air's speaker would not be loud enough for me even if I otherwise wanted an Air, which I do not.
I’m seriously considering the Air because I fit the demographic. I have the patience to just wait for a proper hands on. Where the speaker is concerned, I just want to make sure that alarm and notifications volume is good enough, as I depend on that as someone that sleeps like they are dead. The 14pm that I have currently serves me well in that regard and I just want to see how the Air fares for that particular use case.
You test A-B against the other choices in the same ambient environment. E.g. if an Air was as loud as an iPhone 16 Pro in a noisy Apple Store that would suggest "good enough."
This…is interesting. I had resigned myself to getting a 17 pro mainly because of the speaker, and most reviews I saw today called it out as being noticeably not great, but this seems pretty decent. My iPhone speakers use case is YouTube/podcasts/calls, so maybe this wouldn’t be terrible…
People use the speakers on their phones?
Yeah, that’s a little tongue in cheek, but only a little. Phone speakers, even the best of them, are a horrible substitute for speakers that can actually move a little air, or headphones, etc. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve tried to do any serious listening of anything through my phone’s external speakers.
I mean, I’m not getting an Air (getting a 17 PM), but even if I were in the market for one, the quality of the external speaker wouldn’t be part of the calculus.
Yeah, that’s a little tongue in cheek, but only a little. Phone speakers, even the best of them, are a horrible substitute for speakers that can actually move a little air, or headphones, etc. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve tried to do any serious listening of anything through my phone’s external speakers.
I mean, I’m not getting an Air (getting a 17 PM), but even if I were in the market for one, the quality of the external speaker wouldn’t be part of the calculus.
Unfortunately, it’s increasingly looking like the “without many compromises” part is inaccurate. You will need to embrace the compromises.
I'm really starting to realize the hilarious irony of people who will compromise on sound quality by using their phone speakers being unwilling to compromise on other aspects of the iPhone Air. I guess its a great way to highlight just how different we all are and what we are willing to compromise on.
When you can get a pair of Koss KSC75s for like 20 bucks I can't understand why anyone would accept the compromise of iphone speaker audio, but here we are.
When you can get a pair of Koss KSC75s for like 20 bucks I can't understand why anyone would accept the compromise of iphone speaker audio, but here we are.
The speaker is the only compromise that particularly concerns me, but it’s purely a volume thing for me. I FaceTime my parents so they can see their one year old granddaughter, so as long as it’s loud enough for the video call audio that’s fine by me. If I want to watch a movie or listen to music I’ll use my AirPods or airplay to my hifi. Even if the single speaker turns out to be too quiet for FaceTime calls, I’ve got my iPad Pro or wife’s 16 Pro so it’s simply not a dealbreaker either way. I want the thin phone, and know that there are some trade offs for that form factor. If those are too much for someone there’s the 17 and 17 Pro.
you get the pro that garbage brick, we take the air
No, it doesn’t. Channel separation (i.e., stereo) is all but irrelevant in such a small device.
The only complaint could be if the Air’s volume is too low to be heard for ringing/alarm purposes, which I am sure is not the case.
Otherwise, that’s a non-issue.
It’s not for you. Just move
It may matter to you if you have hearing issues and others in your situation.
Interesting. The 16P speakers are quite loud to me and I rarely have it above ~50%. Are you listening to audiobooks from far away or in noisy environments?