Other The iPhone Air is the Appetizer....

[bluespark]

I get the appeal of a thin phone, but if the battery is bad, why purchase the inferior device? The rumors say that a new battery case will be released alongside the iPhone Air. So, Apple's solution to improve battery life is making it thicker—like the Pro models? I hope I'm wrong, but it doesn't sound right.

Because, for some of us, a thinner phone is superior in that respect. I work at a desk all day, which means I can easily charge my phone anytime. But I also wear a suit, and thick phones look terrible in suit pockets. A thinner phone makes sense for this use-case: battery life isn't much of an issue, while phone size is an issue. On weekends, if I want, I can use the battery case. Best of both worlds (for me).

I still don't know if I'll buy it. I need an always-on display and a decent camera, and I'm not sure it will have those things. But if it does, I'm interested.

 

[bluespark]

I had the big size iPhone from whatever the first big one was. I thought I could never go back to a smaller screen size. Then I got the iPhone 15 pro and use it without a case. It’s light enough and small enough that I could never imagine wanting an air, and I’ve never once missed the bigger screen. I had forgotten about the bigger screen until writing this message out.

Same: I had the 7+ and loved the big screen, but later moved to the normal-sized Pro and was fine. BUT, my 7+ was thinner, and the jet black finish was non-slippery, meaning that I never needed a case. That, for me, was iPhone perfection.

 

[eyoungren]

Of course they will be an addition to the lineup.

That's not (or wasn't) the implication I was getting. Or at least the implication I was receiving was that foldables would become the flagship and slab phones would be the also rans.

As long as I can still get a slab phone in a large size then a foldable will remain irrelevant to me. But the moment Apple decides to do away with slab phones, I'm out.

My understanding is that a foldable's primary use is for when you are away from home or work and the idea being that it unfolds to give you more screen wherever you may be. I don't need that. I work from home, and prior to that I worked in an office. The nature of what I do keeps me chained to a desk all day - either at work or home. And nothing I do is time critical that it needs to be done right then wherever I am. A foldable couldn't even run the stuff required for what I do as there are no apps for it.

So, at home or work with large screens and multiple computers. Why do I need a foldable? I don't.

 

[TgeekB]

That's not (or wasn't) the implication I was getting. Or at least the implication I was receiving was that foldables would become the flagship and slab phones would be the also rans.

As long as I can still get a slab phone in a large size then a foldable will remain irrelevant to me. But the moment Apple decides to do away with slab phones, I'm out.

My understanding is that a foldable's primary use is for when you are away from home or work and the idea being that it unfolds to give you more screen wherever you may be. I don't need that. I work from home, and prior to that I worked in an office. The nature of what I do keeps me chained to a desk all day - either at work or home. And nothing I do is time critical that it needs to be done right then wherever I am. A foldable couldn't even run the stuff required for what I do as there are no apps for it.

So, at home or work with large screens and multiple computers. Why do I need a foldable? I don't.

I don’t think we have to worry. The slab will not go away anytime soon…………………🤞🏻

 

[PPCmike]

Regular folding phones seem a bit of out date now, especially in 2027. It doesn’t expand enough to serve as a tablet replacement.

After seeing Mate XT trifold, Apple should really aim for something similar.

I've never even seen much interest in them (folding) TBH I've only can count on 1 hand how many times Ive seen one in the past 5 years and most of them turned out to be uber drivers using it for google maps.

 

[bwoodruff]

If the battery lasts all day on the Air, does it matter if the Pro Max lasts a day and a half? I’m never going to be away from power that long so it’s not going to make a difference for me. Of course this is just for what I need. You or someone else might need that extra battery life so for them it is inferior.

For me: It's about actually realistically getting a full day of heavy usage out of the device. Also, it isn't so much about going a day and a half without charging, as still being able to go a full day without charging in 3 years. Phone upgrades are becoming less and less appealing as the differences between models 1 year apart become less apparent, and so I've been keeping my phones for longer. I'd rather over provision up front than have to replace the battery after a year and a half.

 

[russell_314]

For me: It's about actually realistically getting a full day of heavy usage out of the device.

I can understand that. Basically you don’t want to have to worry about is my battery going to run out before the day is over.

For me, I think it was with the iPhone 12 Pro Max where I stopped worrying at all. I used to have a spare power bank with me to charge and then I just stopped bringing it. Right now my 14 Pro Max has 90% battery health and I don’t even think about my battery. I couldn’t even tell you what my battery percentage is at the end of the day on average. It’s kind of like how Apple by default doesn’t show the percentage on top. They want you to use the phone and not stress about the battery. I still have the percentage shown, but I don’t look at it because I know it’s enough.

Of course that’s just how I use the phone and I’m sure there are people that still need to bring a portable power bank to top off their phone.


It depends on what you’re doing with the phone. You mentioned heavy usage, but to me that implies constant usage but not necessarily what you’re doing. My heavy usage is browsing the web, watching YouTube, checking social media, posting on here, listening to music and podcasts, etc. It’s a bunch of random things but I don’t think any of those tasks are CPU or GPU intensive. Maybe watching YouTube videos requires a bit of energy but not too much.

I suspect gaming would be the one thing to quickly drain the battery. My gaming consist of Mahjong so nothing that’s going to drain the battery. I definitely would not consider the iPhone Air if I was serious into mobile gaming. Also, the other thing that will make a big difference in battery life is display brightness. If you’re using your phone outside in bright sunlight, that means your phone is going to be full brightness. If you’re using your phone inside, it’s probably only at 50% brightness.

 

[bwoodruff]

You mentioned heavy usage, but to me that implies constant usage but not necessarily what you’re doing. My heavy usage is browsing the web, watching YouTube, checking social media, posting on here, listening to music and podcasts, etc. It’s a bunch of random things but I don’t think any of those tasks are CPU or GPU intensive. Maybe watching YouTube videos requires a bit of energy but not too much.

Yeah - YouTube, web browsing, reddit, Overcast, ...

I really actually don't think of my usage as particularly heavy. I don't spend much if any time talking on the phone, and I'm not constantly glued to it. But based on the battery life I get, I guess it is.

 

[The Game 161]

Foldable iPhone with ipadOS multitasking will be so good.

 

[Devyn89]

A post I wrote some time ago concerning foldable phones.

If Apple proceeds to thin, foldable phones and that becomes all they sell, then I'm out. I had a foldable phone from 1999 to 2009. I am not interested in going back. I will find a different phone manufacturer that makes slabs.

If foldable phones are simply additional to Apple's other line of slab phones, then fine. But I'm not buying a foldable.

The second option seems the most likely. Apple sells hundreds of millions of slab iPhones right now, I don’t see every person opting for a foldable anytime soon. Like 10 years at the earliest if ever.