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I’ve only had one pro iPhone and I got it because I keep my iPhones a minimum of 3 years. I got it though because I wanted pro motion, better cameras, better battery life, and more RAM. I’ve had the 13pm since launch and I don’t think I’ll upgrade for another year or two. I think the only things that’ll make me upgrade are this phone dying, lack of updates, or a genuinely good foldable that isn’t square when open.

I don’t like the air though so if my choices are losing features or buying pro I’ll probably go for the pro. Any new iPhone I get has to at least have the same features as the 13pm.
 
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I’ve only had one pro iPhone and I got it because I keep my iPhones a minimum of 3 years. I got it though because I wanted pro motion, better cameras, better battery life, and more RAM. I’ve had the 13pm since launch and I don’t think I’ll upgrade for another year or two. I think the only things that’ll make me upgrade are this phone dying, lack of updates, or a genuinely good foldable that isn’t square when open.

I don’t like the air though so if my choices are losing features or buying pro I’ll probably go for the pro. Any new iPhone I get has to at least have the same features as the 13pm.

What about the just the 17? It seems to check all the boxes except the display size.
 
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People keep saying that air owners care what it looks like. That’s not the case at all. I’m considering one because of what it feels like. Not only in the hand but pocket, especially when I’m wearing shorts.

I care less of what people “think” it looks like. I want thin and light because bulk is a thing.

Also, great thread! I completely agree with the psychological aspect of buyers remorse and being torn between “the best”.

Sorta makes me feel the same when trying to choose a class in a RPG.

If you're saying that the Air is the agile archer, while the Pro Max is the tank type, while the regular 17 and regular Pro are a more general type warrior. I agree. This thread can be closed now.
 
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Oh there's something psychological going on. The way the Air Cult has so quickly assembled and refined their list of cope talking points is like nothing I've ever seen. it's a solid little phone with a nice design that you get by exchanging most of the things people want from a phone. At a price that makes sense, maybe 700 bucks, it's a good new addition in the lineup. It's a meme in waiting at this point. It'll sell well for a year and then absolutely tank and disappear whenever the folding phone comes along. Pure cashgrab from Apple and can't believe how many people are carrying water for it. It's like satire of the "Apple sheep" cliche every windows/android user trots out.
You tone just exemplifies the OP’s point perfectly

People aren't buying the Air because they have to, but because it brings something different to the table.
 
How come there are no comments about the Air getting a lower Geekbench score than the regular 17? I tried the Air at the store today and it felt snappier than the 17, but with more dropped frames. The Pro felt by far the fastest and smoothest of the lot, which is no surprise, but I was surprised to actually experience choppy animations on the Air.

I guess the A19Pro is throttled quite a bit, which seems like a scam. Why put that in there, market it as having the same chip as the Pro phones, and then throttle it to the point where they might as well have used the A19?
The Air is not getting lower geekbench scores than the regular 17. I don't know where you got this info from.
 
Here's mine:

https://ibb.co/mC3MMxnB
I don't know, obviously these results will vary. Can't imagine this not being fixed or at least pointed out in the comments if it's wrong, since MKBHD's video has 170k+ views.

Clearly the base 17 can score higher at least sometimes, example:
what I’m saying is that the A19 Pro(even the binned version with 5 GPU cores) is still faster and more efficient than the A19 chip. Yes it will start throttling sooner because of the thinness of the phone.

Also worth mentioning is the fact that Air has 12GB of ram whereas the regular 17 has only 8GB
 
ok.
so its taken me several days go through at this point now 12 pages of posts in this thread.

i hope that Stanford psychology & marketing courses or other schools might take a look at the over 40 threads that have been posted on Macrumors basically about the "Air", if we include threads trying to evangelise or vilify the decision to buy or not buy an Air.

i think it comes down to people not being able to see that the entire line of new iPhones announced last week gives all people wanting to buy an iPhone a broad range of choice this year. people are struggling with this choice.
there is no clear "best" iPhone.

you can't rely on price to tell you which is the best.

you can't rely on weight or thinness if there are phones with more cameras on phones that weigh more.

you can't even rely on the most inexpensive one if that comes with it being a fatter phone.

but we can listen to a great number of reviews which tell us that the basic iPhone 17 is definitely the best deal; the best value; with a lot of Pro features with a weight not so different from the larger screened Air.

the quote from the apple marketing (?) executive lady who herself said (paraphrasing now) : "we are happy that people are struggling with their choice".
it was such an odd comment. but she was right.

i feel that especially for the posers, who have thought that the most expensive fon should be the coolest fon. those folks are having a real bad time these days. i am happy they are struggling with this.

for me, the Air. for my personal and professional needs, the Air.
even though i am factoring into my choice the need to replace the battery in 2.5 years.

think different, everyone.
 
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What about the just the 17? It seems to check all the boxes except the display size.
I steam movies and tv all the time so the size is pretty important to me. I have long fingers too so the larger size is easier to type on.

I got an Apple care replacement last year after Face ID died so I’ll have this one until next year or the year after.
 
I really like the Air's design but I'm too used to some of the pro features and being able to 1-hand the non-max pro to the extent to where the compromises in both function and the greater breadth of the Air were deal-breakers. I really wish tech companies as a whole weren't so singularly focused on making everything bigger as opposed to the older philosophy of "advanced" being packing more function/features/power into a smaller package but then I guess I have Unihertz for that purpose when I want to go lightweight for the day. 😅
 
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It's the opposite. Come on.
You can't be serious.
No I think he’s right. I’ve seen more comments praising the feel and premium look versus the Pro models, but refuse to commit due to lesser battery life and camera functions.
 
No I think he’s right. I’ve seen more comments praising the feel and premium look versus the Pro models, but refuse to commit due to lesser battery life and camera functions.
I think 90% would agree that the Air looks the best out of this year’s line up.

For me personally it’s the most premium looking iPhone since the iPhone X
 
It's really not. And again I have seen buyers trying to justify their purchase as well but its weird how many people who aren't getting the phone seem to feel the need to justify it by crapping all over the phone (i.e. posting the air in fridge picture, pretending like it has just awful battery life, etc.)
I'm not sure who it is exactly. If it's Pro users justifying not buying the Air, even though it is clearly the most attractive buy. Or it is just the usual crowd that can't afford to upgrade and has to find ways to cope. Or both.

Went from 16 Pro Max to iPhone Air and couldn't be happier so far.
 
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The Air is proof that at this stage of the iPhone game, design is king. People long for something that is enjoyable to hold and use, and also still deliver top tier performance. The Pro isn't particularly impressive at this point because of course Apple can cram that much functionality into a device if they don't have to care how big or heavy it is.
 
The Air is proof that at this stage of the iPhone game, design is king. People long for something that is enjoyable to hold and use, and also still deliver top tier performance. The Pro isn't particularly impressive at this point because of course Apple can cram that much functionality into a device if they don't have to care how big or heavy it is.
I think it’s the same old story every year with the pro models. Bigger battery, better cameras, faster processors, thicker body and slightly heavier. This always seems to be main news.
There have been very little change to the design over the last few years except for this year and I don’t think the 17 pros look as good as previous years models.
The designers at Apple have really shown us what they can really do with the Air, it’s a fresh slim design with good looks and feels good to hold and has the second largest screen in the 2025 range of iPhones. There with no loss of functionality save for camera and battery limitations which doesn’t matter for the average user.
 
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