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Oh, you’re the OP. Now I feel bad
Don't feel bad. 😊

If I'd have known the term was going to be divisive I'd have just used different wording in the thread title to avoid the thread being derailed by discussions about it.

Was trying to find an appropriate term for "brain malfunction" or "does not compute" I suppose. 😂

The funny thing is people have said it's a Gen Z thing but I'm pushing 40!

 
Wow, is this ever a sore spot. Get whichever phone for whatever reason you want. Be a bit more courteous (I can benefit from that advice as well, true). But I’ve found the benefit of the opinions of others to include myself thinking differently about a given product or idea.

I’m still the target market for the Air. If only it weren’t a polished frame… 🥸
 
So now as most things in our culture this has suddenly become somewhat tribal and you've got your diehard "Pro" users backlashing against those who are in favor of this new and in many ways enticing option. Them realizing deep down they think the Air objectively looks more attractive than the Pro, which it does (my opinion). And that maybe that's all there ever was to their affinity for the Pro lineup to begin with...

What is really interesting is so many people doing psychoanalysis on a group of users questioning an Apple product.

I think appearance is a perfectly valid reason to choose one product over another. People do it all the time in all aspects of life and smartphones are no different. Smartphones have been a status symbol and a fashion statement since they appeared, I don't see how and why they wouldn't be. Maybe not for some, but for many, sure. Aesthetics are important and I can see why people love the gorgeous Air, but what I don't get is why everyone else has to prefer the Air (and refrain from talking about the (potential) drawbacks of the phone) for its advocates to feel good about their choice.
I think the Air looks great and I'm heading down to the store in the morning to see and feel both the Air and the Pro in person.

If I were to buy an iPhone today, it would be the 17 Pro because I'd prefer to have a bulkier phone that packs more hardware, but I am also a sucker for aesthetics so whenever they come around to releasing another stainless steel iPhone, I'm buying it.

The fact that this particular iPhone Air doesn't enchant me and I question it on some aspects doesn't represent an interesting psycho analysis. The fact people are going to such lengths is hilarious.
 
The word crash out seems to be a way for a person to show how they are a sheep following trendy word usage instead of just using normal language everyone understands
I love when people get on their high horse and criticize current slang as if they never used slang words of their generation when they were kids
 
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I feel the same way, which is why confronting all those fanboys of the period was so frustrating. Arguing with someone who would never change their viewpoint and consistently moved the goalposts of the argument in order to 'be right' and 'win' was dumbfounding. Asking them why they didn't get 'X' so they could use that to club other people over the head even more was something they couldn't answer and a way to set them back.

I don't really care what anyone buys and I'm not checking their Settings app for the capacity of their iPhone either. But sheesh, if it was going to shut up their superiority complex at the time, I was going to use it.

We had a lot of that type here in the MR forums in 2011-2013. I wish I could say they left, but I suspect it's more that they just stopped expressing themselves.
When I’m exposed to anyone being competitive I want to ask them when we started this supposed competition. If I just tell them they won would they shut up?

Great, you’re into this thing and you beat me when it comes to that thing. Yawn.

If it weren’t so tiring it would be laughable.
 
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What is really interesting is so many people doing psychoanalysis on a group of users questioning an Apple product.

I think appearance is a perfectly valid reason to choose one product over another. People do it all the time in all aspects of life and smartphones are no different. Smartphones have been a status symbol and a fashion statement since they appeared, I don't see how and why they wouldn't be. Maybe not for some, but for many, sure. Aesthetics are important and I can see why people love the gorgeous Air, but what I don't get is why everyone else has to prefer the Air (and refrain from talking about the (potential) drawbacks of the phone) for its advocates to feel good about their choice.
I think the Air looks great and I'm heading down to the store in the morning to see and feel both the Air and the Pro in person.

If I were to buy an iPhone today, it would be the 17 Pro because I'd prefer to have a bulkier phone that packs more hardware, but I am also a sucker for aesthetics so whenever they come around to releasing another stainless steel iPhone, I'm buying it.

The fact that this particular iPhone Air doesn't enchant me and I question it on some aspects doesn't represent an interesting psycho analysis. The fact people are going to such lengths is hilarious.
Thing is though, this isn’t about ‘psychoanalysing’ individuals as such. It’s about pointing out a very real, collective reaction pattern that’s emerged very clearly since the day the Air was announced.

The Air has shifted the usual Apple hierarchy, and that’s made some longtime Pro-only users (I suspect, Pro Max mostly - or Android trolls) visibly uncomfortable, especially now that power and beauty are split between models.

That discomfort is understandable, but I just found the intensity of some reactions interesting, and worth calling out. It’s also only targeting a small subset of loud, vocal users on this forum or other parts of the internet - probably not people like you.

Saying “I’m not into the Air, just personal preference” is one thing, but starting relentless threads or entering others to poo-poo the Air’s mere existence, seems more defensive than anything else. If they weren’t bothered, why spend hours arguing that it’s a total POS online?

Like, we get it - it has shortcomings like a mono speaker or fewer cameras - but … so what? People buying it are satisfied with those compromises for the form factor it offers. And that’s valid.

Ironically, your post kind of proves the point: carefully hedging every angle while still trying to discredit the broader observation.

If you truly didn’t care, you wouldn’t be this bothered by people noticing a shift and trying to ridicule it as “doing psychoanalysis on a group of users questioning an Apple product.”
 
The iPhone lineup mix is probably the best it has been in a while. The 17 is solid for 80% of users, the Pro satisfies 15% of users and the iPhone Air caters to the 5% who want something boutique or cutting edge and for whom the phone is a bit of a fashion piece for them. We have an embarrassment of riches this year, unlike past years. The product mix won’t sell in the % I speculate, but that’s no skin off of my nose, just my personal observation and opinion.
 
Explain how an iPhone with a single camera and an earpiece speaker is the perfect phone.
Because 'perfect' is subjective, and that's his opinion?

To me, a 4x4 crew cab pickup truck is the 'perfect' vehicle. I tow things, haul things, and drive on rough/unpaved roads. To a young, single person living in an urban area where parking is at a premium and they'll never in their life so much as see a dirt road, a 2 seat compact EV may be the 'perfect' vehicle. I don't owe them an explanation about why my truck is the 'perfect' vehicle any more than they owe me one about why their little EV is the 'perfect' vehicle. We don't agree and we're not going to change each others' minds no matter how much we debate it, but neither of us are wrong.
 
You must not have kids lol
It's a very insulting term to middle schoolers.
It’s not insulting at all as far as I understand it. People use it to describe, self-deprecatingly, having a bit of a meltdown. “It’s been one thing after another recently and I’m crashing out” or “If one more bad thing happens I’m going to crash out” or whatever.

It’s widely used to describe a sort of mental breakdown these days, often in a self-deprecatory way.
 
Why do you care? If you like it, buy it and love it. If you don’t, don’t. You can’t ever really control others thoughts or posts on it. I have a 16 Pro Max but I’d seriously contemplate just a 17 regular now with the smooth screen. Air is absolutely beautiful, it definitely deserves to exist. Most of the haters weren’t about for the MacBook Air in 2008, can you imagine how they’d react to that?! lol
MBA 1.0 was a lacking product, I wanted knees for the design but the specs were not there yet. 12” MacBook was the same but the keyboard and everything else lacked. I see the iPhone Air the same, unless it includes and improves in areas where it’s commanding a high price it will continue to struggle.

Granted if iPhone Air 2.0 includes stereo sound, USB3, better battery life and possibly a second camera then it will go down the MBA 2.0 and onwards path.
 
MBA 1.0 was a lacking product, I wanted knees for the design but the specs were not there yet. 12” MacBook was the same but the keyboard and everything else lacked. I see the iPhone Air the same, unless it includes and improves in areas where it’s commanding a high price it will continue to struggle.

Granted if iPhone Air 2.0 includes stereo sound, USB3, better battery life and possibly a second camera then it will go down the MBA 2.0 and onwards path.
If the iPhone Air had launched with thicker bezels, a non-Promotion screen, or a lesser chip then maybe.

I think it’s different this time. You’re getting the ultra-premium build quality without sacrificing ProMotion, the bezels, etc while keeping the same or better battery than last year’s Pro models.

A lot of people don’t need or care for multiple camera lenses, or the stereo speaker. The compromises are trivial to a lot of people who want a really, really nice phone with decent battery and a great screen, but don’t make use of the multi-camera system or whatever.

It’s a bit different this time. How it’ll land, we’ll see.

Based on the reviews, my bet is that a large majority of “normies” are going to pick it up, be wowed, open the camera to check, see it’s still a great camera, be assured the battery is great and want it over the Pro as it does what they need and the “brick” alternative” is more than their needs.
 
I’m a bit annoyed at the free use of ‘objectively compromised’ for the air. But if it is a compromise to accept lower battery life for a thinner/lighter phone - isn’t the pro max also ‘objectively compromised’ because you’re accepting heavier weight and thickness for a higher battery life?

they’re two sides of a similar coin. Both valid in their own way
 
I’m a bit annoyed at the free use of ‘objectively compromised’ for the air. But if it is a compromise to accept lower battery life for a thinner/lighter phone - isn’t the pro max also ‘objectively compromised’ because you’re accepting heavier weight and thickness for a higher battery life?

they’re two sides of a similar coin. Both valid in their own way
This is the issue with the “form over function” nut jobs.

They don’t understand that a thinner, lighter body is actually a function - not just form.
 
If the iPhone Air had launched with thicker bezels, a non-Promotion screen, or a lesser chip then maybe.

I think it’s different this time. You’re getting the ultra-premium build quality without sacrificing ProMotion, the bezels, etc while keeping the same or better battery than last year’s Pro models.

A lot of people don’t need or care for multiple camera lenses, or the stereo speaker. The compromises are trivial to a lot of people who want a really, really nice phone with decent battery and a great screen, but don’t make use of the multi-camera system or whatever.

It’s a bit different this time. How it’ll land, we’ll see.

Based on the reviews, my bet is that a large majority of “normies” are going to pick it up, be wowed, open the camera to check, see it’s still a great camera, be assured the battery is great and want it over the Pro as it does what they need and the “brick” alternative” is more than their needs.
Lots of people don’t care for multiple cameras, stereo sound and battery life hence the staring iPhone and even prior has all these by default for far less. I think too many are over estimating value for money in this economic downturn. Will iPhone Air sell to a niche crowd; yes. Will it outsell the mini or plus, only time will tell. Will there be a 2.0; yes if those deficiencies are addressed but if a fold is released next year the Air 2.0 will be overshadowed.
 
I was all set on the Air but have changed my mind after the first reviews in the last 24 hours; particularly Mrwhosetheboss. Battery would have worked for me plus the mono speaker; lack of ultrawide for me is compensated with the selfie new wide setting BUT portrait photos (which I use a lot) are not good given the absence of an extra lens; furthermore my fears regarding overheating and performance impact have been confirmed - sadly I will miss this iteration - the Air is for a genuinely light user (simply put those who want a large quality screen in a slim light well made phone) which is a real shame as I love the design and form (cloud white would have matched my Hermes AW silver perfectly!) (from min 5:00)

 
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