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Other UK iPhone Air /17/17 Pro/ 17 Max/ Pre-Release, Order And Dispatch Thread
- Thread starter Sal09
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I was all up for White Pro this year and I would have gone for silver if it was all silver.Man, it is wearing an adult diaper...
Just watched. Good video.
The "red flags" he mentions about the Air are all valid. He calls it the worst model if you "subtract emotions" - it's surrounded by iPhones that are better than it.
He says there is no thermal solution on the Air, but I would counter that by saying my titanium models have never had issues with getting too hot personally? I could see some scratches on the polished titanium edges of the Air model in his video which is definitely a red flag to me.
Just wish they'd released a black/dark grey 17 Pro as I'd have got that. Its absence - and the other 3 colours looking weird to me - is pushing me to just say "F it, I'll sacrifice a few things for a year and get the Air, then get the Fold in 2026."
His point about the Air being EITHER a repeat of the iPhone Mini (doomed to die) or the future of smartphones is also very true.
Honestly, this looks gorgeous. I think I’ll be very happy with this change—it’s my first time switching from an all-black iPhone after so many years.
That would be good all silver, but not what this abomination diaper-wearing iPhone
The glass turning white-on-silver in some lights makes it look cheap and nasty. Pity as with darker glass colouring (more like the back of the Natural Titanium 15/16 Pro glass) it would have looked much better.
Wow the switch to aluminium really does make the Pros look cheap.
The Air looks far more premium.
The Air looks far more premium.
Even by Apple's standards of torturing us each year, this has got to be the hardest decision ever for those who upgrade yearly.
Silver looks like a Mac but it is a shame they've gone for a white glass square rather than the silver trackpad colour you get on a Mac. It stands out far too much.
God the iPhone 16 was sooooo fugly 🤣
But wow the Air is skinny and beautiful - it feels like the iPhone X in terms of premium leap of design. In my head I am reconciling the drawbacks and deciding if I can cope with them for 1 year.
Battery
On its own, its battery life is exactly the same as last year's regular Pro, which is decent. If you add the Air MagSafe charger (£99), it exceeds the 17 Pro Max. I could see myself charging the MagSafe charger daily/every two days, and just carrying it loose with my wallet and phone on my person, snapping it on if I ever get low on busy days out but enjoying its "impossibly thin" light design naked as much as possible. The fact you can charge it to 50% in 30 minutes wired kind of means it's not that big a deal... I think...?
Camera
This is a lot harder. No 0.5x (but then how often do I actually use it?) and only 2x (I do really enjoy the 3x lens on my 16 Pro, and might miss that). No ProRAW (I did use to use this a lot, but then found Photographic Styles more preferable to use for the 16 series and stopped using RAW). No ProRes (but I only played with that for a bit, then stopped). No Macro but I didn't use that anyway. Overall, I could probably just get by with the sole 48MP Fusion, for my personal use of the camera. Still has the new selfie camera quality and features which is probably the highlight of the whole 2026 lineup series.
Design/Screen
It's unmistakably stunning in terms of design. The thinness, the polished Titanium edges, the simple clean back glass which doesn't have the 'sticker' two-tone fail of the Pros ... it feels like the future and in Apple's traditional clean design language unlike the Pro which feels the least 'Apple' of any phone I've seen them make (other than maybe the 6). The screen has all the features of the Pro, with ProMotion, the new scratch-resistant and tougher glass front and back, etc etc. Same tiny bezels.
It's really tough though and I've still not decided. 😭
I upgrade with O2, and there's this thing called 'Switch Up' which essentially means every 90 days you can give them your phone (wear and tear/scratches etc are fine) and then change models on the spot, no questions asked.You might have to order all three and then decide
You can even do it online, so you Switch Up, get the new phone delivered, then send them the old one and it's all done.
No fees, no charges. Really works well and they don't care about the condition as long as it's not smashed, dented or badly chipped.
Therefore if I'm not happy I can change again in December to the Pro.
I think I'm going to do that - get the Air, see how it goes, and if I miss the Pro camera or the battery is worse than expected, I'll Switch Up to the Pro on December 18th (after the 90 days).
You don't have to buy the colour you selected during the BPF pre-checks. As always, the Apple email says you can check out any finish. I'm still undecided but did the pre-check anyway then can just pick my finish by Friday 1pm.
I ended up doing three pre pre orders didnt want to miss out on launch day device.
My partner is taking one Cosmic Orange (confirmed) but im still unsure about colours.
I'll get both Orange & Blue and return whichever im not keeping.
It's soo ugly isn't it? Why didn't they keep the Natural Titanium glass colour for the cutout? Like seriously...
What's so ironic to me is that I have had every single iPhone since the iPhone 3G and never used a case.
But if I do end up getting a 17 Pro (either at launch or in December when I can swap my handset for no charge) I will have to get a nice minimalist case for my phone purely to hide the disgusting 'sticker' vibe present on all 3 Pro models.