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Who is the iPhone Air for? (feddit.org)
submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by Ulrich@feddit.org to c/apple_enthusiast@lemmy.world
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Maybe I'm just out of touch, but I don't understand who this is for, and I think it's going to flop.

First of all...who is asking for thinner phones?

Secondly, the price. This is not an Air SE. This thing is only $100 less than a full-fat iPhone Pro, and $200 more than iPhone base (which is a particularly good value this year).

And what do you get for that price?

  • 2 fewer lenses than the pro, and 1 fewer than the base
  • Titanium frame, I guess?
  • Less powerful processor than the base
  • Inherently more fragile frame
  • Less battery life than even the base model (this was often cited as the shortcoming of the iphone Mini)
  • Slower charging speed than both models
  • no cinematic video mode

Are people really clamoring for thinner phones so badly that they'll spend more money for less features?

https://www.apple.com/iphone/compare/?modelList=iphone-17-pro%2Ciphone-air%2Ciphone-17

Edit: 1 week later and the Air underperforms the base model as well (as expected)

Also someone pointed out below that the 16e is only 2 grams heavier and is $400 cheaper.

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[-] TheFunkyMonk@lemmy.world 27 points 5 months ago

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but me. I think my current phone still has a gen or two in it, but I’ll probably go this route for my next upgrade. I don’t need all the features even my current phone has, and I’m a sucker for a sleek device.

[-] ByteMe@lemmy.world 12 points 5 months ago

Battery life is real concern tho. I suggest you wait for reviews

[-] malwieder@feddit.org 10 points 5 months ago

Waiting for reviews obviously makes sense for a lot of reasons, but leaked battery specs suggest battery capacity larger than the 13 Pro. Add efficiency improvements to that and it should be more than fine for most people.

[-] acosmichippo@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

~16 hours is all most people need 99% of the time.

the other 1% of the time you can connect a battery pack. you can’t do the opposite with a thick phone, you’re just carrying a bigger battery all the time for no reason.

[-] ByteMe@lemmy.world 0 points 5 months ago

Or, you're carrying it for the next day

[-] acosmichippo@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago

which is just a waste when it's trivial to plug your phone in at bed time.

[-] Ulrich@feddit.org 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I mean, that's fair. You're entitled to that preference. I'd just be shocked to learn that it's shared by a large number of people. But it wouldn't be the first time people shocked me either. I still can't believe so many people want to carry around what are essentially tablets that barely fit in their pockets, or will spend $2k+ for fragile-ass folding phones with plastic displays that won't last more than a couple of years.

this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2025
55 points (88.7% liked)

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