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Who is the iPhone Air for? (feddit.org)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by 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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[–] 3 points 1 year ago* (2 children)

It’s for people that think the base iPhone is not performant enough, but don’t care about cameras on the pros. I briefly considered the Air, but was turned away by the less powerful processor vs the pro. For me, the camera is the least important feature on a phone, and if this had the same processing capabilities over the pro, I’d get the air solely because it’s cheaper than the pro. The air is literally a way for Apple to move people up the pricing ladder past the base models (especially now that the plus phones are gone).

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    the base iPhone is not performant enough

    I'd bet when you benchmark them, the Air will run into thermal limitations such that it's insignificant. I feel like if people cared at all about performance they would just spend the extra $100 for the Pro (among the other features).

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