I Have Thoughts on the iPhone Air

da_grift_shift

>thinnest iphone ever >slaps 0.2" thick xteink ereader on back

formerly_proven

Not having a second camera is insanity on a smartphone with a four-digit price.

hk__2

For anyone wondering, it’s 5.64 mm thick vs. 8.75 mm for the Pro version.

artisinal

I’d buy it if it had a SIM-card slot and video-out. Shame those had to be sacrificed for thin-ness. I travel plenty and those features are really nice to have. The regular 17 is better suited for me now.

kotaKat

The iPhone Air is a weird phone but that's mainly because it's a test device in production. Everything on the Air is something Apple wanted to test ahead of the foldable iPhone. The weird big battery, the single speaker, the mainboard under the bump, and all of the custom silicon they threw at it (from the modem to the WiFi chipsets). Same reason the 16e existed, not to sell a cheap iPhone, but to test the C1 modem in production as a "finally ready to ship in beta" product they didn't slap the beta label on.

NetOpWibby

The iPhone Air is super compelling to me but my Pro iPhone doubles as my camera. The single camera on the Air is too much of a compromise for me. Hopefully Apple can improve the Air.

shelled

I will never stop yearning for iPhone Mini phone/screen sizes. But I've stopped asking for it because that would be pointless at this point.

vichoiglesias

Got the iPhone Pro Max in beautiful orange... and could't get use to it. It feels heavier that the previous titanium versions, so sold it and got the Air. The lack of telephoto is indeed one of the things i miss the most, but the single speaker is surprisingly good IMO. Really enjoying the design of it, feels like what i remember felt holding one of this really cool iPod nano back in the day, like old Apple magic.

ballooney

> I’ve always been a sucker for something novel, so when something as huge as the iPhone had a quirky new model I was really stoked to check it out. This is just... not a life well-lived.

boredishBoi

In Australia the price difference between an air and a 17 is only $50 which imo makes it great value.

ctippett

> typing is a joy on the increased size Huh. I hate typing on my phone (iPhone 16e). It actually never occurred to me that maybe I'd have a better time with a larger screen. Although I don't remember ever feeling the disdain I have for typing back when I had an iPhone 3GS which had a much smaller screen than the one I have now.

petercooper

I bought one as it was on sale at the same price as the normal iPhone. Pretty good: 8/10. I have no interest in photos, don't need long battery life, and the lighter/thinner the better. That said, I'd prefer something smaller but thicker with no protrusions/camera bump at all. I hate the wonkiness of all modern iPhones when sat on a table. I think the last totally flat one was the iPhone 5s!

heliographe

> The ultrawide lens is not one I used a ton on previous iPhones, so outside of macro mode I don’t really miss it. I’m surprised though that I really miss the telephoto lens. There’s so many options where I want to see something that’s further away, like something when watching sports, or even a cool bird, and cropping in on the main sensor is such a far cry from a 5x telephoto lens. I think this is a situation where the enthusiasts care more about the telephoto (for intentional photographic compositions), but the mainstream user base uses the Ultrawide more (for inside shots, group photos, etc) - so Apple caters to the latter, to the dismay of the former. (the clear wide > tele > ultrawide hierarchy of optical/sensor quality doesn't help either) > Camera quality feels as good as ever, it’s apparently not as good a main sensor as the Pro iPhones but I can’t really tell. It still has that distinctly over-processed look plaguing modern smartphones Same here - photography-minded users hate the over processed look, but the general population must like them, otherwise there's no way that manufacturers would persist doubling down on it year-after-year. For a while now I've been working on a Bayer RAW only pro camera app ( https://bayercam.app ) specifically because I'm a photography nerd and care about full control, but I realize it's a pretty niche thing.

abujazar

I have thoughts on the Air and all other iPhone models: They're too large. The iPhone 4 was perfectly sized and we have the technology now to build a super powerful phone of that size. I simply don't use my phone for anything that requires a larger screen. Smaller screens also encourages better UI design.

pea

That's a great idea with the e-reader. I would love for someone to design a great case with a built in e-reader on the back. Most of the existing ones seem geared for displaying colour photos; I'd like one built for reading, powered by NFC. It should easily sync up with the phone itself to send over articles, books, etc. Bonus if I can write on it.

ChrisRR

Describing current phones as slabs? No. Modern phone are in no way too thick

petesergeant

> And it’s weird, because with the old wedge-style MacBook Airs this feeling never went away for me, I loved those machines and every time I picked it up I kinda marveled I would love one of those again

Havoc

I moved from max to pro with the 14 -> 17. They’re about the same size ironically so can’t imagine how unwieldy the 17 max is

speak_plainly

I love the iPhone Air. Apple better not discontinue it. My advice to all iPhone users who want better battery life: either turn off background app refresh or be very selective in which apps can refresh. Your battery life will improve but nothing in your experience will change.

xtiansimon

I use an Otter case with my iPhone because I’m team lanyard. My iPhone is like a pet. It never goes out of the house without a leash. Haha. So that adds a little bit of width. I have the iPhone 15 now, and I use my old iPhone SE for music and podcasts around the house. So I handle both phones daily. For comfort in my hand, the SE is the perfect size in an Otter case. If Apple would integrate a lanyard mount, then I’d consider going naked. But never without one.