The iPhone Air is getting way too much attention after Apple’s big product launch event yesterday, while the best new iPhone (in my view) is being unfairly ignored.
Do you know what the world’s best-selling smartphone is? No, it’s actually not Apple’s ultra-high-end iPhone 16 Pro Max or 16 Pro (although the two 2024-released powerhouses did come close to the top spot in Counterpoint’s Q1 2025 chart), and it’s certainly not Samsung’s state-of-the-art Galaxy S25 Ultra or some budget-friendly Android mid-ranger from a Chinese brand like Redmi or Oppo.
Instead, it was the non-Pro iPhone 16 that dominated the hierarchy during the first three months of the year, looking likely to follow in the «vanilla» iPhone 15’s footsteps from last year as the number one global performer of 2025. Despite all that, it feels like this year’s sequel to the massively popular 6.1-inch handset isn’t getting the respect and buzz it objectively deserves, which I’m here today to try to correct.
Technically, Apple didn’t use that cheesy (and phony) advertising slogan for the «groundbreaking» iPhone Air’s introduction either. But other big words and phrases like «breakthrough design», «impossibly thin and light», «innovative camera experiences», «innovative internal architecture», and «huge leap in design and engineering» were not only used but obsessively repeated during the announcement of a product that’s. really not that special when you look below the surface.
Yes, Apple will probably sell millions and millions more iPhone Air units than Samsung sold Galaxy S25 Edge copies so far due to. Apple fan-related reasons, but the «base» iPhone 17 deserves to be and will undoubtedly be more successful than the «thinnest iPhone ever made.»
Have you ever used or at least held the 6.1-inch iPhone 16 in your hand for more than a couple of minutes? If yes, you probably already know heft was never one of the phone’s problems.
