The iPhone Air may not win over camera enthusiasts, but its ultra-thin design and well-rounded features make it a solid pick for the adventurous.
Apple iPhone Air
The thinnest and lightest iPhone yet offers Pro performance at a competitive $999 price point.
It’s designed to feel burdenless, and that’s the biggest reason to buy one over the iPhone 17 series.
You’ll just have to settle for only one camera, average battery life, and a single-firing speaker.
The iPhone „Pro“ label has always represented the bleeding edge of Apple’s industrial design. I’ve upgraded to the Pro model every year since it debuted six years ago, and at this point in time, Apple’s formula is so refined and polished that the investment is almost always worth it.
That’s why, going into Apple’s Awe-dropping event earlier this month, my attention was reserved for the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max, both of which launched with a new vapor chamber cooling system — resolving a longstanding issue of overheating on Pro models — as well as a redesigned and improved camera system. But the keynote ended with me shifting my focus to a different iPhone.
See, Apple did what it does best: marketing. It introduced the iPhone Air, with a theatrical flair, balanced on the tip of a finger at the Steve Jobs Theater, to a chorus of „oohs and ahhs.“ The iPhone 16 Pro Max in my pocket was feeling heavier by the second.
Let me be clear: the iPhone Air is a first-generation product, and I’ve been burned by many first attempts. However, there’s a very calculated approach to designing the thinnest and lightest iPhone ever that makes it worth my time. But is it worth yours?Apple iPhone Air
Apple’s thinnest and lightest iPhone yet features an A19 Pro chip, a 48MP Fusion camera, and more.An iPhone that won’t crack under pressure
I’d like to think that I’m one of the few people who have been able to test both the iPhone Air and its Android competitor, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, so when I first held the iPhone, the experience was strangely familiar.
The device’s ultraportability will impress anyone who picks one up, but for me, seeing the fluid Liquid Glass animations flow across the 6.5-inch OLED screen was when reality really set in. This is what iOS 26 was meant to be for.
The idea of an ultra-thin and lightweight iPhone has been rather foreign over the past few years. In fact, holding the iPhone Air reminded me less of the other titanium-cased models in recent years and more of the iPhone 6 Plus from 2019. Back then, such a form factor bordered between normal and risky. It was both a fashionable status symbol and a device that gave into pressure.
I expect the former of the two clauses — status symbol — to continue with the iPhone Air, with its near-invisible side profile (it’s just 5.6mm thick) and singular camera plateau representing one of the most burdenless iPhones of late.
