It might not be the most affordable iPhone or the one with the most cameras, but for anyone who puts a premium on style and sleekness, the iPhone Air is without a doubt Apple’s coolest handset in years.
The iPhone Air is a device with shorter battery life, fewer cameras and a price tag that’s $200 more than a base iPhone 17. Sure, it’s got a bigger screen and it’s unbelievably sleek, but no matter how you slice it, that value proposition doesn’t make sense. At least on paper. That’s because as soon as you hold an iPhone Air, you instantly get a sense that this handset represents much more than a simple quest for thinness. The iPhone Air is a device with a mission: To push the company’s design and engineering further than ever before while doubling down on style. Plus, it’s potentially laying the foundation for something even more radical down the line.
New iPhones generally don’t need to be explained, but the Air is a different sort of iPhone. On a purely practical level, it could be viewed as a (very) glowed-up replacement to the iPhone 16 Plus. However, the Air starts at $999, which is $100 more than the launch price of last year’s closest Apple equivalent (or $200 more after its recent price drop). Furthermore, the Air has a smaller 6.5-inch display (versus 6.7 inches on the 16 Plus) and only a single rear camera instead of the two you typically get on a base model iPhone. Then, to make things a touch more confusing, the Air has nearly the same A19 Pro chip used in Apple’s Pro series this year instead of a regular A19 processor. But most importantly, the Air’s design is unlike any iPhone that’s come before it, and it may end up becoming a bridge to Apple’s next era of smartphones (while also being irresistibly thin and stylish today).
Even with the arrival of Samsung’s super sleek Galaxy S25 Edge earlier this year, Apple is setting new highs for mobile design with the iPhone Air. Not only is it even skinnier at just 5.6mm (versus 5.8mm for the S25E), it’s the best example yet of what I like to call “the sci-fi space pebble look” thanks to its rounded corners and beautifully polished edges. It’s a proper marvel of engineering and while I generally don’t like saying this, you really do have to hold one to fully appreciate Apple’s craftsmanship.
Despite its dimensions, the Air isn’t all sleekness and no strength. You still get a full IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, while the titanium frame makes the whole handset remarkably sturdy. On top of that, the Air has a screen covered by a new Ceramic Shield 2 panel that also comes with an anti-reflective coating. And while it doesn’t completely eliminate glare, it does a good job of preventing annoying bright spots.
As for the display itself, there’s not much to complain about here either. The Air’s screen has a peak brightness of 3,000 nits and it has ProMotion support with a refresh rate that varies between 1Hz and 120Hz depending on the situation. But the real impact is that when you put a display this good in a device this thin, sometimes it really does look like someone has ripped a page out of a magazine and made it float in your hand. It’s kind of uncanny and I can’t get enough. To be fair, Samsung’s S25 Edge does produce a similar effect but it isn’t quite as pronounced.
I also appreciate that Apple still found room for the iPhone’s Action button and a flush Camera Control key. Around back, there’s subtle sophistication in the way the Air’s Ceramic Shield rear panel slopes up gently to create Apple’s camera plateau (though I don’t love that name). And weighing just 5.82 ounces (165 grams), the Air’s heft (or lack thereof) adds even more to its ethereal in-hand feel.
My main issue with the Air’s design is that it only has a single mono speaker. Granted, it packs a punch both in terms of volume and presence, but after years of stereo sound being the de facto equipment on premium smartphones, one-sided audio doesn’t sit quite right. The other potential sore spot is that the Air’s USB-C port isn’t perfectly centered in the bottom edge.
