The iPhone 17 Air is the next hot thing from Apple. But how does it compare to the iPhone 16 Plus?
The iPhone 17 series is out in the open after Apple’s Awe Dropping event, and the most interesting model shapes up to be the iPhone 17 Air. It aims to challenge other thin phones, such as the Galaxy S25 Edge, for the slim crown, but there’s another angle to be had.
It’s very interesting to see how the newly launched iPhone 17 Air fares against the last-generation iPhones and, more specifically, against the iPhone 16 Plus. There are many similarities and some key differences between these two, and we’re going to go through all of them in this article.
iPhone 17 Air vs iPhone 16 Plus differences:
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Apple dropped a big design change this year with the iPhone 17 family (was this the Awe Dropping from the title?). The camera housing is completely different on the Pro models, for better or for worse, and the iPhone 17 Air is also getting a makeover, albeit a much more understated one.
The phone looks much classier with its single camera bar than the huge rectangle on the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max models that Apple calls extended plateau.
The iPhone 16 Plus uses the old, tried-and-tested square camera housing that we’ve seen in the past couple of generations.
Given the iPhone 17 Air is just 5.6 mm thick, there’s a big difference weight-wise as well. The iPhone 16 Plus weighs a hefty 199 grams, and the Air is comes in at 165 grams.
In terms of building blocks, the iPhone 17 Air is made of titanium, and it features Apple’s Ceramic Shield 2 both on its front and back. Apple says it’s the most durable iPhone ever.
The iPhone 16 Plus, on the other hand, features an aluminum frame and glass front and back, so there’s a substantial difference when it comes to materials.
Let’s quickly list the color options for the iPhone 17 Air versus what we have available on the iPhone 16 Plus.
Display Differences
Apple has finally stepped into the future (or should we say present?) with the iPhone 17 lineup. All models feature the ProMotion treatment, giving them a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate. It was about time!
The iPhone 17 Air comes equipped with a smaller 6.5-inch OLED display with a resolution of 1320 x 2868 pixels, resulting in around 458 PPI pixel density. The cited brightness is 3,000 nits peak, so a bit brighter than the iPhone 16 Plus.
Speaking of which, there’s one big difference here, and it’s the slow 60 Hz refresh rate of the iPhone 16 Plus.
