The iPhone’s air looks great with its sophisticated, thin new shape, but you may not want to choose this phone as your daily driver yet.
The new device, announced at Apple’s hardware event on Tuesday, is thinner and lighter than other models, with a 6.5-inch display of 5.6 mm. However, for the time being, it will be less capable in some regions than the base model iPhone 17, which could block potential buyers.
For example, an air battery lasts up to 27 hours, while the iPhone 17 lasts up to 30 hours. It also does not have an Ultrawid camera on the iPhone 17 and does not support macro photography. Meanwhile, the $999 Air price range is 22% more expensive than the 17 base model starting at $799. For an additional $100, you can upgrade to your iPhone 17 Pro ($1,099).
Despite these disadvantages, the air is compelling. It suggests where the design of iPhone hardware is heading, including new form factors such as foldables.
After all these years, Apple is still chasing the thinner iPhone. Not because it makes a good looking device. Apple needs to experiment with platforms that use proprietary technology to improve hardware design and mobile phone performance.
As Apple explains, the iPhone Air has the most Apple-designed chips on iPhones, including the A19 Pro (CPU with 5-core GPU), N1 (wireless network chip), and the new C1X (cellular modem). The latter is faster than the 16 Pro modem, but uses 30% less energy, Apple notes. Architecting phone designs around its own silicon allows Apple to tackle challenges such as performance and battery life. It’s important as your phone becomes more capable in terms of photography, video shooting and even AI.
Battery life in particular is a stopping point for how powerful these devices can become, as battery technology is improved at slower speeds than other iPhone components and technologies. Unfortunately, the debut version of the iPhone Air didn’t improve things on this front as its battery life is worse than the life of other models.
TechCrunch Events
San Francisco
|
October 27th-29th, 2025
Instead, air should be seen as a starting point in terms of iPhone design that will help the company better understand how to optimize battery life for other devices in the future.
In the meantime, Apple has proposed that consumers use Magsafe batteries installed on currently thin phones to maximize battery life. Previously, people may have balked at using batteries installed on their phones all day, but Apple actually encourages that, saying that air will have a better battery life when the battery stays connected.
Everything about Air presentations suggests that efficiency is a key focus. References to this term are displayed half a dozen times in Apple’s press conferences. For example, as Apple points out, the iPhone Air is the most “power efficient” iPhone the company has made. It points out exactly why. New modems, new ways to accommodate cameras and maximize battery space, redesigned internal architecture, adaptive power mode options for Apple’s iOS 26 software, and other optimizations.
Learning from the air and its future iterations will eventually translate across Apple’s iPhone line, even paving the way for new form factors like the rumoured foldable iPhone.
With Apple’s iPhone Pro, air already affects design choices.
Apple has added the Ceramic Shield 2 to the back of its iPhone Air for the first time. This is a design choice that was also created on the iPhone 17 Pro. The horizontal camera “Bar” of the Air, which resembles Google’s pixels, also seems to have inspired the camera layout of the iPhone 17 Pro.
Over time, the AIR could probably even become a base model for Apple, but the Pro remains an upgraded version for power users and professionals. It will make room for new devices, like the ones that are foldable and what comes next.
Source link
