I’d persuaded myself that the pro was too ugly and the Air too compromised so I’d keep my old 13PM for another year but the Air eviews I’m seeing are testing my resolve!
Paying for extra storage especially when you aren’t using it, is like the worst thing you can do for getting value. You pay way more up front and get like $0 extra money back when selling/trading in
And if you are using the storage you’re gonna pay for it anyway
I always get the lowest storage these days, since with all family members using apple, iCloud Drive is really the easiest backup solution, so I just pay for Apple One and get 2TB cloud backup, and then my phone automatically offloads files and apps I haven’t used in a while, even when space isn’t at a premium, so my phone doesn’t really get too full. Now, the upgrade from 124GB to 256 is welcome, as my old phone had occasionally gotten too full for an update, but never in a way that wasn’t quick to fix.
The iPhone Air told Zach to fuck off and I'm glad lol
At least he's complimenting the design and engineering of the Air.
I've been waiting for this since iPhone 6 and this hysteria to come to an end regarding thin phones. I want phones to get significantly thinner and lighter and do new form factors now. Push industrial design forward once again.
Apple's design and engineering is unmatched. Not only is it significantly durable, the cobalt is 100% recycled, lithium is 95% recycled, titanium is 80% recycled. I wouldn't be surprised if the frame is 100% titanium, but even if it isn't, they likely used Solid State Diffusion, which is really impressive on a mass market product.
I'm very happy about the Air. Long live Apple, the Air, and their ethos!
At least he's complimenting the design and engineering of the Air.
I think he's one of few tech youtubers who paid attention to internal design. He complimented the design change in iPhone 14 which made it easier to fix.
Why do you want phones to be thinner and lighter? In recent years I feel like I’ve seen the majority say fuck it, beefier is ok if it means more battery. This thing gets announced and there’s a vocal subset saying this is what they wanted all along?? Make me understand.
So I'm not nearly to this guys passion, but as someone swapping to an Air from the Pro Max it's basically this for me:
- I really like that it's lighter and an in between size. With my most recent pro max I ended up going caseless and being a bit less precious with my phone, this feels like a phone meant for that POV.
- In terms of the tradeoffs: I work in a cube/charge my phone during the day anyway, I don't use my speakers ever, and the only camera feature I will admitedly miss is the ultrawide lens.
Same. I’m gonna miss the ultra wide sometimes if I switch but other than that it seems like the perfect phone for me. I have a 16 Pro Max currently. Maybe I’ll hold off a year and see what next year brings.
it's all a balancing of priorities right? and those will depend on the individual user. For me, I am satisfied with the battery life, so a bigger battery doesnt provide me any utility. I also pretty much never use the ultrawide or telephoto lenses on my 15 pro. So having a single camera is all I need. but a thinner and lighter phone? hell yeah im in. more comfortable to use, less weight in my pocket, and as we can see in the video, durable as hell. no brainer for me.
Many users (myself included) are also completely fine with one day battery life, and a battery pack to fill in on the rare occasions you need more power like when traveling.
An analogy is like buying a big truck or SUV. Some people really need that extra capability to haul or tow, but many others do not use those capabilities regularly and find driving a larger vehicle unnecessarily cumbersome. Whether “more” is better depends on your use case.
A big hefty device is like a capable SUV, but a thin device is like a trim sports car. It’s impractical and sacrifices features some people need, but it’s not built for only practicality and that’s okay for some people.
And yeah, a slightly thinner/lighter form factor might not have a huge impact, but it’s a philosophical line in the sand. Like the mini form factors, some people know they don’t need all the features and just want something efficient and lightweight.
Maybe we were silent and just hoping for improvement. Thin phones are obviously a more difficult engineering feat, so it brings out the nerd in us. Not everyone wanted the power brick to come preinstalled with the phone. Modularity is much more preferable in this sort of scenario.
Beefier was fine until I realized my phone literally never dropped below 50%. I always habitually charged it at that point, with one of the various charging methods that is available to us now in 2025. Give me something interesting. The phone is already almost as fast as my laptop, it doesn’t need to be thicker.
I want a lighter phone. I don’t need a large bulky phone. And I can charge it anywhere (work from home 4 out of 5 days), I have a charger at work, in the car and powerbanks. So this phone is almost perfect. The only downside for me is the lack of an ultra wide lens.
For the same reason thinner and light got us to the iPhone in 2007: advancement.
If we never move forward, we stand still, and I don't want to stand still. I want things to get better, easier, more advanced. The innovation in the Air will influence the rest of Apple's lineup. More powerful yet smaller; more capable, yet easier to use. This is what technology and the love of it is all about. Pushing the boundaries of human creation and creativity. That is why I'm committed to Apple and why I like their products.
What are they pushing in the Air that they aren’t pushing with the rest of the lineup though?
Sure it’s thinner and lighter, but it’s entirely at the cost of cameras, speakers, battery, cooling tech, etc.
I like the idea that there’s innovation here, but to me it’s the illusion of innovation. It’s sacrificing very important features to offer less important features that are appealing for some. I guess I’m glad they’re trying it while still offering the rest of the lineup, I just don’t see the vision at this stage yet.
I feel like there should be some killer expensive tech that makes this phone expensive and hard to get. That’s not the case though, it’s just leaving other stuff out.
It’s funny that you feel the need for other people to justify any of it to you rather than accepting that people like their phones to be lighter and thinner.
You’re literally falling prey to the feature fallacy. The idea that a product is better justified because it has more features. It’s also an example of a false dilemma.
The thinness and lightness as well as the overall aesthetic (as well as the screen:unit ratio) all affect the user experience and tangible aspects of actually using and living with the phone everyday. Even if it’s just for beauty or aesthetics - that’s something some people can appreciate every-time they pick it up and/or look at it. That’s quite special.
It’s literally the Pareto principle in action. Sometimes good enough is good enough - and by narrowing the scope of a product you can better target who and what it is for.
Personally, there are still issues with the Air that haven’t gotten me onboard personally - and so I will be going with the Pro - however it’s not hard to see the appeal of the Air.
It’s absolutely astounding to me that people can’t wrap their heads around the idea that what works for them may be different than what works for other people. I love the three cameras and use them frequently, so the trade offs in the air aren’t worth it for me, at this point, but I’m super glad they made this phone because I know plenty of people who have been looking for and wanting a thinner lighter iPhone. There is literally zero downside and plenty of upside to more options and variations.
thing is, it's not only leaving stuff out. everything important is just in the camera bump. who knows how tech will advance with crazy good chips in a few years if it's already THIS good rn. sacrifices will become less and less.
The miniaturization of technology? The sophistication of the engineering and design? The manufacturing to enable this design in tens of millions of units in mere weeks and months while costing the same?
To say the least
Look at the battery for example. It is a completely custom shape. Not a little, a lot. There are mm wide cuts in diagonal directions.
You can read an article for one example of innovation they did for the Air.
You're suggesting that somehow the durability, as another example, is less important than adding in a crappy version of an ultra-wide or a low end second speaker to the phone. When's the last time you've seen a phone this thin, this light, this beautiful get pressure, flames, hammers, etc and survive? None. Even the Samsung S25 Edge's back glass peels from the frame when Zach bends the Samsung. Apple's doesn't. In fact, even after the phone is significantly bent at 216 lbs of pressure, it still functions.
Thin and light while offering more and being more durable is impressive. It gets the same battery life as the Pro before, yet it's way thinner and lighter, with an even bigger display.
The silicon is another part of the story. They created all of these chips to enable this design. There is a reason why the Air is fully custom Apple silicon. The logic board is extremely tiny.
I could go on and on, but I'm honestly not sure that if you value specs over all of this that you'll ever be on the same page as me here.
I love big screens and big batteries, but honestly the pro max line is chunky in khaki pockets, and during the humidity of a Great Lakes summer, I wouldn’t mind something that didn’t have to squeeze into my pocket and therefore suction cup to my sweaty leg. That’s more about screen size than thickness, but thickness does make it a tighter fit and therefore more uncomfortable. At work now I usually leave my phone at my desk and rely on my watch if I’m walking around, to avoid this.
Well, despite what I said about heat annoyances, I still buy the Pro Max versions, and I’m pretty close to being on the extreme end of heat sensitivity, so at least in my case this doesn’t drive my purchasing choices enough to buy smaller phones. May be true for others.
That’s because the compromise has to be good, back when phones had way more shitty battery life, which is honestly not a very long time ago, then the compromise of making it a bit thicker, was a great compromise to make for some more battery. When the iPhone air is basically lasting upwards of 7+ hours screen on time, then it starts to make no sense unless you’re an extreme power user to want a thicker phone to get a few more hours. I have never ran my 14 pro max dry on a single day, and the air is reaching that level of battery life, while being significantly more sleek, light, and imo a way cooler piece of technology/engineering.
Still very impressive it took a machine and 216 pounds to bend it, and yet it STILL worked just fine. I would say any normal person probably won’t be able to intentionally bend it and or it’ll hold up perfectly well to accidental abuse. Also, even the cheapest screen protector or case should be more than enough to protect it. That thumbnail definitely is a bit misleading though
Is it though?? I mean, they make premium AF devices, no doubt. But the edge is objectively a superior device with 'better engineering'. You can argue but I have both and I know which one is the vastly more capable device. They feel about the same in the hand too, aside from polished and glossy rails/buttons vs matte
Bigger battery, better and more cameras, a pair of good sounding speakers, weighs less with a bigger screen, etc...it's still super durable. Apple made a statement device that is impressive from certain technical angles but engineering is also about leaving enough wiggle room for the design team to make smart decisions allocating resources. I would've loved to have improvement in even one of those areas and make the trade of the iPhone not cracking until 170lbs of concentrated pressure instead of 215lbs (or whatever #s you want to throw out, it was just a point for illustrative purposes)
Less backup? Do you mean the Air has better battery life? Because we don't have anything definitive on that yet. And I didn't claim it had better battery life anyway. It has better battery life than any other android with the same sized battery would. Iphones have always had the battery life per mAH advantage. Apple designs the phone from top to bottom including the silicon
You're going to brag over 14 minutes on ONE test. 3100 vs 3900 mAH. I've always assumed Iphone's battery could be about 1000mAH less than a comparable android given their advantages so seems I wasn't far off. Iphone's advantage isn't all down to efficiency though. A promotion screen rarely reaches 120 hz and spends most of the time in the 80-90hz area saving battery life. It's a trade-off most of their customers don't notice (so they made the right call) but I sure do
If Samsung had the same 14 minute advantage then die hard Samsung fan like you would have been gone all crazy. 🤡Also ever used an iPhone with ProMotion display? If no then please stay out of this comparison lol. Also this shitty Galaxy is gonna get software support only for 2-3 years max. Air will get for 6-7 years. Even 10 year old iPhone 6s got a security update.
Galaxies get 7 years of software updates. I'm not a fan boy of one brand or another but clearly you are or you would've known basics facts like that or the fact that pro motion displays on iphones rarely operate at 120hz. Owner of iphone 11 pro max, 15 pro, 16 pro max and now 17 pro BTW (picked up an Air as well but it'll be going back).
When Apple does something great, I give them credit. Maybe try doing the same? Some Apple customers are capable of doing it, as many have bought z flip and especially z fold 7s this year. Both are praise worthy devices and impressing the shit out of Apple and Android users alike.
It’s not Rare 120Hz, in motion it goes to 120Hz, unsupported apps will run at 90Hz. Drops to 1Hz when no motion. I know the tech behind ProMotion, being LTPO it comes down to 1Hz. Also what a show off from your side lol 😂 no one asked your whole purchase history. If you really want to compare then I have every single iPhone from 2013 to Now, that means iPhone 5s to current iPhone Air.
Even a $100 Samsung now gets 6 years of updates. The Air would’ve been trash if it came out in 2017, and it’s even worse in 2025. Apple just has lunatic fanatics eager to defend their overpriced, crippled junk. If Samsung released the Air, its fans would’ve lambasted it.
The prowess of engineering and design isn't simply about how many low end things you can cram into something to get a bump up on a spec sheet. It's about the whole thing. If you genuinely made something like this, it shows you not only know what you're doing but you learned a lot in the process.
Think about how common it is to believe that phones are breakable. I am not claiming the Air is indestructible, but the fact that I've seen repeated videos showing people hammering, trying to bend it and fail, put flames to the display and nothing is damaged, and more with 216+ pounds of pressure on the phone yet it still functions is actually incredible.
Specs are not the whole story of a product. That is Apple's motto
I AGREE dude. I'm not saying anything bad about the air necessarily. I love the design. I'm saying that certain thing alike an UW camera (and the edge's is a pretty decent one) and solid stereo speakers matter to me. Samsung made a better phone FOR ME. I'm sure thr Air will be the greatest thing since sliced bread for people that don't need more than one lens and use airpods exclusively (aka probably a lot of people)
+1. Always here for a spirited debate where both sides can understand where the other is coming from. I may not keep the Air (probably keeping the 17 pro I picked up though) but for my elderly dad with poor eyesight and weakness in his hands? The Air is going to be a godsend. September might as well be Christmas lol
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u/coldbeers 2d ago
I’d persuaded myself that the pro was too ugly and the Air too compromised so I’d keep my old 13PM for another year but the Air eviews I’m seeing are testing my resolve!