The iPhone Air impresses with its slim and elegant profile, but it may not be the best pick for your primary smartphone just yet.
Revealed at Apple’s recent hardware event, this device stands out for its light weight and 5.6 mm thinness paired with a 6.5-inch screen. However, it currently falls short in certain aspects compared to the standard iPhone 17, which might give buyers pause.
For example, the iPhone Air delivers up to 27 hours of battery life, whereas the iPhone 17 manages up to 30 hours. It also misses the ultrawide camera found in the 17 and doesn’t offer macro photography. The Air is priced at $999, making it 22% pricier than the iPhone 17’s $799 starting price. And with just an extra $100, you could step up to the iPhone 17 Pro, which costs $1,099.
Even with these drawbacks, the Air stands out for hinting at the direction of future iPhone designs—including the potential for new formats such as foldables.
Apple continues its pursuit of a thinner iPhone after all this time, not just for aesthetics, but also to innovate using its own technological advancements to boost both design and performance.
According to Apple, the iPhone Air incorporates more in-house chips than any previous iPhone, featuring the A19 Pro (CPU with a 5-core GPU), the N1 (wireless networking), and the new C1X (cellular modem). Apple notes that the C1X is faster than the modem in the 16 Pro while consuming 30% less power. By centering the phone’s architecture around its proprietary silicon, Apple can address challenges like efficiency and battery longevity—crucial as smartphones become more advanced in photography, video, and AI capabilities.
Image Credits:Apple
Battery performance remains a limiting factor for how advanced these devices can get, as improvements in battery technology lag behind progress in other iPhone components. Unfortunately, the first iPhone Air model hasn’t improved this situation, with its battery life trailing behind that of other options.
Rather than a finished product, the Air should be seen as a testbed for Apple to refine battery efficiency in future devices.
For now, Apple recommends users pair the thinner iPhone Air with a MagSafe battery pack to extend its battery life. Where users may have once hesitated to keep a battery attached all day, Apple now encourages it, claiming better battery endurance with the pack connected.
Everything about the Air’s launch highlights a focus on efficiency—a term Apple referenced multiple times in their press materials. As Apple states, the iPhone Air is their most “power-efficient” model to date. This is achieved through a new modem, an innovative camera placement to free up battery space, a reworked internal layout, adaptive power management in iOS 26, and various other enhancements.
The lessons learned from the Air—and its successors—are likely to influence Apple’s entire iPhone range, and may even lead to the introduction of new designs like the much-rumored foldable iPhone.
Already, the Air is affecting the design direction of the iPhone Pro lineup.
For the first time, Apple has fitted the iPhone Air with Ceramic Shield 2 on the back—a feature also adopted by the iPhone 17 Pro. The Air’s distinctive horizontal camera bar, reminiscent of Google’s Pixel, has seemingly shaped the iPhone 17 Pro’s camera arrangement as well.
In the future, the Air could evolve into Apple’s standard iPhone, with the Pro series remaining the premium choice for enthusiasts and professionals. This would open the door for entirely new device categories, such as foldables or whatever innovations Apple brings next.
