I tried the iPhone Air and it's so exciting, I might ditch my Pro Max

Date:
Wed, 10 Sep 2025 05:31:37 +0000

Description:
We've spent hands-on time with the iPhone 17 Air here are our first impressions.

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Apple has finally made the iPhone Air official, and after getting some hands-on time right after the Awe Dropping event came to a close, one things clear: its stunning and sexy. The keynote videos and glossy press shots capture the elegance, but the iPhone Air is even more impressive in person.

Beyond just looking at it, you really need to hold it. Its an ergonomic delight, and while we all expected a really thin iPhone, after seeing the
full feature list, it doesnt have a laundry list of compromises either. Battery life, of course, is the big question mark here, and my short hands-on time with it didnt give me an answer on this.

Lets talk about the weight and thickness here. Like other iPhones, the Air is not top-heavy or bottom-heavy; its pretty well balanced and can be held comfortably with just one hand. It weighs in at 5.82 ounces and measures 5.64 millimeters thick. Those numbers do scream thin, though its not the thinnest or lightest on the market.

Beyond the ergonomics, though, the iPhone Air doesnt feel super delicate; its as tough as the rest of the iPhone 17 lineup. It has grade five titanium all around, which is finished with a great polish, and is sandwiched between Apples latest Ceramic Shield 2 on the front and back. (Image credit: Future/Lance Ulanoff)

Pushing all that to the side, though, the main element of the iPhone Air is the display. And Apple didnt really cut corners here its a 6.5-inch Super Retina XDR display with punchy, vibrant colors, a high peak brightness that handled very well against a brightly lit hands-on room, and most importantly, it sports a 1Hz to 120Hz refresh rate called ProMotion. That also means its always on, which is now also part of the base iPhone 17 more on that later.

Theres also the new front-facing camera. Similar to the iPhone 17, 17 Pro,
and 17 Pro Max, the iPhone Air features the upgraded 18-megapixel CenterStage camera with a larger sensor that can fit more people into the shot with just one lens. Its a neat software feature that I think a lot of people will genuinely get excited about much more than slofies .

This also leads us to one of the biggest questionable parts of the iPhone Air
at least for some. Theres only a single camera on the back, and it resides
on a plateaubasically, a raised rectangle on the back of the Air. Here,
Apples opted for a single 48-megapixel Fusion camera that likely isnt a slouch, and it gives you two lenses in one, as its 1x with three focal
lengths and a cropped 2x. It can also shoot at 12-megapixel, 24-megapixel, or full 48-megapixel image sizes. (Image credit: Future/Lance Ulanoff)

I would have really liked to see an ultra-wide here, but Im looking forward
to putting the iPhone Air through its paces to see how this performs. This will likely be a disappointment for some, especially if youre coming from a Pro, but the trade-off is the design, as the Air is really stunning. I currently use a 16 Pro Max daily, but I am really considering the Air, and it has me wondering if I can live with just one wide lens.

It might have simply come down to a matter of space, as its super thin, and
an ultra-wide lens might have taken up too much space. Still, more to come here, but if youre considering Air vs. Pro and you value cameras, I think
your mind might be made up.

One area where the iPhone Air is nearly on par with the 17 Pro or 17 Pro Max is in terms of processor performance. The Air is getting the latest in
silicon from Apple, the A19 Pro, with a 6-core CPU, a 5-core GPU, and an all-new Neural Engine. This should make the iPhone Air quite speedy and
likely a hit for most tasks Apple has noted the performance should be
between the iPhone 16 Pro/Pro Max and the 17 Pro/Pro Max. It does lack the
new thermal cooling of the latest Pro lineup, though.

It was plenty snappy with iOS 26 in my hands-on time, but the real win here
is that it is getting the A19 Pro versus some other chip. Especially when you consider the price its just $200 more in the US than the base iPhone 17 with an A19. Im not concerned about performance here, but I do hope that the A19 Pro is quite efficient.

Why? Well, it comes down to battery life. Apple has pretty much packed the inside of the iPhone Air with a battery from the plateau down, and its even launching this as an eSIM-only device globally to make more room for the battery inside. That will attract some eyes less so in the United States, as weve had eSIM-only iPhones since the 14 family. (Image credit: Future/Lance Ulanoff)

Now, I didnt get a sense of the battery from the hands-on, so that is the biggest question here. I can tell you that Apple is promising all-day battery life and touting the adaptive power management features of iOS 26. The spec sheets also say up to 27 hours of locally stored video playback or 22 hours
of video streamed from the web.

Well need to see how well it performs, but Apple is also selling a
first-party iPhone Air battery that magnetically attaches to the back. You
can call it the return of the MagSafe Battery Pack, though its a squished and flatter one.

Youll be able to charge the iPhone Air with MagSafe on the back or with the USB-C port on the bottom. For that port, Apple actually had to re-engineer
the charging port.

So thats my brief, early first impressions of the iPhone Air. From a design standpoint, I think its the most exciting one in years, partially because Apple put a lot of the must-have features inside. Its also probably our closest look at a future folding iPhone, which could result in two of these tapped or hinged together.

If youre focusing on the nicest-looking iPhone or the one with the most aesthetically pleasing design Samsung Frame owners will understand this I think the Air will likely be at the top of your list. Youre also getting a fairly large, excellent display with always-on and ProMotion functionality, the latest Pro-series chip, and one good camera.

Well just need to see how good that single lens is and where the battery life shakes out, but at this point, the iPhone Air might break my long-standing relationship with the Pro Max. (Image credit: Future/Lance Ulanoff) Specs comparison

Below, you'll find a beat-by-beat comparison of the key specs offered by the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max.

iPhone 17

iPhone 17 Air

iPhone 17 Pro

iPhone 17 Pro Max

Weight:

177g

165g

206g

233g

Display:

6.3-inch OLED

6.5-inch OLED

6.3-inch OLED

6.9-inch OLED

Resolution:

2622 x 1206

2736 x 1260

2622 x 1206

2868 x 1320

Refresh rate:

120Hz

120Hz

120Hz

120Hz

Peak brightness:

3,000 nits

3,000 nits

3,000 nits

3,000 nits

Chipset:

A19

A19 Pro

A19 Pro

A19 Pro

Rear cameras:

48MP wide (26mm, /1.6), 48MP ultra-wide (13 mm, /2.2)

48MP wide (26mm, /1.6)

48MP wide (24mm, /1.78), 48MP ultra-wide (13 mm, /2.2), 48MP telephoto (8x optical zoom)

48MP wide (24mm, /1.78), 48MP ultra-wide (13 mm, /2.2), 48MP telephoto (8x optical zoom)

Front camera:

18MP (/1.9)

18MP (/1.9)

18MP (/1.9)

18MP (/1.9)

Storage:

256GB, 512GB

256GB, 512GB, 1TB

256GB, 512GB, 1TB

256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB

Colors:

Black, White, Mist Blue, Sage, Lavender

Space Black, Cloud White, Light Gold, Sky Blue

Silver, Cosmic Orange, Deep Blue

Silver, Cosmic Orange, Deep Blue Price & availability Starts at $999 / 999 / AU$1,799 Pre-orders open on September 12, shipping from September 19

The iPhone 17 Air was announced at Apple's 'Awe Dropping' event on September 9. Pre-orders will begin on September 12, and the phone will start shipping
on September 19.

The iPhone 17 Air starts at $999 / 999 / AU$1,799 for the model with 256GB of storage, with that price rising to $1,199 / 1,199 / AU$2,199 for 512GB of storage, and $1,399 / 1,399 / AU$2,599 for 1TB of storage.

You can see full iPhone 17 Air pricing below.

Storage

US price

UK price

AU price

256GB

$999

999

AU$1,799

512GB

$1,199

1,199

AU$2,199

1TB

$1,399

1,399

AU$2,599 You might also like The best iPhone 2025: which Apple smartphone reigns supreme? The best camera phone 2025: the top phones for photography, tested and ranked The best gaming phone 2025: top picks for gaming on the go



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/phones/iphone/i-tried-the-iphone-air-and-its-so-exci ting-i-might-ditch-my-pro-max


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