iPhone Air

Slim, tough and fast. But what about the trade-offs?

- MARK SPOONAUER

THE IPHONE AIR represents the first major shakeup to the iPhone family in years. The Air replaces the iPhone 16 Plus, but it really stands as a completely new device. In fact, the iPhone Air really feels like a blueprint for the future as Apple nears the 20th anniversary of the original iPhone.

Measuring 0.22 inches thin, the iPhone Air is the slimmest phone in the world that's not foldable, and yet it feels sturdy thanks to its titanium frame. The iPhone Air doesn't skimp on its inner spec either, packing an A19 Pro chip for playing demanding games and taking advantage of Apple Intelligence.

The catch? There's only a single camera, and while battery life is solid, you get less endurance versus the iPhone 17 Pro models.

The iPhone Air starts at $999 for 256GB of storage. That's $100 more than the iPhone 16 Plus, but Apple is betting that you'll be willing to pay a premium for a phone that's this slim and portable. There's just one problem: the iPhone 17 Pro starts at $1,099, which is just $100 more for a phone with triple cameras, a bigger battery, the same A19 Pro chip, an extra graphics core (giving it six cores rather than five) and vapor chamber cooling for better sustained performance.

DESIGN

The iPhone Air comes in Sky Blue, Cloud White, Light Gold, and Black. Some have complained that the titanium frame is too shiny, although we don't agree. And although the iPhone Air's slimness is its selling point, in reality it's thicker than that, thanks to a “plateau”, or back camera bump, that juts out across the top of the device; Apple has crammed all the major components into this area to make room for a larger battery.