The iPhone Air turned six months old last week, and to mark the occasion, I let loose on what I love and hate about Apple’s most beautiful, most frustrating iPhone.
I essentially said that the Air, while jaw-droppingly nice to use, delivers a camera and battery experience that’s comparable to the iPhone 17e, despite costing almost as much as the iPhone 17 Pro. But Amazon just turned the tables on that whole argument.
Today’s best iPhone Air deal
As for why the iPhone Air’s design is so impressive, the device is 31% smaller than the iPhone 17 Pro and a whopping 41g lighter, despite boasting a larger 6.5-inch display. It uses the same A19 Pro chipset, and also features the Action button, Camera Control, and Apple’s flawless Face ID system, all of which are housed in the beautifully crafted ‘Camera Plateau’ on the phone’s rear panel.
The camera itself is a single 48MP Fusion lens, which I’ve found to be an acceptable option in 80% of shooting situations, and while the iPhone Air’s all-day battery life doesn’t come close to the near-two-day battery life of the iPhone 17 Pro, it is comparable to the endurance you can expect from other iPhones costing £699 or less.
I’ve added a handy summary of how the iPhone Air compares to the rest of the iPhone 17 lineup below, so you can appreciate what you’d be getting for your money:
Swipe to scroll horizontally
| Header Cell – Column 0 |
iPhone Air |
iPhone 17 |
iPhone 17 Pro |
iPhone 17 Pro Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Weight: |
165g |
177g |
206g |
233g |
|
Display: |
6.5-inch OLED |
6.3-inch OLED |
6.3-inch OLED |
6.9-inch OLED |
|
Resolution: |
2736 x 1260 |
2622 x 1206 |
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 Pro |
A19 |
A19 Pro |
A19 Pro |
|
Rear cameras: |
48MP wide (26mm, ƒ/1.6) |
48MP wide (26mm, ƒ/1.6), 48MP ultra-wide (13 mm, ƒ/2.2) |
48MP wide (24mm, ƒ/1.78), 48MP ultra-wide (13 mm, ƒ/2.2), 48MP telephoto (8x optical zoom) |
48MP wide (24mm, ƒ/1.78), 48MP ultra-wide (13 mm, ƒ/2.2), 48MP telephoto (8x optical zoom) |
|
Front camera: |
18MP (ƒ/1.9) |
18MP (ƒ/1.9) |
18MP (ƒ/1.9) |
18MP (ƒ/1.9) |
|
Storage: |
256GB, 512GB, 1TB |
256GB, 512GB |
256GB, 512GB, 1TB |
256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB |
|
Colors: |
Space Black, Cloud White, Light Gold, Sky Blue |
Black, White, Mist Blue, Sage, Lavender |
Silver, Cosmic Orange, Deep Blue |
Silver, Cosmic Orange, Deep Blue |
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