Living with the iPhone Air: A Review of Apple's Thinnest Phone
I Have Thoughts on the iPhone Air
After nine months with the iPhone Air, I found its extreme thinness quickly felt normal, questioning if the trade-offs in cameras and battery were worth it. While the screen size is perfect and battery life initially impressive, the single speaker and missing telephoto lens are significant downsides. Ultimately, the device offers a novel experience but forces compromises that may not suit everyone long-term.
It’s like if you live in a cinnamon factory, I assume day one you’d be like 'this is the best smelling place ever' but after a few months you’d go nose blind to it.
- shelled
I will never stop yearning for iPhone Mini phone/screen sizes. But I've stopped asking for it because that would be pointless at this point.
- abujazar
I have thoughts on the Air and all other iPhone models: They're too large. The iPhone 4 was perfectly sized and we have the technology now to build a super powerful phone of that size. I simply don't use my phone for anything that requires a larger screen. Smaller screens also encourages better UI design.
- heliographe
> The ultrawide lens is not one I used a ton on previous iPhones, so outside of macro mode I don’t really miss it. I’m surprised though that I really miss the telephoto lens. There’s so many options where I want to see something that’s further away, like something when watching sports, or even a cool bird, and cropping in on the main sensor is such a far cry from a 5x telephoto lens.
I think this is a situation where the enthusiasts care more about the telephoto (for intentional photographic compositions), but the mainstream user base uses the Ultrawide more (for inside shots, group photos, etc) - so Apple caters to the latter, to the dismay of the former.
(the clear wide > tele > ultrawide hierarchy of optical/sensor quality doesn't help either)
> Camera quality feels as good as ever, it’s apparently not as good a main sensor as the Pro iPhones but I can’t really tell. It still has that distinctly over-processed look plaguing modern smartphones
Same here - photography-minded users hate the over processed look, but the general population must like them, otherwise there's no way that manufacturers would persist doubling down on it year-after-year.
For a while now I've been working on a Bayer RAW only pro camera app (https://bayercam.app) specifically because I'm a photography nerd and care about full control, but I realize it's a pretty niche thing.
- xtiansimon
I use an Otter case with my iPhone because I’m team lanyard. My iPhone is like a pet. It never goes out of the house without a leash. Haha. So that adds a little bit of width.
I have the iPhone 15 now, and I use my old iPhone SE for music and podcasts around the house. So I handle both phones daily.
For comfort in my hand, the SE is the perfect size in an Otter case.
If Apple would integrate a lanyard mount, then I’d consider going naked. But never without one.
- speak_plainly
I love the iPhone Air. Apple better not discontinue it.
My advice to all iPhone users who want better battery life: either turn off background app refresh or be very selective in which apps can refresh.
Your battery life will improve but nothing in your experience will change.