Forget all the leaks, the iPhone Air is here, and while it’s easy to take pot shots at it from the grandstands, once you hold it in your hand, it feels like the logical leap for all phones. Especially when you combine the thin phone with the Liquid Glass operating system, it feels like you’re just holding a slab of glass.
Will that make it perfect for for everyone? Probably not, but for the lucky few that choose to take a chance on the new Air, it seems to have fewer drawbacks than you’d expect on a phone this small.
The 5.6mm phone almost disappears when turned to the side.
It’s 5.6mm thick, making it 0.2mm thinner than Samsung’s already impressive 5.8mm Galaxy Edge. The iPhone Air also revives the glossy side rails we haven’t seen since the iPhone 14 Pro and it really makes the new phone pop. There’s just something about the phone being wrapped in a shiny band of metal that evokes the thought of a nice watch or jewelry of some kind.
Unlike the 14 Pro, this phone isn’t made of stainless steel. Instead, it is the only titanium iPhone Apple sells this year, which the company says helps make it the strongest iPhone ever. Time will tell how well it holds up, but it feels rock solid in the hand. The real question is, will it bend, and how scratch-resistant is the new Ceramic Shield 2? Apple claims the device is more durable than last year’s iPhones.
Apple says it’s improved its Ceramic Shield so much that it feels comfortable renaming it ‘Ceramic Shield 2.’ The new version has a better antiglare coating and three times the scratch resistance. You might be thinking, wasn’t there a new version of Ceramic Shield last year on the 16 series? The answer is yes, but I was told it was called ‘Next Gen Ceramic Shield.’ Apple thinks that the new version is so much better that it’s finally been given a new version number. My fingers are crossed that they’re right because the 16 series seemed to scratch up pretty easily.
The screen size is 6.5 inches, making it the same as the large iPhone 16 Pro Max or a little less than the 6.9-inch 17 Pro Max, but it’s half as thick, making it much more comfortable, regardless of the giant screen. Is it a true iPhone 13 mini replacement? No, but for people who want a big screen and not all the heft, this will be perfect. The screen also has a 120Hz display, so it can adapt its refresh rate to allow for an always-on display. This has been limited to the Pro iPhone since the 14 Pro, so I’m ecstatic to see it finally make its way to the full lineup.
One of the slyest upgrades is the new iPhone 17 Air camera bar. Apple is calling it a camera plateau, and the main A19 Pro (the same chip as the iPhone 17 Pro) actually fits within the raised section, which feels like a smart internal design. I’m hoping that this will help move the heat of the chip away from my hand when I’m holding the phone, but I wasn’t able to use it enough to tell.
Also in the camera plateau is the single 48-megapixel sensor that can be cropped in to work as a 2x zoom lens. While it’s the least versatile camera system on any iPhone in the 17 series, that doesn’t mean it will be bad. However, if you love the ultrawide, this won’t be the phone for you.
In a brief hands-on, I was able to test the camera and I didn’t really have many complaints. However as you can see from the samples, there is limited zoom potential, no macro and no ultrawide. However, for what is here, it’s sharp, and you still get all the modularity of Photographic Styles to make sure your images look exactly how you want them. All of the samples above are with default settings and no tweaks other than turning on 48-megapixel mode for some.
The selfie camera was even more impressive with its new ability to go both wider and in landscape without the need to rotate your phone. It’s pretty slick and in the room during the event, it got the loudest cheer. That said, it was a room full of press and influencers, and we use that front camera quite a bit.
On the front of the phone, there’s a new 18-megapixel camera that allows for some unique tricks. You can now shoot landscape selfies or zoom out to shoot ultrawide as well. This might not sound like much, but it’s bound to make taking group pictures a lot easier.
Going into this event, the biggest question we all had was how much battery the iPhone Air would have. Apple says it can stream video for around 27 hours, which puts it in line with the iPhone 16 Plus and 16 Pro from last year. Apple is also selling a large MagSafe battery that slaps onto the back of the Air (or the Pro Max, but not the smaller iPhones). This battery brings the video streaming capabilities up to 40 hours. It will be interesting to see how much average screen-on time most people get out of the phone later this year.
All in all, this is an impressive device. From what I’ve seen online, people seem underwhelmed by a thinner phone that drops a camera, but once you pick it up, everything clicks into place, and it feels right. I’ve been dreaming of thin phones ever since watching Westworld in college, and if this is a step in that direction, sign me up.
The iPhone Air will be available for pre-order on September 12, and the phones will be released on September 19. It’s also worth noting that all the Canadian models will be eSIM only this year. The phone starts at $1,449 in Canada.
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