The iPhone Air

A review for a truly Apple iPhone; which is a good thing.

I wrote about the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro around October 2025 and after using both I realized that my iPhone 15 Pro Max was good enough to not need to upgrade. After a few weeks of going back to the 15 Pro Max, one phone in particular was stuck in my head.

For the cameras and battery life, it makes sense to go with the iPhone 17 Pro. Over the years I have realized how much cameras are not as important to me on an iPhone. I use the camera on my phone a lot, don't get me wrong. But if I wanted to take pictures of a special event or need something more capable I have a Canon mirrorless camera that I can use.

With all that said, I have used the iPhone Air's camera for months now and the pictures are great for when I need to use it during family get togethers or trips. I have a ton of fantastic photos using my iPhone Air that may be better using a 17 Pro, but not enough that I notice at all.

One of the main reasons is because I don't have a iPhone 17 Pro to compare the photos too. The one thing I do miss is not being able to zoom more on the iPhone Air. 2x is fine for some scenarios but I do miss being able to zoom to 5x on my iPhone 15 Pro Max, but again that isn't a deal breaker for me.

The battery is another story, but still not that bad. I have realized over the years that my daily routine allows me the luxury of always having a charger near by if I need. My car has a Qi Charger, my desk at work has a MagSafe charger that I use all day, and I have a number of fast charging cables and adapters available when I need them.

I will admit that I bought the Apple MagSafe battery pack for the iPhone Air when I was on a trip to Utah during the holidays. But this was more out of convenience than actually need. I knew I was going to be out and about a lot and having the MagSafe was a nice to have and used it a few times when traveling.

Other than those two things (battery and camera), I don't see a lot of other reasons why people would choose the Pro models over the Air. Screen size can also be a preference if you want something larger or smaller than the Air, but again I think the Air fits perfect between the Pro and Pro Max when it comes to size. This is why coming from the 15 Pro Max was not that big of a change when it comes to the size at all.

The things that I love about the Air, though, are endless and I love this phone so much that even if the battery and camera were issues for me, I don't think they would still steer me away from wanting it. The size and feeling of the phone are just outstanding that I can't imagine going back to a different phone in the future. Except of course a iPhone fold or what ever Apple plans to call their foldable iPhone.

This was another reason why I bought the iPhone Air. If this mythical foldable iPhone does come out this year or next, I wanted to see what it was like to at least use half of it while we wait and see what actually is released – since the rumors are that the foldable iPhone will be similar to two iPhone Airs put together in terms of thinness.

The last reason I upgrade to the Air was I also wanted to change my AT&T plan to include the Next program since I have decided that whatever Apple releases this year I want to be able to upgrade without the hassle of paying off, selling, and purchasing a new iPhone. I would prefer to have the ease of just trading in my old phone for a new phone when I want to upgrade.

So, those are the reasons why I decided to get the iPhone Air, now the question is: what do I think about it?

It is literally one of my favorite iPhones of all time. I put it up there with the iPhone 4 and iPhone 11 Pro. The form factor, screen size, and everything else about a usual iPhone (using iOS, apps, power, etc.) is fantastic on this device. I go back and forth using it with a bumper or case-less and I love both options.

The bumper can add a little extra thickness to the sides, but I appreciate that it is a bumper and I can still feel the back glass of the phone, plus it is still much slimmer than traditional cases. I really loved the bumper on the iPhone 4 so this is no surprise for me.

Comparing the iPhone Air to other iPhones, even the iPhone 17 Pro is sort of boring to be honest. Reviews of phones since the iPhone X and iPhone 12, you could argue has been pretty boring. iPhones don't change that much any more when it comes to how they are used. The form factors sometimes make small changes but overall they pretty much stay the same.

What I really like about the iPhone Air though, is that Apple didn't compromise a ton with this device even though they made it so slim. It has the Camera Control button, ProMotion display, FaceID, a decent camera, and MagSafe. It feels like an iPhone Pro but with less cameras and so much smaller.

Because the cameras and battery are not an issue for me with smartphones, as I addressed at the beginning of this post, nothing else with this phone feels like a compromise for me. The fact that it has titanium sides and a fully glass back is also a huge plus compared to the new iPhone 17 Pro models.

The only phone I think is close in comparison in terms of having a great phone without compromises is the iPhone 17 models. Now that they offer ProMotion on their displays, the iPhone 17 is a fantastic value and I prefer that form factor over the iPhone 17 Pro models as well.

Where the iPhone Air really shines though is the screen size. Though the iPhone 17 is a fantastic value, coming from a Pro Max phone, I definitely didn't want to go back to a smaller display. The iPhone Air is the perfect size screen and with the smaller bezels and slim frame, using the larger display is really great.

Overall the iPhone Air is a great phone. Just like every iPhone released in the past. But I appreciate Apple doing something different this time, and I hope this is a sneak peak into a new kind of iPhone like a foldable. I don't think I necessarily needed to upgrade to it from my iPhone 15 Pro Max, but it truly has been a great upgrade and love using it everyday.