iPhone Air Review: A Thin and light Thrill Ride

The accessibility story of the all-new iPhone Air can be distilled into one word: hubris.

In the weeks ahead of last month’s unveiling, I was steadfastly dubious that Apple’s purported “iPhone Air”—a name that ultimately proved real—would be accessible to use largely because its thin-and-light body would make it too hard to carry and hold. I was sure the Air would be inaccessible because, owing to its name, its hallmark physical traits would mean less tactility to comfortably grip. Hardware accessibility matters, after all, and Apple’s latest exemplar of engineering exemplifies that notion.

As it turns out, I was wrong—kinda. The iPhone Air is, in fact, an extraordinary device.

Although there remains a certain class of people for whom the iPhone Air’s thinness and lightness could be detrimental as a physical object, the $999 phone has, in my week or so of testing, proven to be the most enlightening and enjoyable review period of any iPhone I’ve ever tested—and I’ve reviewed a lot of them over my 12 years as a journalist. Apple sent me an iPhone Air (a black 1TB model)—alongside the regular iPhone 17 and 17 Pro Max; more on those later—and I chose to use the Air. For one thing, I have neither the time nor the bandwidth to test all three phones and then write three bespoke reviews. For my sanity, I have to pick one and ride with it. For another thing, the Air is, for my unique purview, the most interesting of this year’s crop of iPhones. It’s certainly the coolest model, thanks to its svelte design. My time testing the Air has shown me that, while I wasn’t wrong in my inclination per se, the phone’s ballyhooed thinness and lightness actually are its strongest proponents in a disability context.

I won’t bury the lede: The iPhone Air is spectacular and it’s my new daily phone.

How New Hardware Confronts Old Hubris

I’ve been a devout iPhone Max (née Plus) user for over a decade now. In nearly all my past reviews, I’ve pointed out the need for me to make a technological Faustian bargain: to get the biggest, easiest-to-see screen, I must incur the cost of coping with an aircraft carrier in my hands and in my pocket. The better battery life was the proverbial icing on the cake. Every iPhone I used with regularity for the last several years has been a Pro Max of some sort because I truly believed I needed that big screen, ergonomics be damned. In the last year or so, however, I’ve found myself growing weary of my aforementioned deal with the devil. I’ve grown weary of lugging around such a huge object everywhere I go, even if it is just across the house. The Pro Max’s screen, while glorious to behold, fits as gracefully in my hands and pockets as a bull in a china shop.

The iPhone Air, then, strikes me as offering the best of both worlds.

Consider the screen. While smaller than the 6.9” display on my 16 Pro Max, the 6.5” display on the Air is plenty big enough for me. It even does the iPadOS-like trick when, if you rotate the phone into landscape orientation, the UI morphs into a two-column view in apps like Mail and Messages. I mentioned in last year’s review the Pro Max’s screen size is at the edge of my threshold for comfortability; go any larger and Apple risks encroaching “seriously close” to iPad mini territory, I said, akin to Icarus flying too close to the sun. By contrast, the Air’s big display feels perfectly suited for its form.

And what form—it’s the Air’s entire selling point. As I wrote earlier, the Air’s thinness and lightness have proven to be its most endearing attribute. With the exception of my one year sojourn with my beloved blue iPhone XR because it was a blue iPhone, I’ve always chosen the Pro model because (a) I’m a nerd; and (b) I wanted the best cameras. With the iPhone Air, the emotional appeal is, like the XR in 2018, trumping the nerdiness in me. Whenever I pick up the Air, I instantly get an immense feeling of joy and delight and, frankly, boyish wonder—I’m continually awestruck by its design and how thin and light it is. Intellectually, I’m fully aware of the fact the Air is not Apple’s best iPhone. I know the Air lacks the LiDAR sensor needed for the myriad detection modes in the Magnifier app. I know the phone’s single camera system isn’t as good or robust as the Pro’s. But I don’t care—like when I chose the XR over the objectively better XS because I could have a blue phone, I prefer the Air over the Pro for the visceral user experience.

There’s a reason emotion is, psychologically, a key part of advertising: it works.

As a practical matter, I prefer the Air for the obvious reasons of its thinness and lightness. My perspective on the device has done a complete about-face, as I now love how easy it is to hold my phone in my hand and carry in my pocket. On that note, I disagree with my friend Jason Snell’s opinion that to put a case on the Air is to negate the phone’s reason for being. While it’s true a case inevitably does add bulk and weight, I’ve found the increase to be infinitesimal in my testing. For my purposes, I’ve been ardently pro-case on every iPhone I’ve ever used more for ergonomics than protection. My fine-motor skills, including my muscle tone, decidedly lacks luster and, consequently, I’m prone to accidentally dropping things. The last thing I want to drop is my iPhone, let alone a review unit from Apple. What a case does adds friction and a “tackiness” that helps to better secure the phone. A case makes holding my phone more accessible. I understand Snell’s contention that the 17 or 17 Pro are better choices with a case, but I use one anyway. Apple gave me its official iPhone Air case (in Shadow) and I like it. It gives me—yet again—the best of both: protection and better accessibility.

Cursory Notes On Camera And Battery Life

Speaking of accessories, Apple included the $99 iPhone Air Battery Pack in my proverbial box of goodies. Truth be told, I haven’t opened it; battery life on the Air is considerably worse than on my 16 Pro Max—and I do plan on using the Air’s Battery Pack eventually—but it hasn’t been so bad that I’ve felt anxious about charging. As a remote worker, I spent a lot of time at home, which means my phone is usually sitting on the charger on my desk. I have access to a charger in other parts of the house as well, and battery life has never been so constrained so as to be unusable. Where the Air’s battery would be put through the wringer is, for example, when I’m at Apple Park covering WWDC or other event. On those special days, I’d surely bring the Battery Pack with me. Otherwise, the Air’s battery has been fine in the humdrum of my everyday life.

As to the camera, it’s occurred to me during testing that I actually use the ultra-wide on my 16 Pro Max more often than I realize. I admittedly miss it on the Air, but not so much that it’s a dealbreaker that moves me to the 17 or 17 Pro. I’ve been perfectly happy with the image quality of the Air’s “fusion” camera, and as I said previously, care not that it doesn’t have the LiDAR sensor needed for the Magnifier app’s various detection modes.

Cursory Notes On The Other Phones

As I said at the outset, Apple included the 17 (in green) and 17 Pro Max (in orange) along with the black Air. Design-wise, the Pro Max is the complete and utter antithesis of the Air: more industrial and “tool-like” in ways the Air is not. If the Air is a sports car, the Pro Max is a Range Rover. The latter’s relative girth and heft are striking compared to the Air; as such, the Pro Max doesn’t give me the same feelings of giddiness. The Pro Max is more pro than ever before, in form and function. As to the color, the “cosmic orange” is loud and proud. It’s nice, although not to my personal taste. I’d probably pick the blue.

Now, the standard 17 is interesting indeed. Were the Air nonexistent, I’d probably choose the 17 (in blue) as my new phone. Beyond my fatigue over the Pro Max’s size, the standard 17, spec-wise, is damn impressive. And it has the ultra-wide camera. Apple ought to be commended for doing a great job of reaching feature parity across the refreshed iPhone line. I’m increasingly feeling as though I don’t always need the highest-end, tricked-out gadgets. The 17’s value proposition is stratospherically high, and its siren song would be much more seductive were it not for the advent of the Air.

The Bottom Line

Going back to Snell’s own review, he says the iPhone Air is a harbinger of the future—and he’s absolutely right. The iPhone Air is not the best iPhone if we’re talking metrics—although kudos to Apple for putting the A19 Pro chip inside—and it isn’t the best iPhone for most buyers (that’s the 17). But for me, in the present, it’s the best, most accessible iPhone yet because it’s a marvel of engineering—and emotion. Nike has the copyright market cornered on “Air Max,” but that’s what the iPhone Air essentially feels like to me: a slimmer Max. I couldn’t be happier… it truly does offer the best of both worlds.

And I can get it in blue to boot.