iPhone Air review: Is this how Steve Jobs liked it?

The iPhone Air launches in September 2025 alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. It may not be the best-selling of the four, but it is the most talked about. Apple kindly loaned me an iPhone Air to review, and I’ve been using it full-time for the past three weeks.

Unsurprisingly, the first thing that comes to mind when you unbox this phone is how thin and light it is. But how does it perform, and is it worth considering over other models? The word “compromise” has been thrown around a lot in discussions about these phones, but all phones have weaknesses; it’s just a question of what you value. I want to like this phone, but I hope the compromises are too much. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I would happily keep it as my daily driver.

Size, weight and form factor

As aware as I was that this was a thin and light phone, many YouTube videos told me the same thing, I was still blown away by how thin and light this phone was when I first took it out of the box. In fact, three weeks later, I still admire it. If I pick up my 15 Pro now, it feels heavy.

One thing I’ve seen online is that this is the iPhone that Steve Jobs would have been proud to release. I know what he means; the man liked the beautiful design and engineering achievements that this cellphone presented. With a thickness of only 5.64 mm (0.22 inches) and a weight of 165 grams (5.82 ounces), this device is very comfortable to use and comfortable to hold for long periods.

Like the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, the Air has a new camera on the back of the phone. Instead of a square camera bump in one corner, it’s a line right across the back of the phone. However, these buttons don’t stretch too far on the back of the device, only as far as the Action buttons on the sides, so they don’t get in the way when holding the phone. Personally I prefer it to the old one, but that’s a very subjective thing.

The Camera Control Button is nothing new on this year’s model, but it was new to me. I use it from time to time, but putting aside its usefulness, I’m afraid I’ll often press it accidentally due to its location. Turns out I did just that, but luckily you can set it to require a double press to activate it. Highly recommended in my opinion.

But it’s not all sunshine and lollipops on the form factor side. Maybe it’s just me, and the fact that I generally prefer and use slightly smaller phones, but I find that I accidentally select something more often than I’d like because my palm is touching the edge of the screen when my thumb is touching the screen. I also found that swiping left and right with my thumb was sometimes ineffective if I was holding the phone a certain way. This may simply be due to getting used to devices with larger screens, or it may be related to the narrow size and thinness of the device, so I’ll be interested to see whether or not this device remains a bugbear in a few months.

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The iPhone Air has the same A19 Pro chip, without a single GPU core, as the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max. It’s very fast. While my 15 Pro is no slouch, and I haven’t felt the need to upgrade just for performance, the speed improvements are still noticeable. The app opens in no time, and navigation is smooth as silk. I’m sure the phone will perform well in the years to come, including support for Apple Intelligence if more features arrive.

Battery

The most talked about compromise with the iPhone Air since its launch has been the battery. The tradeoff to achieve a thin and light form factor is a much smaller battery versus a larger battery. But my experience was truly excellent, certainly exceeding my expectations, or perhaps my fears. Indeed, I directly compared my experience with the iPhone 15 Pro, which is now two years old and a regular-sized phone, and not with the Pro Max.

I’m so confident I’ll be able to use it all day long that I’ve now set the charging limit to 90%, a feature I’ve never wanted to use before. And still I usually finish the day with more than 30% remaining, maybe closer to 20% on days with heavier use like weekends. The only time I feel like I need to recharge in the afternoon or evening is if I’m going out at night and want to be extra safe. For me, one charge every 24 hours is quite acceptable, and as good as any iPhone I’ve ever owned.

If you want truly outstanding battery performance then the Pro or Pro Max may be better suited to you. But if you want the benefits of a larger screen and/or a thinner and lighter form factor, and are okay with an average battery, then the Air might be worth checking out.

Speaker

Perhaps the biggest concern I had before purchasing this phone was the fact that it only has one speaker. I can honestly say it’s not a problem. In fact, I was halfway through the setup before I even remembered the fact, and even then my memory wasn’t triggered by me actually realizing it.

I’ll caveat this by saying that I don’t play music, podcasts or audiobooks through the phone speakers, I always use earphones or other speakers in the house for that. But for general navigation with VoiceOver, web browsing, email management, social media, and so on, it’s fine. If I put it side by side with the iPhone 15 Pro, there’s a noticeable lack of bass in the air, but in day-to-day use, I didn’t notice it much and it certainly didn’t bother me. Even watching likes on Instagram reels is not a problem. Sometimes if it’s in a noisier environment like the office, I can’t get the bottom of the phone to my ear, but honestly even in an environment like that, it’s mostly fine, and I can put earphones in if needed. If you use your phone like I use mine for that matter, then I wouldn’t let a mono speaker stop you from choosing this model.

Camera

Another big difference compared to the rest of the iPhone 17 lineup is the rear camera system. The iPhone Air only has one 48 megapixel main camera lens. It’s missing the ultra-wide lens of all the other 2025 models, as well as the telephoto lens of the Pro and Pro Max. I took some photos and videos with my phone, but not many, and used them with apps like Be My AI, PiccyBot, and Gemini Camera Share. So far I haven’t noticed any difference at all compared to my old phone, so it looks good. This may be something to check back in a few months when I have more evidence to work with, but as of today, I’m not worried.

Conclusion

The iPhone Air is one of the most talked about, perhaps even controversial, iPhones in years. This makes it especially attractive in a world where mobile phones have matured and updates have become more evolutionary than revolutionary. In my opinion, this is a great phone with great performance and beautiful design.

The iPhone Air does everything I need it to and the tradeoffs have not been an issue for me to date. I could never use the Pro Max because I thought it was too big and heavy, but the Air is a big screen phone that I could probably use. I won’t deny that I would still prefer if the screen was a little smaller than 6.5 inches, or at least narrower.

The price may put Air in a tough spot. It’s more expensive than the excellent base model, and isn’t a huge jump over the Pro model, so its selling point over other iPhones lies in its form factor. If I were to buy a phone this year, this is likely the phone I would choose, but I understand it’s an attractive value proposition for some people.

The basic iPhone 17 is probably the one most people should buy, the Pro and Pro Max models are for people who want the most out of their phone, and perhaps the iPhone Air is for those of us who just want to love again.

Have you bought a new iPhone this year, or are you considering the iPhone Air? Let me know what you think in the comments.