I replaced my Samsung S25 Edge with the iPhone Air – and my buying advice has changed

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The thinnest and lightest iPhone but gives Professional efficiency at a aggressive $999 value level.
• It is designed to really feel burdenless, and that is the largest purpose to purchase one over the iPhone 17 collection.
• You may simply need to accept just one digital camera, common battery life, and a single-firing speaker.

extra shopping for decisions

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The iPhone “Professional” label has at all times represented the bleeding fringe of Apple’s industrial design. I’ve upgraded to the Professional mannequin yearly because it debuted six years in the past, and at this time limit, Apple’s components is so refined and polished that the funding is sort of at all times price it.

That is why, going into Apple’s Awe-dropping occasion earlier this month, my consideration was reserved for the iPhone 17 Professional and 17 Professional Max, each of which launched with a brand new vapor chamber cooling system — resolving a longstanding difficulty of overheating on Professional fashions — in addition to a redesigned and improved digital camera system. However the keynote ended with me shifting my focus to a special iPhone.

Additionally: I in contrast the iPhone 17, iPhone Air, 17 Professional, and 17 Professional Max: Here is who ought to improve

See, Apple did what it does finest: advertising. It launched the iPhone Air, with a theatrical aptitude, balanced on the tip of a finger on the Steve Jobs Theater, to a refrain of “oohs and ahhs.” The iPhone 16 Professional Max in my pocket was feeling heavier by the second.

Let me be clear: the iPhone Air is a first-generation product, and I have been burned by many first makes an attempt. Nonetheless, there is a very calculated method to designing the thinnest and lightest iPhone ever that makes it price my time. However is it price yours?

An iPhone that will not crack below stress

I might prefer to assume that I am one of many few individuals who have been in a position to take a look at each the iPhone Air and its Android competitor, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, so after I first held the iPhone, the expertise was unusually acquainted. 

The system’s ultraportability will impress anybody who picks one up, however for me, seeing the fluid Liquid Glass animations circulation throughout the 6.5-inch OLED display screen was when actuality actually set in. That is what iOS 26 was meant to be for.

Additionally: iPhone Air vs. Samsung S25 Edge: I in contrast the 2 ultra-slim telephones, and here is the winner

The thought of an ultra-thin and light-weight iPhone has been fairly overseas over the previous few years. Actually, holding the iPhone Air jogged my memory much less of the opposite titanium-cased fashions lately and extra of the iPhone 6 Plus from 2019. Again then, such a type issue bordered between regular and dangerous. It was each a trendy standing image and a tool that gave into stress. 

I anticipate the previous of the 2 clauses — standing image — to proceed with the iPhone Air, with its near-invisible aspect profile (it is simply 5.6mm thick) and singular digital camera plateau representing probably the most burdenless iPhones of late. As for bendgate, I am not too anxious about that — and Apple does not appear to be both. 

Following the September keynote, the corporate confirmed members of the media its sturdiness testing facility, which included a machine that utilized 130 kilos of power on the middle level of the iPhone Air. It bulged however by no means cracked or snapped in half, and even straightened itself shortly after. That is a testomony to each the titanium body that wraps across the telephone and the Ceramic Defend layering on the back and front.

For those who’re extra enthusiastic about a real-world stress take a look at, I lately sat down with the iPhone Air in my again pocket, and the system confirmed no indicators of fragility. And I am a six-foot man who’s effectively over 130 kilos. If there’s one telephone that it’s best to use with out a case, let it’s this one.

A Professional telephone with out the branding

There is a little bit of weight that is lifted when an iPhone does not have the Professional moniker; you anticipate it to have shortcomings, fewer options, and only a serviceable expertise. That units the iPhone Air up for room to impress, with it being powered by the identical A19 Professional chip that revs up the iPhone 17 Professional and Professional Max fashions.

Additionally: iOS 26 is now stay – here is methods to obtain it (and which iPhones help it)

After letting my iPhone Air work via all its preliminary setup duties and app downloads, I paced it via a collection of efficiency benchmarks alongside my iPhone 16 Professional Max, iPhone 16 Plus, and Galaxy S25 Edge. Listed here are the outcomes.

Give attention to relativity. From my testing, the iPhone Air competes effectively with older and certain newer iPhone Professional fashions, and even higher towards the S25 Edge. Nonetheless, its best weak point is effectivity and extended energy administration. I’ve observed that the digital camera plateau, the place a lot of the processing elements are fitted in, typically will get heat after a couple of minutes of intense workloads.

It is much less noticeable on different telephones, together with the S25 Edge, as a result of warmth is extra evenly dispersed throughout the physique, however by condensing every part inside a strip of glass and metallic, and never having the identical vapor chamber cooling system discovered on the iPhone 17 Professional fashions, the Air takes a success throughout prolonged utilization.

That carries into the battery life. This is not an all-day endurance telephone, not with out a cost or two all through or the MagSafe battery pack that Apple is pitching the Air with. It is nonetheless too early for me to quantify my each day battery life, however I am undoubtedly discovering myself in search of a charger extra typically than after I was on my iPhone 16 Professional Max and different thicker handsets.

Additionally: iPhone Air vs. iPhone 17 Professional Max: I in contrast the 2 flagship fashions, and here is the winner

A part of me needs Apple had added the identical 40W wired charging fee from the iPhone 17 Professional fashions to the Air, however that might seemingly open one other can of worms concerning thermals and battery degradation. With the Air’s already smaller capability, you simply cannot take that danger.

The excessive and low factors of the iPhone Air

The iPhone Air’s cameras are each its excessive and low factors. I am a fan of the 18MP Middle Stage entrance digital camera, as it may well adaptively stretch out the sphere of view and provides selfies a stage of depth and embrace that is lengthy been lacking on telephones basically. 

For the previous two months, I have been taking group photographs and portraits with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 for the reason that outer show serves as a viewfinder for the rear huge and ultrawide cameras. The iPhone Air and its new sq. sensor basically obtain the identical factor, however with fewer digital camera faucets, unfolding, and different maneuvers required.

Additionally: I examined the iPhone 17 for twenty-four hours, and I am already questioning if I want a Professional

A squared sensor additionally offers the selfie digital camera extra room for digital stabilization, which means movies seem much less stuttery and shaky, even when in comparison with final 12 months’s iPhones.

Alternatively, the rear 48MP digital camera leaves a sensor or two to be desired. Coloration accuracy, distinction, and shadow element are nonetheless the iPhone’s forte (as depicted within the samples above), however there have been a number of moments after I craved the extra distant optical zooming of the Professional mannequin, particularly when recording stay occasions and topics distant. 

The absence of an ultrawide lens additionally means you may’t dramatize landscapes and scenic views from up shut or pull in macro-level particulars like on the common, $200-less iPhone 17.

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

So, who can purchase the iPhone Air? At $1,000, you are primarily paying for the ultraportability and innovation issue. Of all 4 new iPhones launched this 12 months, the iPhone Air feels just like the one we’ll most definitely reference sooner or later, when even the Professional fashions — and probably foldables — are constructed below the same framework.

For those who’re a digital camera fanatic, energy consumer, or need an iPhone that may not require a battery swap after 2-3 years, then I might take into account your different choices this 12 months, together with the base mannequin.

Additionally: I in contrast the iPhone 17, iPhone Air, 17 Professional, and 17 Professional Max: Here is the perfect purchase for you

What I anticipate to in the end tip the scales within the Air’s favor would be the in-store expertise, when curious consumers decide up the system and really feel an absence of thickness and bulk. (For many who care, you might also discover that the Air is available in a black coloration, however not the 17 Professional.)

The iPhone Air is a tool you will need to see in individual to understand its significance. Once you do, switching between it and another mannequin will solely amplify the concept that the opposite mannequin will quickly be a factor of the previous.