iPhone Air Review – Light Design, Heavy Questions

With the debut of the iPhone 17 series, it was clear that the iPhone Air stole the spotlight. As one of the slimmest iPhones ever made, paired with impressive engineering feats, the iPhone Air quickly became the standout device I knew I had to put to the test. Before we march onwards, let’s get the record straight first; Apple officially calls it the iPhone Air, NOT the iPhone 17 Air, despite its simultaneous launch with the rest of the iPhone 17 lineup. This hints us the beginning of a brand-new iPhone Air family, one that is likely to evolve into its own distinct segment moving forward. Our last iPhone 16 Pro Max review felt a little dry, so having the iPhone Air come in as a true breath of fresh air (pun fully intended) is a welcome change.

Unboxing iPhone Air

The iPhone Air’s packaging doesn’t stand out from its siblings of the year, or even from its predecessor. Apple continues its trend of minimalism with a slimmer box that contains only the essentials: the iPhone Air itself, a USB-C to USB-C cable, and a small note reminding users that the device is eSIM-only. Oh, and since its an eSIM only device, there’s no SIM ejector tool for obvious reasons. Nothing much to talk about the unboxing experience really. As you can see, I have the Cloud White color and this is a 1TB variant.

iPhone Air Specifications

CPU	Apple A19 Pro 3nm 2 x performance cores up to 4.26GHz 4 x efficiency cores up to 2.6GHz 16-cores Neural Engine
GPU	5-cores GPU with Neural Accelerators
RAM	12GB RAM
Storage	(256GB, 512GB, 1TB) NVMe
Display	6.5″ 2736 x 1260 (460ppi) LTPO Super Retina XDR 120Hz OLED with Dolby Vision, 19.5:9 ratio 120Hz ProMotion adaptive refresh rate HDR10, True Tone, P3 Wide Color, 1000nits typical, 1600nits HDR, 3000 nits max brightness, 1nit minimum on AOD Dynamic Island Always On Display (AOD) 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic and anti-reflective coating
Audio	Spatial Audio on single earpiece speaker 2 x microphones
Camera	48MP (Fusion), f/1.6, 26mm, 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, dual pixel PDAF, sensor-shift OIS Also enables 12MP optical-quality 2x Telephoto with 52mm, f/1.6, sensor-shift OIS, 100% Focus Pixels 10x digital zoom Sapphire crystal lens cover Stills True Tone Flash, Photonic Engine, Deep Fusion, Smart HDR 5, Focus & Depth Control Portraits, Portrait Lighting with 6 effects, Night Mode, 63MP Panorama, Spatial Photos, Burst Mode Video Up to 4K60 Dolby Vision Up to 1080p60 Dolby Vision 720p30 Dolby Vision 2.8K60 Dolby Vision Action mode Up to 1080p240 Slow-mo 4K30 Dolby Vision Dual Capture Time-lapse with stabilization and Night Mode 4K60 Dolby Vision QuickTake Sensor-shift OIS for video 6x digital zoom Audio zoom True Tone flash 8MP still image while capturing 4K video Spatial Audio and stereo recording Wind noise reduction Audio Mix
Selfie Camera	18MP Center Stage Camera, f/1.9, 20mm (ultrawide), PDAF Up to 4K60 Dolby Vision video recording Up to 1080p60 Dolby Vision video recording 1080p120 Slow-mo video 4K60 Dolby Vision QuickTake video Center Stage for photos and videos Ultra-stabilized videos Dual capture Photonic Engine Deep Fusion Smart HDR 5 Portraits with Focus and Depth Control Animoji and Memoji Night Mode Lens Correction Burst Mode Time-lapse video Spatial audio and stereo recording Wind noise reduction Audio Mix
Connectivity	Dual eSIM (two active eSIMs; stores eight or more eSIMs) Model A3517 FDD‑5G NR (Bands n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n20, n25, n26, n28, n30, n66, n70, n75) TDD‑5G NR (Bands n38, n40, n41, n48, n53, n77, n78, n79) FDD‑LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 30, 32, 66) TDD‑LTE (Bands 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 48, 53) UMTS/HSPA+ (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz) GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) Apple C1X mobile modem 5G (sub-6 GHz) with 4×4 MIMO Gigabit LTE with 4×4 MIMO Apple N1 wireless networking chip Wi‑Fi 7 (802.11be) with 2×2 MIMO Bluetooth 6 Apple second-generation Ultra Wideband chip NFC with reader mode Express Cards with power reserve Type-C USB 2 (up to 480 Mbps)
Software	iOS 26.0
Battery	Li-ion 3148mAH, non-removable 20W MagSafe Wireless Charging 20W Qi2 Wireless Charging
Dimensions	156.2 x 74.7 x 5.64 mm
Weight	165g
Ingress Protection	IP68 (maximum depth of 6 metres up to 30 minutes) under IEC standard 60529

iPhone Air Performance

The iPhone Air is powered by the Apple A19 Pro chip that does pack quite the punch under its hoods. The big question raised, is whether the A19 Pro can actually perform within such a confined and limited space that the iPhone Air provides. What is interesting, is that the iPhone Air brings what used to be exclusive to Pro models into its package so the heavy contender that I have put it against is definitely the iPhone 16 Pro Max which has been my powerhouse for the last year. Fair?

The A19 Pro chip in the iPhone Air holds 6-cores CPU, featuring 2 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores. The GPU on the other hand has 5-cores, 1 less core than its direct sibling, the iPhone 17 Pro Max but for the first time, the GPU brings along Neural Accelerators in every GPU core that allows better AI compute workloads than its predecessor, the A18 Pro that heavily depended on the Neural Engine alone. That doesn’t mean that Apple dismissed the Neural Engine in the A19 Pro chip though. It still has its own 16-core Neural Engine, much like what was found in the previous generation iPhone.

Sounds all good and dandy, right? Honestly, I had my doubts when I was about to begin the review process but the benchmarks won’t lie. So, let’s get on with them.

As usual, we start with our longest standing benchmark test, the Antutu V10, that puts pretty much everything to test so if there’s any corners that were cut, it would be crystal clear. In the past, I tested the iPhone 16 Pro Max with its latest iOS at its time which was the iOS 18.0.1 and fast forward almost a year later, its running on iOS 18.6.2 that should bring performance and efficiency improvements over time. So naturally, it was fair for me to run the benchmarks once again on the latest iOS just to put up a fair fight for the iPhone Air. *wink*. What scored 172838 has now improved to 2049953 which is a huge jump. I had to do this since Apple usually compares it to their past models when rolling out new ones. So, the iPhone Air scoring 2111564 looks heavily powerful if I compare it against the older score, but it has a rather small difference if I compare it with the latest scores instead. But you know what? The fact that the iPhone Air in its own form factor can still win against the most powerful iPhone of last year proves that the iPhone Air is not all about shiny and slim form factor. It does have a brutal fight in it and honestly, I actually didn’t think it would win this race, but here we are. The thing is, Antutu V10 tests 4 different aspects of a device separately before combining them into one unified result. So where does the iPhone Air wins and loses against the older giant?

So we can see, the CPU on the iPhone Air definitely lost its battle here. Being a newer chip, it struggled to fight against the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s CPU on the A18 Pro. I suppose the real contender in this arena should be the iPhone 17 Pro Max, but that’s a war for another day. What actually surprised me here, is that the GPU on the A19 Pro of the iPhone Air, having one less core actually delivered better results than 6-cores in the A18 Pro. My bet here is that the Neural Accelerators are really doing their job. Apple also mentioned they have improved the memory bandwidth in the A19 Pro chip and this is also prominent here. Scoring almost double in memory test, the iPhone Air essentially squashed the iPhone 16 Pro Max that had no chance against it. Not just that, the UX test on the iPhone Air also scored better, so its safe to say, had the CPU on the iPhone 16 Pro Max didn’t deliver, it would have been hung on hall of shame to have lost this crazy dogfight against a device that has almost half the depth instead. Bravo iPhone Air on the Antutu V10 test! Let’s get a little deeper now.

Now, here’s where things get a little more interesting. When it comes to raw CPU performance, the iPhone Air’s A19 Pro actually shows some impressive muscle. In our Geekbench 6 test, where the benchmark isolates everything and focuses purely on the CPU, the iPhone Air managed to perform noticeably better. This shows that the A19 Pro chip is perfectly capable on its own.

However, when the real-world workload kicks in, that is, where tasks are shared across different components and limited by the thermal constraints of the iPhone Air’s slim frame, the performance starts to balance out for efficiency. In simpler terms, Apple is prioritizing consistency and stability over brute force. And honestly, this is exactly the kind of hardware-and-software harmony we’ve come to expect from Apple.

Let’s also not dismiss how it has put itself at quite a comfortable position across even other CPUs on our chart. Quite honestly, the iPhone Air really did surprise me with its powerhouse.

Moving on to the 3DMark stability test, this one uses the Wild Life Stress Test which is a 20-minute benchmark designed to simulate demanding mobile gaming sessions. Unlike quick CPU bursts that even mid-range chips can handle easily, this test keeps the pressure on continuously, mimicking the kind of sustained workload you’d get from longer, more immersive games.

What’s truly impressive is that the iPhone Air managed to maintain a staggering 99.8% stability throughout the run. That’s almost unheard of for a device this thin. It’s important to note, though, that achieving high benchmark scores and maintaining consistent stability are two completely different challenges and I’ll explain why in the next part.

3DMark has always been one of my favourite benchmark tools for testing smartphones. Not only is it one of the most demanding applications out there, but it also continues to evolve alongside the ever-changing tech landscape. From heavy non-ray-traced graphics tests like Steel Nomad, which pushes ambient occlusion, screen-space shadows, and Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA), to Solar Bay with its ray-tracing workloads, and Wild Life Extreme that utilizes Vulkan API under intense polygon rendering, 3DMark paints a complete picture of a device’s graphical capabilities.

Looking at the charts, though, the GPU competition is fierce. The iPhone Air didn’t exactly dominate its rivals, but the real question here is, how much power is actually enough? With limited space and tighter thermals, the iPhone Air prioritizes efficiency rather than going all Godzilla, and that’s clearly by design. It knows its place in the lineup, performing smoothly within its limits while maintaining the near-perfect stability we discussed earlier.

Here’s the fun part: while the iPhone Air fell short compared to the iPhone 16 Pro Max in the standard Wild Life test, it actually performed better in Solar Bay and Steel Nomad, both of which are newer, far more resource-hungry benchmarks. That’s a good sign that Apple is steadily optimizing for modern gaming experiences. If the iPhone Air can already deliver this level of performance, I can’t wait to see what the rest of the iPhone 17 series has in store in our upcoming reviews.

In our GPUScore Sacred Path test, the iPhone Air delivered surprisingly strong results at QHD resolution. In fact, it topped our charts for this category, an achievement that’s genuinely commendable given its limitations. When pushed further under the native resolution test, the it faced stiffer competition, but still managed to hold its ground admirably.

By the end of our benchmarking session, I have to admit — I completely underestimated the iPhone Air’s performance. I walked in with certain expectations based on its size and positioning, but after seeing the results firsthand, this device genuinely surprised me. It may not be the most powerful iPhone on paper, but it definitely punches well above what its form factor suggests.

iPhone Air Battery Test

Here comes the part that a lot of you have been waiting for. So how is the battery on the iPhone Air? Apple claimed that the iPhone Air gives all-day battery life, but what do they mean by that? The lack of our 3D Mark Battery benchmark on iOS means we have to take things into our own hands differently. So I migrated my iPhone 16 Pro Max that was my daily driver and activated everything except the banking apps (because that would require me an unnecessary visit to the ATM just to activate it on the new device). I am going to break this down into a few series of tests.

The toughest part of real world battery testing is that your usage might be drastically different than mine. So I used the iPhone Air for a good 2 weeks to allow it to learn my daily usage behaviour first. For my personal daily usage, if I start using the device from 12pm onwards, I can easily last until midnight with 50% charge still left in it. I use an average of 3 hours and 30 minutes of active screen time daily and ending my day with this much battery looks solid. On my heavier than usual usage as reported by the iPhone itself, my usage bumps up to almost 5 hours of active screen time. I landed the night with 5% of battery, but notice something different here? For this test, I started out with 95% of battery instead. Why, you may ask?

That’s because the iPhone Air has a rather unique accessory which is the iPhone Air MagSafe Battery. This battery has exactly the same capacity as the built-in battery of the iPhone Air which is 3149mAh. When this accessory is mounted, the internal battery is always charging and would deplete the MagSafe battery first before using the internal battery. As you can see in my test above, the remained in charging mode throughout the day which is not going to be good news for the battery as you risk degrading it much faster. Not to mention, battery pack uses MagSafe wireless charging so the heat generated can also be significant. So the solution? Set the charging limit to a lower value so it doesn’t hit the upper ceiling of the battery. If you are always going to carry the MagSafe Battery, you can even set a lower limit like 90% or even 80% because combining both batteries, you actually can achieve 2 days battery life!

This gives the iPhone Air another 65% battery life which means a whopping 35% of the battery got lost in the wireless charging process. In the screenshot above, I dipped the battery down to 5% and used purely the MagSafe battery to test this out. It stopped charging when the internal battery reached 70%. In my case, after the first week, I totally stopped using the MagSafe battery altogether because my usage could last pretty well through the day, although I did carry it along just in case but never really had the need to use it. If I am brutally honest, I have a bad feeling this accessory will start degrading batteries sooner than usual and suddenly there will be a surge of users hunting for replacement batteries for their iPhone Air.

Is the battery on the iPhone Air good? For my usage, I have never got back home on an empty battery and my MagSafe battery has been idle for a while now which means, its on the sweet spot for me at least.

The iPhone Air MagSafe battery doesn’t have any battery level indicator, so if you need to check the battery level, you can either see it on the lock screen, or on the Power Widget. I know some of you would be looking for these answers because I was too.

iPhone Air Camera

To make the iPhone Air as slim and minimalist as possible, it comes with only one 48MP Fusion Camera that has been tasked to do all the heavy lifting for all things photography. It has an increased f/1.6 aperture compared to that of f/1.78 on the iPhone 16 Pro Max in the past, so it takes pretty fine portraits. It’s called Fusion Camera because it combines multiple modes for your photography needs.

First, we have the 1x Main which is the most commonly used lens. The 1x main camera is the one you’ll rely on most, and it delivers consistent results. By default, the Photonic Engine combines data from a 48MP sensor and a 12MP frame optimized for light capture, resulting in a 24MP image. The output strikes a good balance between detail, color accuracy, and manageable file size, making it practical for both everyday shots and quick sharing.

If you need more detail, such as for landscapes or close-up textures, you can enable 48MP capture under Settings > Camera > Formats and turn on Resolution Control. From there, simply tap the corner selector in the Camera app to shoot at full resolution. It’s straightforward, and the difference in clarity is noticeable when zooming into fine details.

The iPhone Air also includes two additional focal length options under the main camera: 1.1x (28mm) and 1.4x (35mm). You can switch between them by tapping the 1x button, and even set one as your default in settings. For those who prefer more control over framing, these options add useful flexibility without needing to crop in post.

Both focal lengths produce 24MP photos through dedicated pipelines, maintaining consistent image quality across modes. It’s a thoughtful inclusion for users who want a bit more creative control in composition, especially for portraits and street shots.

Finally, the 2x telephoto mode on the iPhone Air uses the central 12MP portion of the quad-pixel sensor to simulate an optical-quality zoom. The result is a surprisingly sharp and detailed image that performs on par, if not better, than some of Apple’s older dedicated telephoto cameras. Apple’s Photonic Engine has been further refined for this 2x crop, improving texture and colour accuracy, especially in daylight shots. In everyday use, it feels less like a digital crop and more like a proper lens option.

Okay, I’ll let you be the judge. Here are the photos that I took in various modes using the iPhone Air.

The photos taken above are mix of Portraits, Landscapes, Macros, Telephotos, Night Photography and all possible options. All images are simply point and shoot with no edits applied. Images were shot in HEIF and converted to webP for cross browser compatibility. All attempts to preserver close to original have been applied.

I’m not going to lie, it does take a bit of adjustment to live with just one camera. It feels almost nostalgic, especially for someone who came from an era when phones didn’t even have cameras at all, and later celebrated those early single-lens shooters. So naturally, I was curious to see what life would be like going back to a single camera setup especially coming from my personal daily driver, the outstanding iPhone 16 Pro Max.

In that context, the iPhone Air isn’t a phone you’d pick for studio work or commercial photography. But to say that I can’t live with it would be a massive understatement.

I take photos and memories very seriously. My archives go back over 20 years, and managing them has become both challenging and increasingly expensive. As smartphone cameras evolve, so do the file sizes. I rely heavily on cloud storage to preserve my photo history, often storing them in compressed formats to keep costs manageable. It’s been years since I last printed a photo, so the digital format is my accepted final archive.

This leads to a fair question; how much detail do you really need? If your primary use is uploading to social media or sharing on WhatsApp, both of which compress images anyway, then the iPhone Air’s single camera performs brilliantly. But if you need sharper detail and more refined textures for creative or professional use, that’s where the Pro series earns its place.

The real show stopper definitely has to be the Centre Stage front camera though. I immediately fell in love with this feature when I saw it in Apple’s keynote. The new sensor is nearly twice the size of its predecessor, allowing for a wider field of view, higher resolution, and excellent stabilization. The square 1:1 aspect ratio also gives you more flexibility when framing photos or videos, no matter the orientation.

Using it feels natural. You can zoom or rotate the front camera to capture different compositions without physically turning the phone, and the AI automatically adjusts the frame to keep everyone in view. It’s especially useful for group selfies or video calls, where the camera subtly follows movement to maintain balance in the shot.

One of the most underrated aspects, though, is how it performs when shooting landscape selfies in vertical orientation. It feels more comfortable to hold, gives better angles, and even produces a more natural eye gaze since the lens is centered to the display instead of offset to the side. Overall, it’s one of those features that quietly changes how you take selfies and you only realize how good it is once you start using it. I carry my two year old child a lot while taking pictures and words cannot explain how much Center Stage and portrait mode eases the process of doing this now.

The iPhone Air also features Dual Capture that allows you to record videos with both front and rear cameras simultaneously. I’m not sure if this feature will be much used by me because the output video embeds both videos as its recorded rather than separated that might lead to losing out on some important captures just because the overlay video was blocking it. If Dual Capture could record simultaneously but still allow post editing by moving the PIP around, then maybe it would have captured my attention better. For now, it is what it is.

Now, while we’re still on the topic of cameras, there’s one feature that deserves a little side discussion – the Camera Control button. First introduced on the iPhone 16 Pro Max, it has now made its way across the entire iPhone 17 lineup, including the iPhone Air. And quite honestly? I’m not a fan.

After using the iPhone 16 Pro Max for a full year, I can safely say the Camera Control button has added little to no value in my day-to-day use. In fact, I’ve accidentally triggered it more times than I’ve intentionally pressed it; usually when pulling the phone out of my pocket. Yes, it can be disabled in settings, but if I have to turn off a dedicated button to stop it from being a nuisance, that’s already a design red flag.

I’m genuinely curious to hear if other users actually find it useful, because to me, it feels like a feature nobody really asked for. Maybe Apple envisioned it as a convenient tool for creators, but in the era of short-form vertical videos and quick social captures, the Camera Control button just feels like it arrived too late to the party and without much to offer.

The Good

The iPhone Air is truly a remarkable device. There is so much to unpack about it, and I believe it has set a new trend that other brands will soon follow, if they haven’t already. Fitting all the essential hardware around the plateau while keeping the profile this slim, yet maintaining the performance of a true flagship, is nothing short of an engineering achievement.

Given its slim form factor and Apple’s history with bend issues, the iPhone Air had a lot to prove. And it did just that. It feels solid, durable, and surprisingly refined for a device this thin. We even managed to track down a rare behind-the-scenes video that showcases how Apple engineered the iPhone Air to achieve this level of structural integrity. Watch it below.

The secret behind the iPhone Air’s durability lies in its chassis. It begins with a monoblock frame made from Grade 5 Titanium, chosen for its impressive strength and lightweight properties. This is further reinforced by a Ceramic Shield back, making its first appearance on the rear side of an iPhone. The result is a sturdier body that resists cracks more effectively while maintaining a premium feel.

On the front, Apple has introduced Ceramic Shield 2, which offers improved scratch resistance and greater toughness than any other glass or glass-ceramic used in smartphones today.

The aerospace-grade Titanium used here has one of the highest strength-to-weight ratios of any metal, and its polished, mirror-like finish gives the iPhone Air a refined, almost jewelry-like appeal. What’s even more impressive is that the titanium frame is 3D-printed to achieve the precision the design demands. Even the USB Type-C port is 3D-printed, allowing it to be thinner and stronger than traditional machined ports.

To top the cherry on the ice cream, it has IP68 rating to sustain water and dust resistance, up to 6 meter for 30 minutes.

The iPhone Air also comes with Apple’s new C1X modem system, offering up to twice the download and upload speeds of its predecessor while being 30 percent more energy efficient. It also features precision dual-frequency GPS for improved navigation accuracy. Alongside that, the new N1 wireless networking chip brings faster and more reliable Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread connectivity, ensuring stable performance even when multitasking or hotspot sharing.

The second-generation Ultra Wideband chip enhances precision tracking for AirTags and location sharing between compatible iPhones. On the safety front, Apple continues to expand its satellite-based features, including Messages, Emergency SOS, Find My, and Roadside Assistance via satellite, allowing communication and help requests even when you’re off the grid. All these refined networking hardware contribute largely towards the trimming of the iPhone Air because every single millimeter matters here.

The iPhone Air also retains Crash Detection, which can automatically contact emergency services and share your location if it detects a severe collision. It’s a subtle but vital inclusion that reinforces Apple’s focus on user safety and reliability, extending the iPhone’s usefulness well beyond standard connectivity.

I’ve talked a lot about the design language and the technologies behind the iPhone Air, and I promise this will be the last part of it. The plateau design subtly tilts the device at a diagonal angle, and that actually comes with a small but meaningful advantage. Since the iPhone Air is incredibly slim, picking it up from a flat surface could have been tricky. However, the slight lift created by the plateau leaves just enough of a gap underneath for your fingers to slide in easily, improving grip and usability in a way that feels thoughtful rather than accidental.

Let’s touch a little on the display. This is a 6.5″ display really feels very different in hands considering its chassis. It comes with ProMotion up to 120Hz and also has Always-On functionality that tones it down to 1Hz to conserve battery. The outdoor peak brightness has also been bumped up to 3000nits compared to 2000nits in the previous gen. But that’s really all that’s happening here, I mean, if anything, I’m looking forward to foldable iPhone display technology because what they already have seems pretty saturated now.

Finally, I already covered it above, but to me, iPhone Air’s battery life belongs here. I do like what it offers and I have yet to go out of juice even a single day so far. I dont even think there’s any sacrifice that was made just to keep it lightweight and slim.

The Bad

Up until now, I have sung all the bells and whistles of the iPhone Air, but I’m not going to let it slide out of my hands just because its slim and light, right? So where did the iPhone Air fell short? I’ve already discussed about how I didn’t like the Camera Capture button extensively in the iPhone Air Camera section above, so I’m not going to become a broken record and repeat myself on that. This feature already earned its placed in The Bad section since iPhone 16 Pro Max anyway.

One thing that really deserves attention is the weight of the iPhone Air. Apple lists it at 165g, but based on my own test, my unit actually weighed 174g, which is a noticeable difference. That by itself isn’t a big deal, but things change once you start using it like a normal user would. Add a transparent case, which is the bare minimum level of protection and the total jumps to 196g. Still manageable, but once you attach the MagSafe battery, the combined weight shoots up to 323g, taking it completely out of the lightweight category.

If you’re someone who relies heavily on MagSafe accessories or uses a rugged case like a QuadLock, the iPhone Air could easily approach 400g in total weight. For context, the iPhone 16 Pro Max, known to be on the heavier side, weighs 241g on its own. This shows how the illusion of lightness can quickly disappear once real-world accessories come into play.

That’s why this belongs in the bad section here, not because the iPhone Air is poorly designed, but because its marketed lightness doesn’t reflect how most people will actually use it. It’s an important reality check for anyone expecting it to stay featherlight once you start gearing it up for daily use.

Secondly, the audio experience on the iPhone Air is disappointing. Despite what the design might suggest, there is only a single speaker, which is actually the earpiece. Those beautifully machined holes at the bottom are just microphones. The sound lacks depth and richness, coming across as flat and uninspiring. It does get reasonably loud, but for a smartphone in this price range, the overall audio quality feels underwhelming and far from what you would expect from a premium device. If anything, this is probably the biggest disappointment I experienced with the iPhone Air.

Third, the much glorified custom 3D-printed USB Type-C port on the iPhone Air turns out to be USB 2.0. That means transfer speeds are limited to around 480 Mbps, and charging is noticeably slower compared to other iPhone 17 models. There is also no DisplayPort output, which rules out external display connectivity further.

Apple may have its reasons for keeping it this way, possibly tied to design constraints or internal efficiency, but it still feels like a step backward. Other slim and lightweight smartphones already offer faster transfer speeds and better I/O versatility. Apple’s approach has always been about perfecting a feature before adopting it widely, which I can respect, but reverting to such an old standard in 2025 simply doesn’t make sense.

Next, I’m not going to sugarcoat this but I really don’t like the Liquid Glass interface or the overall iOS 26 update this time around. The Liquid Glass effect feels like a pure gimmick. Tilting the phone just to watch glows shift around might look nice for a few seconds, but it adds no real value to usability. I was perfectly content with the flat, dark UI from previous versions, and now I can’t even disable this new look.

Yes, Apple has unified some of the buttons at the bottom for easier one-handed use, and I can appreciate the intent behind that. But in practice, it still feels awkward, and several UI and UX choices miss the mark. The biggest casualty here is Safari browser where something as simple as opening or switching tabs now requires an extra tap on the menu button. It’s clunky, unintuitive, and slows down what used to be a very fluid browsing experience.

iPhone Air Review Verdict

There’s a lot happening with the iPhone Air, and I genuinely appreciate the level of engineering that went into this device. The durability is not just a marketing claim; it actually delivers in real-world use. It feels solid, refined, and surprisingly comfortable to hold. If there’s one thing that consistently annoyed me throughout the review, it would be the software experience as most of my frustrations came from iOS 26 rather than the hardware itself.

While other brands continue to chase the idea of the perfect foldable smartphone, Apple chose a different direction. Instead of folding displays and mechanical hinges, they focused on creating something slimmer, lighter, and sturdier. It’s a refreshing take and a welcome change in an industry that has been recycling the same designs for years.

The iPhone Air starts at RM4,999 for the 256GB model, with prices increasing in RM1,000 increments up to RM6,999 for the 1TB version. Essentially, you’re paying around RM1,000 more than the base iPhone 17 for the slim form factor, while giving up the extra camera in return. That’s not an easy trade-off for everyone, but the inclusion of a 1TB option (which the iPhone 17 doesn’t offer) makes it appealing to a more executive-level audience who value design and portability over camera flexibility.

So, do I like the iPhone Air? Yes, I do. It’s not perfect, but it’s bold, beautifully built, and proves that Apple still knows how to surprise us when it wants to. At least this time they did. I never go easy with iPhones but this one definitely deservers our coveted Gold Pokdeward!