iPhone Air Review: Is this the one Steve Jobs would have liked?

The iPhone Air launched in September 2025 alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. It may not turn out to be the biggest seller of the four, but it is the most talked about. Apple have 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 jumps out at you when you unbox this phone is how thin and light it is. But how does it perform, and is it worth considering ahead of the other models? The word “compromise” has been used a lot in discussions of this phone, but all phones have trade offs; it’s just a question of what you value. I wanted to love this phone, but I expected those compromises to be too much. I was pleasantly surprised to find I would very happily keep it as my daily driver.

Size, weight and form factor

However aware I was in advance that this is a thin and light phone, however many YouTube videos had told me the same, I was still blown away by just how thin and light this phone is when I first took it out of the box. In fact, three weeks on, I still marvel at it. If I pick up my 15 Pro now, it feels heavy.

One take I saw online is that this is an iPhone Steve Jobs would have been proud to release. I know what they mean; the man loved beautiful design and feats of engineering, which this phone delivers. At just 5.64mm (0.22 inches) thick and 165 grams (5.82 ounces) in weight, it truly is a pleasure to use and comfortable to hold for long spells.

Like the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, the Air sports a new camera plateau on the back of the phone. Rather than the square camera bump in one corner, it is a strip right across the back of the phone. It doesn't stretch very far down the back of the device however, only about as far as where the Action button is on the side, so it's not intrusive when holding the phone. Personally I prefer it to the old bump, but that's very much a subjective thing.

The Camera Control button isn't new on this year's models, but it is new to me. I use it from time to time, but leaving its utility aside, I was worried I'd be pressing it by mistake a lot due to where it is located. As it turns out I do exactly that, but thankfully you can set it to require a double press to activate. Definitely recommended in my view.

It's not all sunshine and lollipops on the form factor side however. Perhaps it's just me, and the fact that I typically prefer and use slightly smaller phones, but I have found that I am accidentally selecting things more often than I'd like due to my palm touching the edge of the screen as I reach my thumb across the display. I've also found that swiping left and right with my thumb is sometimes ineffective if I cradle the phone in a particular way. This may just be a case of getting used to a larger screen device, or it may be related to the narrow boarders and thinness of the device, so I'll be interested to see whether or not it remains a bugbear in a few months.

Performance

The iPhone Air has the same A19 Pro chip, minus one GPU core, as the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max. It is lightning fast. While my 15 Pro was no slouch, and I would not feel the need to upgrade yet for performance alone, the speed bump is nonetheless noticeable. Apps open in no time at all, and navigation is silky smooth. I've no doubt that this phone will perform well for years to come, including support for Apple Intelligence should more features come our way.

Battery

The most talked about compromise with the iPhone Air since its launch has been its battery. The trade off to achieve the thin and light form factor is a significantly smaller battery than its chunkier cousins. My experience however has been very good indeed, certainly exceeding my expectations, or perhaps my fears. Granted I am directly comparing my experience to an iPhone 15 Pro, which is now two years old and is a regular size phone, and not to a Pro Max.

So confident have I become in being able to get a full day out of it that I have now set the charging limit to 90%, a feature I’ve never felt the desire to use before. And still I’m typically finishing the day with over 30% remaining, perhaps closer to 20% on days with heavier usage such as weekends. The only time I have felt the need to top up in the afternoon or evening is if I’m heading out for the night and I want to be extra safe. For me, a single charge every 24 hours is perfectly acceptable, and as good as I’ve ever had on any iPhone I’ve owned.

If you want truly great battery performance then the Pro or Pro Max may be a better fit for you. But if you'd like the benefits of a larger screen and/or a thinner and lighter form factor, and are ok with a perfectly average battery, then the Air may be worth a look.

Speaker

Perhaps the biggest concern I had myself in advance of getting this phone was the fact it only has one speaker. I can honestly say it has not been an issue though. I was in fact half way through set up before I even remembered the fact, and even then my memory was not triggered by me actually noticing it.

I will caveat this by saying that I do not play music, podcasts or audiobooks through the phone speaker, 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 has been absolutely fine. If I put it side by side with the iPhone 15 Pro there is a noticeable lack of bass in the Air, but in my regular day to day use, I don't particularly notice it and I'm certainly not bothered by it. Even watching the likes of Instagram reels has not been an issue. Occasionally if in a noisier environment such as my office, I don’t have that ability to hold the bottom of the phone to my ear, but honestly even in those environments it’s mostly just fine, and I can pop an earphone in if needed. If you use your phone like I use mine in this respect, then I wouldn’t let the mono speaker stop you going for this model.

Camera

The other major difference versus the rest of the iPhone 17 range is the rear facing camera system. The iPhone Air only has one 48 megapixel main camera lens. It is missing the ultra wide lens from all of the other 2025 models, and the telephoto lens from the Pro and Pro Max. I take a few photos and videos with my phone, but not many, and use it with apps like Be My AI, PiccyBot and Gemini camera share. So far I have noticed no difference at all versus my old phone, so it’s looking good. This might be one to check back on in a few months when I’ve got a larger body of evidence to work off, but as of today, I'm not concerned.

Conclusions

The iPhone Air is amongst the most talked about, perhaps even controversial, iPhones in many years. This makes it intriguing if nothing else in a world where phones have matured and updates have become more evolutionary than revolutionary. My view is that this is a great phone with great performance and a beautiful design.

The iPhone Air does everything I need and the trade offs have not to date been an issue for me. I could never use a Pro Max as I find it too big and unwieldy, but the Air is a large screen phone that perhaps I can get on board with. I don't deny I'd still prefer if the screen were a little smaller than its 6.5 inches though, or at least narrower.

The price perhaps puts the Air in a tricky spot. It is more expensive than the very good base model, and not a huge leap to the Pro, so its selling point versus other iPhones really is the form factor. If I were buying a phone this year, there's every chance this is the one I'd go for, but I understand it's a curious value proposition for some.

The base iPhone 17 is probably the one that most people should buy, the Pro and Pro Max models are great for people who want the most utility from their phone, and perhaps the iPhone Air is for those of us who simply want to love again.

Have you purchased a new iPhone this year, or are you considering an iPhone Air? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.