One of my colleagues abroad got both of his new iPhone models today – an orange iPhone 17 Pro and a blue iPhone Air – and was surprised that he seemed to be gravitating towards the Air.
My iPhone 17 Pro Max arrived today, and I was surprised to feel a twinge of… jealousy? Over the thin phone? I’m not ashamed to say I’m more than curious; I kind of regret buying Apple’s big, powerful Pro Max over the sleek new hotness that is the iPhone Air.
Does wanting the iPhone Air seem shameful? After years of complaining about the shortcomings of smartphones, Apple’s new iPhone takes all of those complaints and throws them right back in my face. It dares me to desire its svelte form.
Want more battery life on a phone, and maybe faster charging? Too bad. How about cameras that let me leave my Fuji XT-5 and my big lenses at home? Nope, just one camera on the iPhone Air, and it isn’t Apple’s best.
Frankly, it feels lucky that Apple even included MagSafe magnets in the iPhone Air, since those were left out of the bargain-bin iPhone 16e, and I expected Apple might pare back on more features to shave weight and cut costs.
Thin phones like the iPhone Air feel very different when you hold them
The iPhone Air lacks everything that I’d tell you I want in a new phone – except for the one thing I want most of all. I want a new phone to feel new. I want an entirely new experience, not just a step up from last year’s model. The most interesting thing a new phone can be is truly new – a new experience, and that is where thin phones like the iPhone Air succeed.
I haven’t spent time with the iPhone Air yet, but I reviewed the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge. The Galaxy Edge is not quite as thin as the iPhone Air – the difference is less than one mm – but it is a bit lighter than the iPhone, so the effect is similar.
The first time I held the Galaxy S25 Edge, it felt new. It felt different. It didn’t feel like my current smartphone, or any smartphone I’d held before. It reminded me of the thinnest dumb phones that popped up at the end of the dumbphone epoch.
It felt impossible, like something that shouldn’t exist. It wasn’t the thinness that struck me; it was how light the Edge felt compared to every other phone. The Galaxy S25 Edge is almost a full ounce lighter than the Galaxy S25 Plus. It’s almost 2 ½ ounces lighter than the iPhone 17 Pro Max. The difference is striking.
Instead of new cameras, an entirely new experience
Every year, phone makers add more and more features to phones or improve the existing specs to push the technology further. Every upgrade feels like a minor evolution, not revolutionary. Rarely do we get a new phone that is truly different. Perhaps that’s because of the phone world’s devotion to constant steps forward, and not in spite of it.
If you’re a phone geek like me, or if you just want the best phone, you’ve been trained to look for certain specs. More screen. More cameras with more megapixels. More battery life. Faster performance than anyone needs on a smartphone.
I’m here to say it’s enough. Phones are fast enough. Cameras are good enough. It’s time for something different, and if that means taking a few steps back, I’m all for it. The iPhone Air and Galaxy S25 Edge are fun and cool phones to carry. If you need better photos, carry a camera. If you need more battery life, carry a battery pack or charge more often.
We’ve been trained to think these are the wrong answers, but in fact it makes more sense to carry a dedicated camera if you really care about great photos. It makes sense to top off your phone throughout the day as needed, or carry a small battery, because that offers much more flexibility than simply hoping your phone doesn’t run out of gas before the day is through.
The Galaxy S25 Edge wasn’t the best phone I’ve tested this year, but it made me smile every time I used it because it felt so unique. I never worried about sore pinky fingers after an hour wrestling the New York Times crossword. I slipped it into pockets that are too tight to carry my iPhone Pro Max and forgot it was there.
Durability is a huge benefit for the iPhone Air
That brings me to the iPhone Air’s singular benefit: it’s the most durable iPhone ever. That’s an amazing claim, and our Editor-at-Large Lance Ulanoff put it to the test by trying to bend Apple Exec Greg Joswiak’s iPhone Air. He failed.
Durability is my favorite phone feature, ever since Samsung made its Galaxy S5 water-resistant back in 2014. Before then, a top reason you’d replace your phone is because you got it wet. Today, a wet phone isn’t a problem unless you break the glass first.
If Apple had only made the most durable iPhone ever and it wasn’t this thin, I’d be impressed. That the iPhone Air is Apple’s most resilient model is a huge selling point, and you’ll thank me in four years when you’re still carrying the same phone as today.
If you’re tired of the same old phone, consider a thin phone like the iPhone Air or Galaxy S25 Edge. Don’t be ashamed of giving up the big features everybody says are so important. What’s important is enjoying the phone you carry, and you might enjoy carrying the thinnest, lightest phone around much more than carrying an overpowered brick.
