I’ve owned an iPhone Air for nearly three weeks now, and Apple’s brand new model keeps impressing me. One standout feature I haven’t written about yet is the screen size—but it’s proven exactly what I’d hoped for.
My years-long preference for smaller iPhone screens
Sales trends prove that users love big iPhones. But I’m not one of them.
I live in the very walkable New York City, so using my iPhone one-handed on the go is very important to me.
For that reason, it’s been a long time since I’ve chosen Apple’s largest iPhone as my go-to.
Most years, I opt for the smaller Pro size instead. My last few models have been iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro.
The last time I didn’t buy a Pro model was when the iPhone 12 mini debuted.
I absolutely loved how perfectly the iPhone mini fit in my hand. But ultimately, Pro-exclusive features pushed me to switch to an iPhone 13 Pro the following year.
Since smaller iPhones are my preference, I didn’t love the iPhone 16 Pro getting bigger last year. Screen size went from 6.1 inches up to 6.3, and I highly preferred the previous size.
But this year, I opted for an even bigger iPhone Air, with a 6.5-inch display.
And one thing was clear from the start: thinner and bigger is a winning combo.
Why iPhone Air passes my screen size test
When rumors for the iPhone Air first circulated last year, I hoped that the device’s thinner design would make its larger screen a non-issue for me.
Now, I can confidently say that’s exactly what’s happened.
From the moment I started using my iPhone Air, the larger screen has been a positive, not a negative. This is a very different response than what I felt last year when my iPhone 16 Pro came with a size bump.
Put simply: the ultra-thin design makes holding the larger iPhone one-handed totally fine—at least for me.
Here’s how my last two iPhones compare:
iPhone Air: 6.5-inch display
Height: 6.15 inches
Width: 2.94 inches
Depth: 0.22 inches
iPhone 16 Pro: 6.3-inch display
Height: 5.89 inches
Width: 2.81 inches
Depth: 0.32 inches
Simply looking at the numbers, the larger display, height, and width would normally make me think the iPhone Air wasn’t for me. But its significantly reduced depth makes a huge difference.
If I tried using a 6.5-inch iPhone Pro with similar height and width dimensions as the current Pro models (which are even a bit bigger than last year), I’m 100% certain it would feel too big for me.
iPhone Air, however, feels great in the hand.
Would an even smaller screen be my preference? Sure, but that’s part of why next year’s iPhone Fold sounds so exciting. It should offer the best of both worlds: a small screen when folded, and a large one unfolded.
I suspect that iPhone Air’s screen size is a solid compromise for typical Pro Max users too. Its 6.5-inch size isn’t far off from the 6.7 inches that Pro Max displays historically have been.
Alongside battery life and durability, iPhone Air’s screen size is proving yet another surprise win.
If you have an iPhone Air, how do you feel about the screen size? Let us know in the comments.
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