Apple unveiled iPhone Air, its thinnest iPhone ever, nearly three weeks ago at this point. It’s an incredibly impressive model, and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying mine since I picked it up on launch day last Friday. That said, despite the focus on it being ‘impossibly thin’ in Apple’s own words, I think it’s a lot more than that based on my time using it.
Phones were getting too bulky
Ultimately, I’ve long loved the bigger screen size of the Plus and Pro Max iPhones, but not the weight that came with it.
iPhone 14 Pro Max was Apple’s heaviest large iPhone in a while, largely thanks to its stainless steel frame. It came in at 8.47 oz. Luckily, Apple addressed that slightly a year later with the switch to titanium on iPhone 15 Pro Max, bringing it down to 7.81 oz. Still not a light phone, but it was more manageable.
When iPhone 16 Pro came out, though, and the screens got even bigger, the chassis even thicker, and the phone even heavier – I caved, and switched back to the smaller option. Conveniently, there were no camera or feature compromises by going with the smaller model that year, so it wasn’t too challenging to make that switch.
For reference, iPhone 16 Pro Max offered a 6.9-inch display (up from 6.7), and came in at 7.99oz.
Big, but without heft
iPhone Air, to me, is about a lot more than being thin – it’s about offering a big screen iPhone that doesn’t feel unbearable. iPhone Air is 5.6mm thin, sure, but it’s also 5.8oz while offering a 6.5-inch display. It feels very delightful to use – and makes other Pro Max/Plus iPhones feel like a brick.
Even the aluminum iPhone 16 Plus, which this technically replaces, weighed 7.03oz. Did it feel better to use than the iPhone 16 Pro Max? Sure. Was it anywhere near as remarkable as iPhone Air? Absolutely not.
Compromises?
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