00:00The iPhone Air is to a degree exactly what we were expecting. It's Apple's thinnest iPhone
00:08ever, measuring in at just 5.64 millimeters. But is it a genuine breakthrough or just a
00:14slimmer spin on what we are already familiar with? I've been using the iPhone Air for about
00:17a month now, and here's how my experience has been so far. At first glance, the iPhone
00:24Air might just look like a sleeker iPhone 17, but the differences hit you the moment
00:28you pick it up. It's incredibly thin at just 5.64 millimeters and weighs in at 165 grams.
00:34Apple calls it its most refined design yet, and honestly, it feels that way. It's built
00:37with grade 5 titanium, sandwiched between ceramic sealed glass on both sides, and the result
00:42is light, balanced, and surprisingly durable. My review unit that I've been testing is this
00:46sky blue model. It's softer and more pastel than the MacBook Air color of the same name,
00:50and it still turns heads weeks later. The iPhone Air feels great in the hand, not too top-heavy,
00:55too bottom-heavy. It is perfectly balanced. Apple's awe-dropping tagline from the launchment
01:00really fits here. This phone looks and feels special. Even though it's so thin, Apple didn't
01:05compromise on durability. I accidentally dropped mine once, concrete paving stones, and it came
01:10away completely unscathed. Apple says that the Air's frame can withstand up to 130 pounds of pressure
01:17and bend slightly before springing back to life, and after that drop, I do believe them. It also
01:21carries the same IP68 water and dust resistance rating as the rest of the iPhone 17 lineup.
01:26To make the iPhone this thin, Apple removed the SIM slot entirely, so it's eSIM only worldwide.
01:32And yes, there's still a regular USB-C port, but Apple actually 3D-printed a custom version
01:36to make it fit in this frame.
01:38Now, let's talk about the screen. The iPhone Air has a 6.5-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display
01:46with a resolution of 2376 by 1260 and 460 pixels per inch. It supports ProMotion HDR and peaks
01:53at 3,000 nits of brightness. It's also just slightly larger than the iPhone 17's display,
01:57but that extra bit of space makes apps and videos feel roomier. Text looks crisp, colors
02:02are vibrant, and it stays bright even under direct sunlight or bright fluorescent light.
02:05The anti-reflective coating here works really well too, and iOS 26 with its liquid glass makeover
02:11looks fantastic here.
02:12Now, if you lay two of these phones side-by-side, I think you'd have some idea of what Apple
02:17is planning to bring us with its long-rumored folding iPhone. And it would look mightily
02:21impressive, but we're not quite there yet. And remember, it's still smaller than the Pro
02:25Max. Overall, this is one of Apple's most beautiful phones to date, and arguably the
02:29most exciting design since the iPhone X.
02:34Now, here's where Apple had to make some trade-offs to achieve that ultra-thin build.
02:38On the back here, there's just one 48-megapixel fusion camera. No telephoto, no ultralide.
02:43Now, that might sound like a downgrade, but the single lens actually produces sharp, natural-looking
02:49photos and is able to capture impressive portraits. It uses the same kind of fusion process as
02:54recent iPhones, and that's when it combines 12-megapixel and 48-megapixel shots together
02:59to preserve detail and color. In my month of testing, I got some genuinely great results,
03:03one photo from 36,000 feet up where the air captured fine details of the wing, clouds,
03:08and even mountains down below. Low-light shots came out clean and balanced, and portrait mode
03:12nailed focus and edge detection, with realistic skin tones and depth. Of course, if you're
03:17used to having a telephoto or ultra-wide lenses, you'll miss that flexibility here.
03:20But the 18-megapixel selfie camera helps make up for it. It's crisp, smart, and it uses center
03:25stage to automatically reframe between wide and ultra-wide as people move around. There's
03:29also dual capture, which lets you record with both front and rear cameras at once. It's great
03:33for concerts, travel, or creators filming reactions. On the performance side, the iPhone
03:37Air runs on Apple's A19 Pro chip, which delivers fast, smooth performance across the board. It
03:43handles multitasking, gaming, and video editing easily. You might feel some warmth around the
03:48camera bump, or plateau as Apple calls it, during fast charging or heavy gaming, but it never
03:52throttled or lagged. Benchmarks put it slightly above the standard iPhone 17, and in daily use,
03:57it feels just as responsive as any flagship phone. Now, let's talk about battery life.
04:05Apple doesn't reveal capacity numbers, but it says the Air can last for up to 27 hours of
04:10downloaded video playback and 22 hours of streaming. In my real-world use, it usually lasted a full
04:15workday, around 6 to 8 hours of active use, with my best day hitting about 10 hours off the charger.
04:20That's decent, but not class-leading. If you need more endurance, Apple does sell a MagSafe battery
04:25pack for $99, which adds roughly 65% more battery life and keeps the slim profile. It's optional,
04:31but for heavy users, it's a solid companion. Software-wise, the iPhone Air ships with iOS
04:3526, and it feels tailor-made for this hardware. The new liquid glass design looks incredible on
04:40the screen. Transparent, layered, and fluid. Messages now support custom backgrounds, polls,
04:46and typing indicators. And the new phone app and visual intelligence bring smarter ways to
04:50organize calls and recognize content. We're still waiting for Siri's full Apple intelligence
04:56overhaul, but the early features that are here feel smooth and stable.
05:03So, should you buy the iPhone Air? If you care about design, comfort, and innovation,
05:07this is the one to get. It's not the best iPhone for photography or all-day endurance,
05:12but it's absolutely the most exciting and forward-looking iPhone Apple has made in years.
05:16It does cost more than the standard iPhone 17, and you are getting fewer cameras and shorter
05:22battery life. But what you gain is that stunning new design and a glimpse at where Apple's heading
05:27next. Starting at $999 or 999 pounds, the iPhone Air comes in sky blue, light gold, cloud white,
05:34and space black, with storage options from 256 gigs all the way up to 1 terabyte. And it's available
05:39right now, but even more importantly, you can check out the links in the description for the best places
05:43and the best prices to buy the iPhone Air. The iPhone Air isn't about adding more. It's about
05:47refining what matters, and Apple's thinnest iPhone yet might just be its most elegant.
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