iPhone Air review: does Apple’s thinnest iPhone lives up to hype?

The tech giant has launched its thinnest phone ever - but is it the transformation loyalists and fans wanted?

Alice Clarke

8 min read

September 30, 2025 - 1:39PM

‘Perfect’: Apple finally makes long awaited change. Picture: Apple.

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It’s been a while since Apple last played with the iPhone’s form, so it’s refreshing to see its designers cut loose and create something new. Enter the iPhone Air*: the thinnest iPhone ever at just 5.6mm at its slimmest point, weighing a feather-light 165g.So, is a larger screen in a thinner body worth the extra spend? After a few days with Apple’s full iPhone 17 line-up, my verdict is: it depends. Check out my hands-on review below.

SHOP IPHONE AIR

IS THE IPHONE AIR WORTH BUYING?

tried and tested

Apple iPhone Air

If I were cynical, I’d say the iPhone Air was born out of Apple’s foldable experiments, a by-product of engineers seeing just how thin they could make half a phone, then deciding to cash in early.

That said, I can see fashion-conscious buyers rallying around the iPhone Air. It’s sleek, it slips into a pocket without disrupting the lines of an outfit and it sacrifices little in quality or features.

It also makes sense for anyone who needs a lighter device for accessibility reasons but wants more than the iPhone SE can offer.

Ultimately, the iPhone Air is for anyone who thinks the idea is cool and happens to be ready for an upgrade.

I can see fashion-conscious buyers rallying around the sleek iPhone Air. Picture: Supplied

NEED TO KNOW

The iPhone Air is feather-light at just 165g, so it slips into a pocket without adding bulk.
Its 6.5-inch display hits the sweet spot between portability and immersion.
Powered by the A19 Pro chip, it handles gaming, streaming and socials smoothly.
Battery life is shorter than other iPhone 17 models at around 11 hours, and there’s no telephoto zoom, though most users won’t miss it.
Starting from $1799, it’s Apple’s sleekest and most stylish phone yet.

If I were a cynic, I’d say this device is something came up with while attempting to develop a foldable iPhone. But in the midst of seeing how thin they could make the halves of a folding phone, the team decided to release what is now so they could get an early return on their investment.

However, I can see fashion-conscious shoppers really rallying around the new slim model. It’s stylish, it doesn’t distort the lines of an outfit when it’s in your pocket, and yet there’s very little compromise on quality or features.

It would also be great for people who need a lighter phone for accessibility reasons but want more than the iPhone SE has to offer.

Frankly, the is for anyone who thinks it seems like a cool idea and is due for an upgrade.

HOW WE TESTED THE IPHONE AIR

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HOW MUCH THINNER ARE WE TALKING?

Comparing the iPhone Air’s specs across the iPhone 17 range, it doesn’t look like a lot on paper. After all, the Air is 5.6mm at its thinnest point (ie. everywhere that isn’t the camera bump). That’s 2.31mm thinner than the regular iPhone 17, and 3.21mm thinner than the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

The difference in size IRL is striking Picture: Supplied

In person, the difference seems far more dramatic. It looks much neater in my pocket and doesn’t distort the line of my clothes as much other devices.

The iPhone Air comes in four colours: Space Black, Cloud White, Light Gold and Cloud Blue. All four shades are nice, but lack the boldness of the Pro line’s Cosmic Orange, or iPhone 17’s understated yet undeniably present Lavender, Sage and Mist Blue.

The new iPhone Air is available in Space Black and more muted shades including Sky Blue, Cloud White and Light Gold. Picture: Apple.

At just 165g, the weight difference of the iPhone Air is pretty significant against the iPhone 17 (177g), iPhone 17 Pro (204g) and iPhone 17 Pro Max (231g).

I generally use the Pro phones (usually the Pro Max), and after a day of taking photos at the zoo, the 231g of the Pro Max started to fatigue my hand a lot more than the Air. It’s the kind of thing that wouldn’t personally sway me, but someone with arthritis or another motivation for a lighter phone would really benefit from.

Another thing that sets the Air’s body apart is that it has a slightly larger screen than the base iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro. The Air is 6.5”, while the others are only 6.3”. It’s a perfect middle point for people who find the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s 6.9” screen too unwieldy, but still want a bit more. I found that it struck a really nice balance. The screen is just as bright and vibrant as the other iPhone screens, with colours absolutely popping and looking accurate. Watching David Attenborough’s Ocean documentary on it was breathtaking with how it rendered the colours and details of the fish.

Apple's lighter and thinner look might be the "perfect" design change users have been waiting for. Picture: Apple.

Aside from being thinner and lighter, the other thing that justifies the higher price is the faster (and arguably better) A19 Pro chip similarly found in the Pro models – albeit with just five GPU cores instead of the Pro’s six.

The catch is that in my benchmarking tests, the A19 Pro Air performed on par with the iPhone 17, which uses an A19 chip, because of the cooling limitations of a phone being that thin. Keep in mind chips perform better when they’re cool, which requires room for air to move and more advanced cooling systems.

The Pro range gets more out of the A19 Pro because it has a vapour chamber cooling system and more room for the hot air to move out, whereas there’s only so many laws of physics the iPhone Air can work around. That said, only particularly hardcore gamers will be able to notice the difference. I played NBA 2K25 Arcade edition, Pokemon TCG Pocket and Bloons TD 6+ for a long time and the performance was smooth and excellent.

THE CAMERA

There are two trade-offs with the form factor of the iPhone Air. The first is the camera.

Unlike Apple’s other models, the Air only has the regular 48MP Fusion Main camera. On the other hand, the iPhone 17 contains both the Fusion Main and Fusion Ultra Wide cameras, while the Pro has an additional three lenses plus a 48MP Fusion Telephoto (for 4x and 8x zoom).

For people who don’t play around much when taking photos and just want family snaps, the Fusion Main will be more than enough. But keen food photographers and those wanting to take ultra wide photos of landscapes will be left wanting more.

Using 2x zoom to capture the giraffes with the iPhone Air (left) and iPhone 17 (right). Picture: Supplied/Alice Clarke.

Zooming 1x (left) and 8x (right) with the iPhone 17 Pro Max. Picture: Supplied/Alice Clarke.

On these photos of the giraffes, you can see that the 1x and 2x zoom photos look equally excellent on both the iPhone Air and the iPhone 17 Pro Max. The green on the plants looks natural, the focus and details on the giraffe are crisp yet natural. It overall perfectly captured the moment.

But, what the iPhone Air can’t do is optically zoom in 4x to capture the baby giraffe in the background, like I could with the iPhone 17 Pro Max as you can see here. This will make a huge difference to people who go to concerts or the footy and don’t pay the big bucks to sit in the front row.

Seeing the adorable baby giraffe in all its glory with the 8x zoom on the new iPhone 17 Pro Max. Picture: Supplied/Alice Clarke.

Now, you can still do a digital zoom, which is essentially just cropping the 1x photo, but that looks grainy and pretty disappointing.

That’s not going to be worth spending an extra $200 for everyone, but it is something worth keeping in mind.

Taking pictures with night mode on (left) and off (right). Picture: Supplied/Alice Clarke.

The night-mode photography on the iPhone Air is still as excellent as you’d expect from an iPhone.

But while it’s an extremely capable camera, the question is just whether you’d miss having the extra zoom options.

BATTERY LIFE

The other big trade-off is battery life. Big batteries are, well, big. The iPhone Air has a lot of screen (which uses a lot of power), but not a lot of trunk in which to place junk (such as a battery). With my usual heavy use of calls, texts, too much social media and an embarrassing amount of Pokemon TCG Pocket, I got less than 11 hours battery life. That is not a lot of battery, given I am awake for at least 16 hours a day and would like to have the option of using my phone during most of those hours.

It does charge really quickly, getting from 0-50 per cent charged in under 30 minutes with a 40W charger, which is a big help.

Apple does sell a MagSafe wireless battery pack specifically designed for the iPhone Air which is really thin and light and gives an extra 65 per cent of charge for days of heavy use on the go. But that does obviously make the Air thicker during use.

DURABILITY

While I couldn’t go ham trying to destroy the iPhone Air, given this is just a loaner phone, I do have a toddler and a lot of sleep deprivation, so I have conducted a series of unplanned, accidental durability tests. I’ve dropped it on concrete multiple times, as well as hardwood flooring and carpet, and there are no scuffs or marks. You cannot tell anything has happened to it, thanks to the strength of the titanium body.

I also accidentally sat down while wearing jeans with the iPhone Air in my back pocket because it’s so thin and light I completely forgot it was still in there, and still barely noticed it when I sat down. I’m pleased to report that it did not bend (at least not permanently). It looks unscathed. I wouldn’t recommend doing that frequently, but for every now and then it seems fine based on my experience.

The phone has an IP68 rating, which means it’s dust tight, and can be submerged in freshwater up to 6m deep for up to 30 minutes and survive. (The first number in the IP rating rates its protection from dust on a scale between one and six, while the second number is water on a scale between one and nine.)

IPHONE AIR ACCESSORIES

Don't forget to protect your brand new iPhone with the right accessories. Picture: Amazon Australia.

The obvious big accessories released as the same time as the iPhone Air are the Apple Watch SE, Series 11 and Ultra, as well as the AirPods Pro 3. All the Apple Watches are excellent, as usual, offering huge battery life bumps over previous generations.

But I’m most excited about the AirPods Pro 3, which are now more comfortable, have significantly better noise cancelling and further improved transparency mode (which is impressive, given the AirPods Pro 2 already had the best transparency mode on the market). Even people who have been on the fence about AirPods will be blown away by the AirPods Pro 3, and I say this as a massive headphone nerd.

Apple nailed it with the latest AirPods Pro 3. Picture: Amazon Australia.

Then there are all the cases and MagSafe accessories available. Casetify has a massive range of cases, including the new Glaze cases which are shiny and still MagSafe compatible without being gaudy about it. And even though they add extra bulk, I will always sing the praises of QuadLock cases and mounts, because they are super protective (I have conducted so many accidental drop tests in QuadLock cases and still have never broken an iPhone screen), and securely mount to prams, bikes, cars, golf carts and just about anything else.

Back on official Apple accessories, they sell a bumper case for the iPhone Air, which strikes a nice balance between being protective while still showing off how thin the phone is. Plus there’s now a crossbody strap so you can wear your phone like a little handbag. What makes the Apple crossbody strap special is that there are invisible magnets in the strap, so the adjustment loop stays together, looking crisp and neat.