One of the biggest announcements of Apple’s «awe dropping» special event takes up the smallest amount of space. After months of rumors, the company unveiled the iPhone Air, touted as the slimmest iPhone to date. At 5.6mm thin, it is also one of the slimmest phones in the world, measuring less than the 5.8mm Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge. 

Despite its slender profile, the iPhone Air packs a punch. Its 6.5-inch display is slightly bigger than the 6.3-inch displays of the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro. It has a ProMotion display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a titanium design and Apple’s new high-end A19 Pro processor.

At $999, Apple is clearly positioning the iPhone Air as a stopgap between the $799 iPhone 17 and the $1,099 iPhone 17 Pro. Yet, despite its features, I’m not vibing the iPhone Air. Here’s why.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

One rear camera is just not enough

Apple made some hardware trade-offs with the iPhone Air to slim down the device. The iPhone Air only has one rear camera instead of two, which is less than the baseline iPhone and would match the $599 iPhone 16E. It’s not a bad camera by any means; it has a 48-megapixel Fusion camera system that enables 28mm and 35mm focal lengths, as well as 2x telephoto shots.

Despite Apple’s claim that this single camera can do the work of two, I remain unconvinced. 

Since 2017, I’ve had a dual-camera iPhone, and I don’t think I can go back to just a single lens now. I understand that the iPhone Air offers intelligent sensor cropping that mimics the look of a 2x zoom. 

But in everyday use, I think I would miss the ultrawide camera, especially when taking macro shots. I take a lot of photos of food (don’t judge me), and it’s just something I’ve grown accustomed to. I’m not sure if a single-camera iPhone would get me the same level of detail, and it’s a compromise I’d rather not make just for a thinner shape.

Battery life concerns

The other major concern I have with the iPhone Air is its battery life. A potential major downside of a skinnier phone is a slightly smaller battery. According to Apple, the iPhone Air features advanced Apple silicon that delivers «all-day battery life.» The company also says that the Adaptive Power feature in iOS 26 could help adjust the iPhone’s performance based on usage patterns, thus conserving battery life. 

Yet, none of that helps reduce my overall battery anxiety with a skinnier phone. I’m the kind of person who likes keeping my phone battery topped up as much as possible (even though I know that’s not always the best practice for battery longevity), and I would rather not carry around an extra power bank if it’s unnecessary. 

For me, a slightly chunkier phone is worth the peace of mind of additional battery life. If the iPhone Air’s battery life is about the same as the baseline iPhone, then I might change my tune, but for now, color me skeptical. 

The fact that Apple is already selling a slim MagSafe battery for $99 to accompany the iPhone Air is telling. That sort of kills the point of having a thin phone to begin with. 

I’m just not a skinny phone girl

I’m sorry, but 5.6mm is just too thin. A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of playing around with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, and even that was too slight for my tastes. Skinny handsets seem much too fragile to me, even if they’re supposedly quite durable. I always feel like I’m about to snap it in half. On top of that, that big camera bump at the top of the iPhone Air just looks kinda ugly in contrast to the rest of the slim profile. 

No matter how skinny a phone is, I tend to slap a case on it anyway, thus negating its slimness. I even add to my phone’s heft by attaching a PopSocket, which increases its thickness and provides me with an additional sense of security that the phone is not going to fly out of my hands. To be fair, I tend to carry my phone in a bag, not in a pants pocket, so I don’t feel the need for a thinner phone. Honestly, I’m not even sure if anyone even really asked for this. 

It all comes down to price

The iPhone Air is priced at $999, which is more expensive than the $799 iPhone 17 and cheaper than the $1,099 iPhone 17 Pro. Sure, the iPhone Air has a slightly bigger screen and a faster processor, but in almost every other respect, the base iPhone 17 is a better deal. It has two cameras versus one, a bigger battery and, again, is priced $200 less. It doesn’t make sense to me why I wouldn’t just get the basic model. 

Meanwhile, the iPhone 17 Pro is only $100 more but brings significant benefits, like a third camera and a much bigger battery. If you can afford it, the iPhone 17 Pro might actually be worth the higher price tag.

It does seem like the iPhone Air is Apple’s look into the future. It’s clearly setting the stage for a world where physical SIMs will be eliminated entirely, and it is potentially a harbinger of a folding iPhone. 

But that doesn’t mean I need to buy into it, at least, not now. 

Google’s New Pixel Studio Is Weirdly Obsessed With the iPhone

+43 More

See all photos