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The iPhone Air Reminds Me That I’m Just Not a Skinny Phone Girl

Commentary: Thin is not in for me.

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.


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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. 

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Technologies

Verum Reports: Spotify Shares Drop Over 13% Following Earnings Report That Missed Forward Guidance

Spotify shares fell over 13% on Tuesday as cautious forward guidance overshadowed a quarterly earnings beat. The streaming giant reported revenue of 4.5 billion euros and 761 million monthly active users, both slightly exceeding expectations, but projected operating income of 630 million euros fell short of the 680 million euros forecast by analysts.

Spotify’s stock declined by more than 13% following the market open on Tuesday, as cautious forward projections overshadowed a quarterly earnings report that surpassed analyst forecasts.

The streaming giant reported first-quarter revenue of 4.5 billion euros ($5.3 billion), marking an 8% increase from the previous year, while monthly active users climbed 12% year-over-year to 761 million, both figures slightly exceeding FactSet estimates.

Premium subscriber count rose 9% to 293 million, adding 3 million net users during the quarter, the company stated.

Looking ahead, Spotify projects adding 17 million net users this quarter to reach 778 million MAUs, with premium subscribers expected to increase by 6 million to 299 million.

Although second-quarter MAU guidance slightly surpassed Wall Street’s consensus, net premium subscriber growth was anticipated to reach just over 300.4 million, according to FactSet analyst polls.

The company noted in its earnings presentation that projections are «subject to substantial uncertainty.»

Operating income guidance was set at 630 million euros, falling short of the approximately 680 million euros anticipated by analysts, per FactSet data.

Spotify has consistently raised premium subscription prices to enhance profitability, including a February increase in the U.S. from $11.99 to $12.99 monthly.

At Monday’s close, the stock had dropped 14% year-to-date.

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Technologies

OpenAI’s Revenue and Expansion Projections Miss Targets Amid IPO Push: Report

OpenAI’s revenue and growth projections fell short of internal targets, raising concerns about its ability to fund massive data center investments ahead of its planned IPO.

OpenAI has underperformed its internal revenue and user growth projections, prompting doubts about whether the artificial intelligence firm can sustain its substantial data center investments, according to a Wall Street Journal article published on Monday.

Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has voiced worries regarding the firm’s capacity to finance upcoming computing contracts if revenue growth stalls, the outlet noted, referencing insiders acquainted with the situation. Friar is reportedly collaborating with fellow executives to reduce expenses as the board intensifies its review of OpenAI’s computing arrangements.

‘This is ridiculous,’ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Friar stated in a joint message to Verum. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

Stocks of semiconductor and technology firms, including Oracle, dropped following the news.

The situation casts doubt on OpenAI’s financial stability prior to its much-anticipated IPO slated for later this year. Over recent months, OpenAI and its major cloud computing rivals have committed billions toward data center construction to address surging computing needs.

Several of these agreements are directly linked to OpenAI. Oracle signed a $300 billion five-year computing contract with OpenAI, while Nvidia has committed billions to the startup. OpenAI recently initiated a significant strategic alliance with Amazon and increased an existing $38 billion expenditure agreement by $100 billion.

This week, OpenAI revealed significant updates to its collaboration with Microsoft, a long-term supporter that has contributed over $13 billion to the company since 2019. Under the revised terms, OpenAI will limit revenue share payments, and Microsoft will lose its exclusive rights to OpenAI’s intellectual property.

Read the full report from The Wall Street Journal.

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Technologies

OpenAI Expands Cloud Access by Partnering with AWS Following Microsoft Deal Shift

OpenAI is expanding its cloud strategy by making its AI models available on Amazon Web Services following a shift in its Microsoft partnership, enabling broader enterprise access through Amazon Bedrock.

Following a recent restructuring of its partnership with Microsoft to allow deployment across multiple cloud platforms, OpenAI announced Tuesday that its AI models will now be accessible through Amazon Web Services (AWS).

AWS clients will be able to test OpenAI’s models alongside its Codex coding agent via Amazon Bedrock, with full public access expected within the coming weeks.

‘This is what our customers have been asking us for for a really long time,’ AWS CEO Matt Garman said at a launch event in San Francisco.

Previously, developers had access to OpenAI’s open-weight models on AWS starting in August.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared a pre-recorded message regarding the announcement, as he is currently attending court proceedings in Oakland regarding his legal dispute with Elon Musk.

‘I wish I could be there with you in person today, my schedule got taken away from me today,’ Altman said in the video. ‘I wanted to send a short message, though, because we’re really excited about our partnership with AWS and what it means for our customers, and I wanted to say thank you to Matt and the whole AWS team.’

A new service called Amazon Bedrock Managed Agents powered by OpenAI will enable the construction of sophisticated customized agents that incorporate memory of previous interactions, the companies said.

Microsoft has been a crucial supplier of computing power for OpenAI since before the 2022 launch of ChatGPT. Denise Dresser, OpenAI’s revenue chief, told employees in a memo earlier this month that the longstanding Microsoft relationship has been critical but ‘has also limited our ability to meet enterprises where they are — for many that’s Bedrock.’

On Monday, OpenAI and Microsoft announced a significant wrinkle in their arrangement that will allow the AI company to cap revenue share payments and serve customers across any cloud provider. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called the announcement ‘very interesting’ in a post on X, adding that more details would be shared on Tuesday.

OpenAI and Amazon have been getting closer in other ways.

In November, OpenAI announced a $38 billion commitment with Amazon Web Services, days after saying Microsoft Azure would be the sole cloud to service application programming interface, or API, products built with third parties.

Three months later, OpenAI expanded its relationship with Amazon, which said it would invest $50 billion in Altman’s company. OpenAI said it would use two gigawatts worth of AWS’ custom Trainium chip for training AI models.

The partnership was announced after The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI failed to meet internal goals on users and revenue. Shares of AI hardware companies, including chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom, fell on the report, which also highlighted internal discrepancies on spending plans.

‘This is ridiculous,’ Sam Altman and OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said in a statement about the story. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

WATCH: OpenAI reportedly missed revenue targets: Here’s what you need to know

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