Air Apparent: The iPhone Air offers a taste of the future, today

It’s pretty amazing how even shaving off a few grams and slimming down the side profile can have a dramatic effect on how a phone feels in the hand. Yet so it is with the iPhone Air, the first major shakeup in iPhone design since the all-screen iPhone X, a phone so different from every other iPhone that it’s the first flagship after the 2007 original to not have a number attached to it. 

How the iPhone Air became the next top pick

Over the past week of using the Air out and about in public, I’ve had people come up and ask to hold the device and loudly wonder “where’s the rest of the phone?” At just 5.6 millimeters thick and 165 grams for a 6.5-inch phone – for reference, the iPhone 17 Pro with its smaller 6.3-inch screen is 8.75mm thick and weighs 204 grams – the difference is palpable. And with its rounded corner and polished titanium edges, it comes closest to what I’d describe as holding a futuristic screen in your hand, with the “phone elements” disappearing away from view – you really have to hold this in your hand to appreciate the craftsmanship and how good it feels in the hand. Pictures just don’t do it justice. 

Its sleek dimensions raised eyebrows about durability and strength, and while I haven’t subjected the Air to the ‘meant-for-views’ bend tests, the titanium frame held up pretty well in when I dropped the phone onto the tiled flooring (for science!), as has the Ceramic Shield 2 panel that offers better scratch resistance. All this re-engineering doesn’t come at the cost of IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, and the slim frame makes space for the customizable Action button and the Camera Control key while forgoing a physical SIM slot – the Air is eSIM only.

As for the display itself, it joins the rest of the 17 lineup with 3000 hits of peak brightness, 1-120Hz ProMotion support and an anti-reflective coating that does well to cut down glare under direct lighting. The screen-only phone effect is rather pronounced when you’re watching content on the Air, and if anything is let down only by the exclusion of a second stereo speaker – the mono speaker, while packing punch and volume, is left a little hamstrung with the single channel audio. 

In the story of superlatives thus far, the manner in which Apple has kitted out the Air with the more powerful A19 Pro chip, the custom C1X modem and N1 wireless chip for Wi-Fi7/Bluetooth 6 all within the camera plateau on the rear deserves mention, and it plays a big role in another key factor: battery life. With the Pro chip, the Air is never left wanting for speed or grunt, even if you’re running the new glassy iOS26 interface or if push it with demanding games or AI-intensive tasks, though I’d recommend you opt for the bulkier Pro/Pro Max if you’re looking for pure sustained performance. 

Now, packing the phone internals into the top fifth of the device means Apple’s been able to pack in a slim battery across the rest of the device, and in my experience, I managed about a day’s worth (between 11-12 hours) of use. Snapping on the new iPhone Air MagSafe battery, a slim battery pack that adds about 5-6 hours of use, feels like a middle-ground solution – carry a slim phone for most of the day, and juice it up when needed for longer days. 

That leaves us with the last and possibly most controversial decision – the single 48MP Fusion camera setup – and really, it may not be enough for you. While the single shooter takes great shots and portraits, and you do get the new Center Stage selfie camera that takes portrait and landscape selfies without changing your grip, excluding the ultrawide means you will have to take a few steps back for that group shot, and miss out on macro photography altogether. Having had the almost-as-thin Samsung S25 Edge pass through these pages earlier this year, that was a compromise the competition somehow was able to overcome.

In the end, the Air may ask some tradeoffs of those who decide to buy it, but it rewards you each time you pick it up. One week down, I still smile at just how much I’m enjoying using the Air – it nails style while keeping things light, perfect for fashionistas and light-packers alike.

Rating: 8/10

Price: ₹1,19,900 onwards 

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