It’s me, I’m the audience for the iPhone Air

When Apple announced the iPhone Air, most people saw compromises. Thinner means less battery. A single camera instead of the multi-camera Pro kit we’re all used to. A phone that, without a doubt, looks more like a fashion statement than a power user’s dream. But when I saw it, I saw something I don’t usually feel with new phones anymore. A minimalist phone that serves my essential needs and nothing more. As a millennial with Gen Z tendencies, it’s pretty clear that I’m the audience for this phone.

Every September, iPhones get bigger, heavier, and more stuffed with specs. It’s the progression of tech, and by and large, people value a phone by its hardware-to-dollar quotient. But with the iPhone Air, Apple has gone in the opposite direction. The phone is built impossibly slim, almost delicate, like a product designed as much as the set piece of a fashion-forward futuristic movie as for the Apple Store. It reminds me of the first-generation iPod nano. I scoffed at it when it launched. Then got my hands on it. It quickly became my favorite EDC kit. And that’s exactly why I didn’t scoff at the iPhone Air. Hindsight is 20/20.

At 5.6 millimeters and 165 grams, the iPhone Air feels less like a slab of tech and more like a piece of jewelry. Say what you will, Apple knows how to make a good-looking, and more importantly, great-feeling phone. I might stick to my Pixels and Vivos, but it’s the iPhone that feels truly premium. Pick it up and you don’t think of processor specs or megapixels. If it’s anything like the other ultra-light phones I’ve tried, it should feel like I’m carrying nothing at all. It’s an unpopular opinion, but for me that’s worth more than another 10% of battery or another camera lens. I’m tired of phones that weigh down my pockets and my bag. Even my compact Pixel 10 Pro feels too chunky in that sense. The Air is a reminder that a phone doesn’t have to be a brick to be powerful. Sometimes elegance is the feature.

Of course, thinness means trade-offs. Less room for battery, less space for thermal management tricks like vapour chambers. But, for me, that’s not a major concern. For one, I’m already used to dicey thermals with the Pixels. And, I’m not much of a smartphone gamer to stress the phone anyway. Moreover, Apple says the Air can manage 27 hours of video playback, which translates into a solid day of use. In fact, that’s exactly the same as what the company claims to achieve with the iPhone 16 Pro, and I haven’t had any battery woes with that phone. If you’re traveling a lot for work, you can stretch that battery even further with the optional MagSafe battery pack. But for me, it’s not a worry. I work from home or cafes where I’m always within reach of a charger. Even without one, my phones usually last two days because I don’t burn through them with endless streaming or gaming.

Now, here’s the thing. While everything above might sound like I’m justifying Apple’s moves, I have a legitimate reason why a phone like the iPhone Air suits mine, and I suspect, many other lifestyles. The modern phone is pitched as your all-in-one device. Music player, camera, console, TV, laptop replacement. But that’s just not how I use my phones. I don’t use my phone for music at all. I’ve gone back to carrying a digital audio player, or an iPod, because I don’t want my playlists interrupted by notifications. That means my phone isn’t stuck running Spotify in the background all day, it isn’t constantly connected to Bluetooth headphones, and it isn’t burning through battery for no reason. It’s just one of the many things I’m doing to combat notification overload.

And when it comes to photos, my phone is a backup camera, not my primary one. I always have my Sony mirrorless or a point-and-shoot with me, sometimes even a film camera. Photography is one of my passions and it is one of the few things I want to slow down for. My phone is just there for quick snaps, throwaway moments, stuff that doesn’t need me to drag out my camera. For that role, a single 48 megapixel main lens is enough. While I certainly wouldn’t say no to a more versatile setup, I can make do with a single camera.

This is where the iPhone Air makes sense for people like me. It doesn’t try to be my entire creative studio or entertainment center. It’s just a phone to take calls on, respond to texts, and doom scroll Reddit. Slim, light, and good enough where it counts.

Alright, I hear the argument coming: It’s poor value. And I wholeheartedly agree, the iPhone Air is expensive for what you get. For a little more money, you could buy an iPhone 17 Pro with a bigger battery, more cameras, and more performance headroom. For less, you can get the iPhone 17 with better hardware. Or you could buy one of the best Android flagships that’ll give you all the specs you care about.

On paper, that’s true. If your metric is hardware per dollar, the Air looks like a bad deal. But not all value lives on paper. Sometimes value is about design. About how a product feels to carry every day. About whether it vanishes in your pocket instead of reminding you it’s there. That doesn’t show up neatly in a spec comparison, but in how you live with the device.

In that sense, the iPhone Air isn’t less value, it’s different value. It’s not the most rational purchase, but it’s not trying to be. It’s closer to a fashion accessory than a utility tool. As someone who spends more money than I should on designer accoutrements and clothing, I know that practicality isn’t what I’m looking for here. Nobody buys a high-end watch or a designer bag because they’re the best dollar-for-function deal. They buy them because they fit a lifestyle. The Air leans into that space, unapologetically.

I know this phone isn’t for everyone, and Apple knows it, too. If your phone is your only camera, you’ll find the Air limiting. If you want a two-day battery for gaming and video editing, there’s already the Pro Max. The iPhone Air is not meant to be universal — at least not right now. The MacBook Air, when it launched, was a pretty niche laptop. With the progress of technology and time, it became mainstream. I suspect a similar trajectory for the iPhone Air.

I’m pretty jaded after spending almost 16 years talking about tech and phones. Phones are a utility, and bigger, heavier, and bulkier phones aren’t all that exciting, even though I appreciate the improvements they bring. But when it comes to my personal use, they’ve got more cameras I won’t use, more features I won’t touch, and more performance than I need to scroll Instagram and Reddit. The Air went the other way. It cut down things and simplified. Just like the Samsung Galaxy Edge, it’s a phone trying to focus on rethinking what a phone is supposed to be in your life.

The iPhone Air won’t outsell the Pro or the regular iPhone, and it won’t win spec-sheet wars. But just like the iPhone Mini, I’m glad that it exists. Not every product needs to win over everyone. Sometimes it’s enough to make something for a niche, even if that niche is small.