I’ve secretly tested Apple’s thinnest iPhone & even watched terrifying bend test

IT’S hard to be creative with modern smartphone design. There’s only so much you can do with a rectangle.

Yet somehow Apple has managed it with the ludicrously thin iPhone Air, a first for Apple. I’ve been using Apple’s “thinnest-ever” mobile in secret over the past week. And yes, it really is very impressive.

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I know what you’re thinking. Creative? It’s thinner – so what? How hard can it be?

Well, very hard, it turns out.

Usually when you make a phone very thin, you have to make compromises.

Often it means a rubbish camera, a tiny battery, a low-quality screen, or a mix of the three.

iPhone Air, £999

And then you end up with poor processor performance because everything is so crammed in that the chip can’t stay cool.

IPHONE AIR DESIGN

Apple has, miraculously, delivered what a competent phone that will satisfy most people on camera, battery life, screen – and performance to boot.

The Californian tech giant has had to re-architect its iPhone innards to cram the bulk of the components into the camera plateau. Inside is the camera (obviously) plus the speaker and Apple’s chip.

That means the rest of the phone’s physical real estate can be given over to screen and, well, battery.

And it’s doing all of that while keeping the iPhone as thermally competent as possible.

This is also the first iPhone with no SIM card slot in any region.

No matter where you live, there is no option to have a physical SIM.

It’s eSIM only, which is another way Apple has saved space.

If that sounds scary, don’t stress. eSIMs are very easy to set up, easier to swap than a regular SIM, you can’t drop them down a sofa crack, and they make travelling a breeze (no more kiosks – just get a temporary eSIM from a virtual provider).

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All of this adds up to a monumentally thin mobile.

And this slick new design pays off.

For a start, it looks fabulous. You’ll be able to show this one off.

It’s also very pocketable given that Apple has fitted it with a pretty large 6.5-inch display.

On top of that, the slim design really keeps the weight down.

I love the iPhone 17 Pro Max and it’s my pick of mobiles for the year, but it’s significantly heavier at 223g.

The iPhone Air is relatively feathery at just 165 grams, to compare.

IPHONE AIR BATTERY LIFE – IS IT GOOD ENOUGH?

Battery life is classed as “all-day”. That’s a bit vague, though I suppose it’s arguably more tangible than the official measurement of: 27 hours of video playback.

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I didn’t sit for 27 hours watching videos. No one would, except as part of a very committed phone test.

But it serves as a good demonstration that the phone is capable of lasting a while.

I’ve only had a few days with it, so it’s hard to say exactly how it fares in normal use. I’ve been using it as the phone is still getting set up, indexing everything, and installing apps.

But even so, I haven’t found the battery life bad at all. I think unless you’re an extreme power user, you’ll get through a day without needing a recharge.

After all, 27 hours is the same battery life as last year’s iPhone 16 Plus, which is also fine.

And if you do find those 27 hours insufficient but you still want the iPhone Air, there is a solution.

Apple is flogging a special super-skinny MagSafe battery pack that magnetically attaches to the back of the iPhone Air.

It’s designed to fit only the iPhone Air (so it won’t fit beneath the camera bump of the iPhone 17 Pro, for instance).

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And while it does add a little thickness and weight, the iPhone Air still manages to feel fairly pocketable with the battery pack attached.

More importantly, it drags the battery life right up to a generous 40 hours.

Of course it is a paid extra. You’ll have to pay £99/$99 for the accessory.

That’s on top of the £999/$999 you’ll pay for the iPhone Air itself.

IPHONE AIR TOUGHNESS – WILL IT BEND?

The other worry people will undoubtedly have is that it will bend – or worse, break.

I haven’t tried to bend it. It just doesn’t feel like the right thing to do.

But I did get a chance to see Apple’s iPhone-bending testing rig – with an iPhone Air locked into it – last week at the company HQ in California.

It gave me a lot of confidence that this thing won’t break.

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Apple has also bundled in tough Ceramic Shield 2 front cover to prevent breakages or scratches – and there’s Ceramic Shield on the back too. It’s even on the camera plateau.

And the whole phone is built from titanium, which hardly needs an introduction as a tough material.

In fact, Apple isn’t just saying it won’t break easily. The company is saying the iPhone Air is more durable than “any previous iPhone”. It’s a big claim, and might give you some confidence.

There are some bonus perks too.

The iPhone Air features the two “bonus” buttons that only started appearing on newer models.

One is the Action Button, which you can assign to basically anything. Silence your phone, load up the torch, translate a foreign language, send a text to your dog…you get the picture.

The other is Camera Control (on the right-hand side), which is a quick way to launch the camera. It also launches Visual Intelligence, which uses AI to scan what you’re looking at. So if you want to know more about a famous statue, it’ll sort you right out.

They’re impressive inclusions given how slim the device is.

iPhone Air monthly contract deals

IPHONE AIR PERFORMANCE & FEATURES

There are some other bits worth going over.

For a start, you’ve got what looks like a single camera on the back.

Well, it sort of does and sort of doesn’t.

You’ve got a 48-megapixel camera that serves several different functions.

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For a start, the main lens can shoot at 28mm and 35mm focal lengths, which are popular and effective.

But because a 48-megapixel image is frankly massive, Apple can also take the middle section of an image to get you an effective 2x Telephoto zoom.

It can also record in 4K resolution at 60 frames per second (even in Dolby Vision format).

And it also offers Action Mode, which is that cool feature that gives you genuinely mind-blowing stabilisation. Go for a run with a pal and try filming them as you both jog. It’s very impressive.

The phone takes very respectable snaps, and video looks great too.

It’s a phenomenal result given the size constraints of the photo, and the fact that there is only a single camera unit.

Inside is Apple’s top-end A19 Pro chip. That’s the same processor packed into this year’s iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max. It’s as good as it gets on iPhone.

The iPhone Air will be totally fine for basically every use a regular user would have.

Even if you’re doing video-editing or gaming, you’ll still have a good time.

It’s also worth mentioning that the 6.5-inch screen is actually a Super Retina XDR display with excellent detail and colour accuracy.

Not only that, it’s a ProMotion panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. That’s the number of times the image on the screen can be updated every second. The result is high-frame-rate gaming, plus smooth animations and scrolling.

It’s also got 3,000 nits peak outdoor brightness – the same as the iPhone 17 Pro – so you can easily view what’s on screen even outside.

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This phone also runs on Apple’s new iOS 26 software.

You get a delightful new Liquid Glass look that’s glossy and translucent. I quite like it.

And there are some fun AI tricks. Hold Assist will use a robot voice to wait on call centre lines for you, and then alert you once a human picks up.

And Call Screening uses the robot voice to vet unknown callers, asking them about who they are and why they’re calling. You’ll see their responses typed out on your screen in real-time. Scammers begone.

Oh, and you get a glossy new look (plus support for widgets) on Apple CarPlay too, because that runs off of your iPhone.

IPHONE AIR – SHOULD I BUY IT?

This is a very cool phone.

For a start, it marks a new chapter for Apple. So that makes it historic at the very least.

As well as being thin, it also drops the numbering from the name. That could be a sign of things to come.

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And there’s a chance that this thin casing is being used a test for the rumoured foldable iPhone we’re expecting in either 2026 or 2027. Stay tuned.

Apple has made a very good phone that feels better than its limited thickness should allow.

It’s capable, eye-catching, and can be carried in a purse like a feather on Ozempic.

Is it as powerful as the iPhone 17 Pro Max? No.

Is it as cheap as the regular iPhone 17? No.

But it shouldn’t be. It’s a different category, and comes priced in between both.

This doesn’t have the best camera or battery life on any iPhone.

But it is very practical.

It’s easy to hold for long periods of time. It slides into a pocket with ease. It looks nice. It takes good pictures. It gets you through a day. And it has a very pretty screen.

And of course, it looks very cool.

We can’t pretend that that doesn’t matter. This is a device you spend your entire waking life with. It’s as much a fashion accessory as it is a computer.

You don’t want it to look naff. And the iPhone Air certainly doesn’t look naff.

This isn’t the iPhone for me. I’m an iPhone 17 Pro guy. I capture a lot of video, so I need the absolute best camera.

But there will be plenty of people out there for whom that doesn’t matter. The iPhone Air camera is plenty good.

And it’s certainly a lot lighter than my weighty 17 Pro Max.

The Sun says: A classy, brilliant and very slim iPhone that delivers the great Apple experience you expect. 5/5

iPhone Air, £999

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All prices in this article were correct at the time of writing, but may have since changed.

Always do your own research before making any purchase.