9 things the iPhone Air sacrificed to get that slim waistline

11 September 2025
It measures only 5.64mm thick - impressive! However, this thin build came at a steep cost and a lot of features had to be cut.

Sort by:

Apple is selling a battery pack case for the Iphone 17 Air...make that thin phone thick again (at your cost)

    Anonymous, 12 Sep 2025The 16e sold like hot cakes for one reason only: it was che... moreIf a 128 GB storage slab that compromises pretty much everywhere but is sold at 699€ is cheap, then people have gone mad and there is no saving them.

      Scarlett Johansson , 12 Sep 2025iPhone Air is not for people who need any of these things. ... moreSo to understand, a screen slab that looks pretty much like all phones from front and back, is a "beauty' because it's thin?
      Yet nobody talks about the elephant in the room, beeing that one eyed camera bumper that has a the same thinkness as the phone itself? So where the beauty in thar? i am curious... I guess today the design of the phone that is pretty much the same since iclone4 in apple haus (with small camera deviations) is not that important anymore, it's thikness, and well not even on all the phone, actually makes it "beautifull". I guess companies should start selling pens, thin ones too.

        Anonymous, 11 Sep 2025A thin phone, you need a thick bumper for. LOL. Eveyone uses a case, i am yet to see somebody using their phones without one, as i was once using the nokia 1020. The difference here is that the cases will need a back metal plate to keep the device from bending.

          DarlingYext, 11 Sep 2025So what's the use of the best SoC there is, if there i... moreFunny to read such comment from a guy that calles SD 8 elite SoC the best phone there is. I guess that the SoC only "phone" applies strict to chinese brands...

            Anonymous, 11 Sep 2025Again, your hatred has really blinded your reading comprehe... moreI mean, i do not like that guy either, but to call somebody android brokie, in a world where android devices are just better and some times more expensive then icrappy phone, you do not have to just be ignorant, you also have to be a ignorant snob that probably buys "guci" basar cloathing for 30 euros and walks the streets like he's the king while holding an second hand iphone 12. Get over yourself mate, nobody cares what phone you owe, or how many fake guci's you have on you. I can buy an iphlone every mounth, the difference is that i also owe a brain and that one helps me make better decisions then buying an extreamly overpriced unable to repair garbage 😉.

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • I@H
              • 13 Sep 2025

              Anonymous, 11 Sep 2025Your reading comprehension skills are blinded by your hatred.no he/she is just clarifying it... and it is not really about reading comprehension but the lack of clarity of your statement...
              "The only real deal breaker is the bottom firing loud speaker.. no way the front speaker will suffice."
              You should have said - the "lack" of bottom-firing loud speaker. Last part of your statement implies that there is something wrong on the first part of your statement.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • 39x
                • 12 Sep 2025

                Anonymous, 12 Sep 2025Any thoughts on why they chose not to? Profit margin reduction?There wasn't the financial incentive of 3 billion AirPods clones yet, so it's probably just laziness. It's possible the 0.3 inch larger screen on the Vivo also plays a factor but Oppo could have easily done the same thing.

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • 58Z
                  • 12 Sep 2025

                  It makes sense to cut down on so many aspects to achieve this thin frame, but I appreciate the spec comparison to clearly show just how many compromises were made.

                  I'm definitely not into getting a super thin phone as I just don't care enough, but value wise it's odd to see what is essentially a "look at me" model that only looks good but isn't functionally as good as the base iPhone or equal to the Pro. It's also worth noting that extreme thin figure doesn't mean extreme lightweight - the Air is only 12g lighter than the base iPhone.

                  I'm sure there are plenty of folks drooling over this looks over function model, the boring base iPhone 17 model got plenty of practical upgrades I'm happy with (and will be getting).

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • pY1
                    • 12 Sep 2025

                    Anonymous, 12 Sep 2025Believe it or not, Oppo's subsidiary Vivo had a 3.5mm ... moreAny thoughts on why they chose not to? Profit margin reduction?

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • AfM
                      • 12 Sep 2025

                      Cpt.Power, 12 Sep 2025Sorry but for a 2025 almost 2026 this phone its garbage and... moreCalling it garbage before it's launched really highlights your ignorance. Keep it up!

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • vaS
                        • 12 Sep 2025

                        Anonymous, 12 Sep 2025The 16e sold like hot cakes for one reason only: it was che... moreBut it's currently at no. 2 on daily interest in gsmarena. Apple fans will always be apple fans.

                          Sorry but for a 2025 almost 2026 this phone its garbage and its realm price should be not more than 300 euros in case of 1TB 400 euros.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • 39x
                            • 12 Sep 2025

                            5.64mm isn't even that thin, it's been surpassed by better featured phones before. Take for example the Vivo X5 Max (4.8mm) which even had a 3.5mm port and SD card slot because it came out at the tail end of 2014, or the Motorola Z (5.2mm) which unfortunately didn't have 3.5mm but does show that USB-C isn't the limiting factor in an ultra thin phone. None of those had to take out the physical SIM card slot to manage that.

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • 39x
                              • 12 Sep 2025

                              Scarlett Johansson , 12 Sep 2025iPhone Air is not for people who need any of these things. ... moreThe 16e sold like hot cakes for one reason only: it was cheap. That meant it got the corporate orders and contract sales.

                              None of that applies to this.

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • 39x
                                • 12 Sep 2025

                                Anonymous, 12 Sep 2025No it is not, Oppo R5 is among one of the earliest phone wi... moreBelieve it or not, Oppo's subsidiary Vivo had a 3.5mm port on the X5 Max despite that phone being even thinner: https://gsmarena.com/vivo_x5max-6865.php

                                The only reason Oppo (as well as almost everyone since the iPhone 7) didn't include it is because they wanted to, and more recently that's because not needing to replace dongles that don't last that long or wireless headphones that are still unreliable and almost universally impossible to repair is bad for business. Any other excuse is a flat out lie.

                                Apple's one of the biggest companies to ever exist, they could absolutely have used fledging battery technologies like Si/C (which already meet Apple's 1000 cycle lifespan target) to both increase the capacity and reduce the amount of space taken up to make it fit. They just chose not to.

                                  • y
                                  • yalim
                                  • iKx
                                  • 12 Sep 2025

                                  Slim devices have no meaning unless it is a foldable. Get a flip phone. They are still slim, they have better camera setup and can fold when you need.

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • Fv1
                                    • 12 Sep 2025

                                    Anonymous, 12 Sep 2025But they managed to sell an 8gb iphone 4 back in the day. T... more8GB in 2010 was not a bad thing. My mp3 player at the time was 128MB..

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • Fv1
                                      • 12 Sep 2025

                                      DarlingYext, 11 Sep 2025Defending a $1000+ phone with a mono speaker is truly wild.Again, your reading comprehension skills are very bad. I am not defending the single speaker, that was actually what I said the deal breaker was for me. Go back to school mate.

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • pY1
                                        • 12 Sep 2025

                                        DarlingYext, 11 Sep 20259 things? Not really, just 1 thing, and that's Everything.I have to say that made me chuckle, so thanks.

                                        It also seems odd that you buy a thin phone then have to stick a thick battery on it to extend usage. Ao it becomes pointless being thin in the first place.

                                          1 of 5