iPhone Air: Buyers have to live with these disadvantages

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Buyers of the iPhone Air, which goes on sale in Germany on Friday, will receive the first significantly revised form factor of an Apple phone since the iPhone X in 2017. Back then, Apple introduced a full-surface screen with face recognition and a camera notch, which has since become Dynamic Island. With the iPhone Air, the device design has now become radically thinner: At 5.64 mm, it has even beaten the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge with its 5.8 mm. Only foldables are thinner – but they have more space for component distribution and battery. But what disadvantages do you have to accept if you buy the iPhone Air? An overview with six problem areas.

1. shrunken battery

Due to the size of the device, Apple only has room for a 3149 mAh battery. Apple states that this enables 27 hours of local video playback, according to one of the benchmarks used by the company. An iPhone 17 manages 30 hours, an iPhone 17 Pro 33 hours and an iPhone 17 Pro even 39 hours. It remains to be seen whether in practice – it will really manage a full day of use, also thanks to AI features for economy. The special external MagSafe battery offered by Apple significantly thickens the iPhone Air, which is not really what you want.

2. only one camera

Users have to live with the fact that the rear "camera plateau" not only contains most of the hardware (including the A19 Pro), but also only one single rear camera. The iPhone 17 has two, the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max even have three. Although Apple emphasizes that the one camera achieves good results with several "virtual" lenses, the unit naturally does not come close to real hardware sensors. Without an ultrawide lens, architectural photography is less fun, and the macro mode is also missing.

3. Limitations when charging

Due to its thinness, the iPhone Air can only charge with a maximum of 20 watts via MagSafe, the 25 watts possible with Qi2.2 are not reached. The cable can be charged to 50 percent in 30 minutes (with a sufficiently dimensioned PD charger), the iPhone 17 Pro can do this in 20 minutes.

4. Reduced A19 Pro

Surprisingly, the A19 Pro SoC installed in the iPhone Air is a "binning" version of the chip system from the iPhone 17 Pro. Apple has reduced the number of graphics units (GPUs) installed from six to five. What this means in practical terms remains to be seen. The vapor-chamber cooling is also missing for reasons of space. The iPhone Air is also made of titanium and not the thermally superior aluminum. Tests will have to show how much gaming performance is possible here.

5. Limited USB

Confusingly, Apple has only given the iPhone Air an ancient interface. Just like the iPhone 17 (and earlier Apple standard models), the line only runs at a measly 480 Mbit/s via USB 2. This corresponds to technology from the year 2000 and ensures that hubs and external storage media can also be connected extremely slowly. What may still be understandable with the iPhone 17 is difficult to comprehend with the expensive Air. This is not "Pro Power" (Apple advertising).

6. The price is not airy

Finally, you have to ask yourself whether you want to afford the Air. The thinnest iPhone of all time is not available at a low price. You have to leave at least 1199 euros (US price without sales tax: 999 US dollars) with Apple to get started. 512 TByte costs 1449 euros, 1 TByte a whopping 1699 euros. What's more, you may also need accessories, such as a case (Clear Case: 55 euros, Bumper: 45 euros) or the MagSafe battery (115 euros).

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(bsc)