In the review the author write:
> The iPhone Air is the perfect solution to this, its screen size sits right in the middle of the normal Pro and Pro Max sized phones
That's probably true for them, and a lot of other people, but I'd argue that it's WAY to large. The Air is larger in all dimensions, except it's 1,7mm thinner, it even weighs more than the SE. It's also larger than the iPhone 17, but lighter and thinner. I don't really get the need for the phone to be thinner, if you're just going to make it larger in all other directions.
To some extend I get the larger screen, because it's just because it's not made for me. I don't use my phone for much other than calls and a few apps, but for a ton of people it's their only computing device, so a slightly larger screen makes a difference. I just wish that Apple would also make a device for people who just needs their smartphone or the occasional parking app and mobile payments, but who doesn't care about the browser, video and to some extend the camera.
I do. I write iOS apps.
I just recently stopped using an original SE as my low-end test (because of the OS support). I now use a Mini 12 as my low-end test.
The new iPadOS lets you resize windows into weird shapes, like tall and narrow, or short and wide (or narrow). I think VisionOS is even more flexible.
Also, I want my apps to continue working, when you flip them into landscape. A lot of apps become worthless, in that state.
I understand the new foldable will likely have challenging dimensions.
The SE also have a small camera bump ~2mm, so 9.3mm max thickness, compared to the Air at 11.3mm. The Air suddenly becomes a chunky phone, especially if, like most, you put on a cover.
It isn't like I would be rushing to upgrade anyway but the refusal to cater is tiresome
All phones need to do phone-stuff that uses power, and (for any given generation of tech) battery capacity scales with volume.
If all else is the same, then: A thinner phone has less internal volume for things like the battery than a thicker phone does. Perhaps if it had the XY dimensions of an SE at this thickness, it would have bad battery life. (We all remember phones with bad battery life, yeah? It was an awful time.)
But if it's also made wider/taller ("bigger"), then: There's more volume for a battery.
And, of course: This increases the frontal area.
But because people make fun of bezels, this means that the screen should also increase in size accordingly.
And so we have it: The iPhone Air. It's both big and skinny, it does all the usual phone stuff without giant garish bezels, and the battery life is pretty OK (instead of terrible).
I had a Mini 13, and traded it for a 17Pro. I thought I’d be missing the form factor -and I do, but not much. The 17 definitely feels “clunkier,” especially with its Casekoo, but I now find that comforting. I’ve dropped it, several times, and it hasn’t a scratch.
I still miss it so much. Perfect size, and touch ID is so much better than faceID.
It's under appreciated because of the "Pro" label of the Pro, and because of battery-hell.
I'm a dyed in the wool Apple sheep, but when I saw this smallish Android phone with a BB style kb, I couldn't resist. Should be shipping next week: https://www.unihertz.com/products/titan-2-elite?srsltid=AfmB...
I would've paid twice the price if Apple made something like this.
I have the iPhone 15 now, and I use my old iPhone SE for music and podcasts around the house. So I handle both phones daily.
For comfort in my hand, the SE is the perfect size in an Otter case.
If Apple would integrate a lanyard mount, then I’d consider going naked. But never without one.
I think this is a situation where the enthusiasts care more about the telephoto (for intentional photographic compositions), but the mainstream user base uses the Ultrawide more (for inside shots, group photos, etc) - so Apple caters to the latter, to the dismay of the former.
(the clear wide > tele > ultrawide hierarchy of optical/sensor quality doesn't help either)
> Camera quality feels as good as ever, it’s apparently not as good a main sensor as the Pro iPhones but I can’t really tell. It still has that distinctly over-processed look plaguing modern smartphones
Same here - photography-minded users hate the over processed look, but the general population must like them, otherwise there's no way that manufacturers would persist doubling down on it year-after-year.
For a while now I've been working on a Bayer RAW only pro camera app (https://bayercam.app) specifically because I'm a photography nerd and care about full control, but I realize it's a pretty niche thing.
There's still some amount of denoising/sharpening/etc happening in the ISP, but essentially shooting Bayer RAW gets you the output of just the small first part of the pipeline, rather than the whole pipeline.
[0] Despite the confusingly similar names, Bayer RAW and Apple ProRAW are quite different - I wrote about it on this page because I frequently get emails from confused customers.
My advice to all iPhone users who want better battery life: either turn off background app refresh or be very selective in which apps can refresh.
Your battery life will improve but nothing in your experience will change.
That said, I'd prefer something smaller but thicker with no protrusions/camera bump at all. I hate the wonkiness of all modern iPhones when sat on a table. I think the last totally flat one was the iPhone 5s!
Hopefully Apple can improve the Air.
I would love for someone to design a great case with a built in e-reader on the back. Most of the existing ones seem geared for displaying colour photos; I'd like one built for reading, powered by NFC. It should easily sync up with the phone itself to send over articles, books, etc. Bonus if I can write on it.
Everything on the Air is something Apple wanted to test ahead of the foldable iPhone. The weird big battery, the single speaker, the mainboard under the bump, and all of the custom silicon they threw at it (from the modem to the WiFi chipsets).
Same reason the 16e existed, not to sell a cheap iPhone, but to test the C1 modem in production as a "finally ready to ship in beta" product they didn't slap the beta label on.
Huh.
I hate typing on my phone (iPhone 16e). It actually never occurred to me that maybe I'd have a better time with a larger screen. Although I don't remember ever feeling the disdain I have for typing back when I had an iPhone 3GS which had a much smaller screen than the one I have now.
The touch targets on the keyboard are sloppier, and autocorrect has become a lot more opinionated since those days. It may not be the hardware you are noticing
Makes one-handed swipe typing much easier, and feels a bit more accurate with swiping too.
When the 12/13 minis stop receiving updates I guess I’ll stop carrying a phone around. Which will actually be a good thing
Nothing (handheld) is as good as typing as my old blackberry curve though. Not even my psion5
I would love one of those again
"Not having a OLED display and GPS in a 40k Rolex is insanity".
It's kinda hard to see which use case that would defend that price. It is in the end a consumer device. If you have something like the Pro I can see the point in it being a work device for influencers, photographers and so on and that does help justify the price. Technologically it's amazing, that yes that does to some extend explain the price, but that's just one way of valuing a product. Another is the value you get out of it as a consumer, and at 8999DKK, I'm hard pressed to get how an average consumer would get that much value out of it.
>thinnest iphone ever
>slaps 0.2" thick xteink ereader on backSeriously, what do you find SO ironic about what they said?
This sarcastic, no-effort criticism on HN these days is seriously annoying.
This is just... not a life well-lived.