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iPhone Air

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Re: iPhone Air

#861
post #851

I'm going to add +1 to the crowd that thinks that almost no one ever said "Nice, but I wish it was thinner". Who would that be really? Surely apple made their market research before spending the R&D money creating this product. So presumably there is a market segment for it. But who is it? The standard 17 and Pro seems very much the great product they always are. Incremental refinement. Don't like it? Get one 1-2 gen…

When you need to stack 2 phones together because you're oncall, because you're a streamer, etc.

With a single case fitting two iPhone Airs back to back and rotated, like a long stick? :)

Re: iPhone Air

#862

I'm going to add +1 to the crowd that thinks that almost no one ever said "Nice, but I wish it was thinner". Who would that be really? Surely apple made their market research before spending the R&D money creating this product. So presumably there is a market segment for it. But who is it? The standard 17 and Pro seems very much the great product they always are. Incremental refinement. Don't like it? Get one 1-2 gen…

This is total speculation on my uninformed part, but to me, the Air seems like the result of their research into foldables. The way hardware is laid out in that upper area is very reminiscent of the Flip category from other manufacturers with their a-symmetric halfs and considering Apple is a very efficiency focused company these days, letting that effort linger till display tech catches up to whatever Apple is waiting for, would feel like a waste perhaps.

Also, as long as we retain an actual Pro version that is willing to be a bit chunkier, I don't see any issue in having an Air line for casual users, maybe that will be the way mainstream devices go with future efficiency gains, similar to the MacBook Air now being "good enough" for most people. Silicon-carbon batteries will likely enable some of that pretty soon, suspect that like with GaN, the supply chain cannot handle Apple level demands yet. Remember, the original three MacBook Airs were beyond compromised too.

Just don't fall into the trap of making the Pro thinner, akin to the 2016 MacBook Pro disaster. Keep the iPhone Pros like the current MacBook Pros chunky for those who actually use these devices and we are golden in my book.

Re: iPhone Air

#863

I'm going to add +1 to the crowd that thinks that almost no one ever said "Nice, but I wish it was thinner". Who would that be really? Surely apple made their market research before spending the R&D money creating this product. So presumably there is a market segment for it. But who is it? The standard 17 and Pro seems very much the great product they always are. Incremental refinement. Don't like it? Get one 1-2 gen…

People who have no concept of material resistance who will come crying when their phone folds very easily with accidental day to day mishaps

Re: iPhone Air

#864
It's not about the thickness — this is surely Apple just flexing some of the engineering work that has gone into building a future foldable phone (which inevitably requires thinner hardware to fit two screens in the thickness of one).

So don't take this at face value, it's just a prelude to a foldable phone next year.

Re: iPhone Air

#865
post #852

I'm going to add +1 to the crowd that thinks that almost no one ever said "Nice, but I wish it was thinner". Who would that be really? Surely apple made their market research before spending the R&D money creating this product. So presumably there is a market segment for it. But who is it? The standard 17 and Pro seems very much the great product they always are. Incremental refinement. Don't like it? Get one 1-2 gen…

Agree. I don’t understand the teen of making the phones thinner but larger. I guess I’m part of the small demographics that love the mini, hope my mini 12 have a couple or more years of live in it.

There're dozens of us! Dozens!

I'll stick to my almost-4-years-old 13 mini as long as I can. Probably will change battery before original batteries are too hard to get hold of

Re: iPhone Air

#866

I'm going to add +1 to the crowd that thinks that almost no one ever said "Nice, but I wish it was thinner". Who would that be really? Surely apple made their market research before spending the R&D money creating this product. So presumably there is a market segment for it. But who is it? The standard 17 and Pro seems very much the great product they always are. Incremental refinement. Don't like it? Get one 1-2 gen…

The issue with size I have with phones is that they are too high, so I cannot have it in my jeans front pocket and then sit down. Thinness has not been an issue in the last 10-15 years. A thin phone is also very hard to hold, it kind of flips in your hand.

The format the Samsung flips use I feel like solves your issue.

Re: iPhone Air

#867
post #187

Can someone that is actually interested in this explain the appeal? Thin on its own I get but thin with a giant bump 100% defeats the whole point for me. Seems clear at this point there is little hope of them engineering their way into thin cameras.

Because China. Ben Thompson (Stratechery) has been documenting for almost a decade that the biggest driver of new phone sales in China is a new form factor. I’m sure that might be the same in other markets where an iPhone is a status symbol. It’s definitely not one in the US where 60% of phone buyers have iPhones.

> I’m sure that might be the same in other markets where an iPhone is a status symbol. It’s definitely not one in the US where 60% of phone buyers have iPhones.

It can still be a status symbol to have the newest phone. That’s imo the only reason for changing camera alignments between generations. So people (who know & care) can see that you have the newest model.

Re: iPhone Air

#868

I have an iPhone 13 mini, just replaced the battery. If you want my money, give me an iPhone 17 mini with small width and height, I don't care about it being thinner like the Air. Also, no AI ruining the image quality of the expensive camera. I saw examples of a consumer-grade digital camera vs an iPhone 16 and the latter introduced "hotdog skin" effect and other effects that made the photos look over-processed.

I love my iPhone 12 mini, the screen has great pixel density better than the 16 or 17 even. It is compact and light, easy to put in and out of the pocket. The battery is not great and the peak luminosity could be better, but it still runs so well in 2025. I've been contemplating buying a new one since the back glass is shattered and the front is scratched, the battery is also getting worse. I don't think it's viable now to get it fixed.

So I might reluctantly grab one of the new ones.

Re: iPhone Air

#869

I'm going to add +1 to the crowd that thinks that almost no one ever said "Nice, but I wish it was thinner". Who would that be really? Surely apple made their market research before spending the R&D money creating this product. So presumably there is a market segment for it. But who is it? The standard 17 and Pro seems very much the great product they always are. Incremental refinement. Don't like it? Get one 1-2 gen…

I have 14 Max, and it is so heavy. I don’t mind the thickness, but the weight is very annoying.

So while I didn’t say “I wish my phone was thinner”, I did say many times “this should weigh about half of what it actually weighs”.

Re: iPhone Air

#870

It's not about the thickness — this is surely Apple just flexing some of the engineering work that has gone into building a future foldable phone (which inevitably requires thinner hardware to fit two screens in the thickness of one). So don't take this at face value, it's just a prelude to a foldable phone next year.

> prelude to a foldable phone next year

Or perhaps a prelude to small, triangle-shaped phone that users stick on a shirt or lapel, and tap to activate.

https://startrekshop.ca/products/star-trek-the-next-generati...

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