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iPhone Air

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Re: iPhone Air

#911

Post by ultramann »

jdprgm wrote: 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.

I currently have a 14 pro. I use a MagSafe wallet with it (holds three cards). This allows me a not crazy, but fairly uniform, thick single object I have to grab when I leave the…anywhere. While this might not work for everyone, it works great for me.

I’m potentially considering the air because wasted z-axis space the camera bump creates, I’d use with a MagSafe wallet again, so it wouldn’t be wasted for me. I like that the built in battery is likely sufficient for a day of my use, but can be easily extended with the MagSafe battery on days where I know I’ll be using more juice, e.g. when traveling. None of these things are unique to the air; instead the overall thickness which results from my usage is the differentiator, from which I think I might derive value.

Re: iPhone Air

#912

Post by eumenides1 »

nakamoto_damacy wrote: post #465

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 know that the iPhone Mini users are few but vocal. Instead of a yearly refresh of the mini, they should do a run every 5 years or so. Make a bunch, sell out of inventory by year 3, make a new one year 5 with updates matching the spec/price de jour.

It's like a LTR (Long term release) iPhone.

I know there are Apple Engineers lurking here, start the whisper campaign!

Re: iPhone Air

#913

Post by amai »

Nition wrote: post #249

It's more the other two dimensions that I want shrunk. Did anyone think their phone was too thick to fit in their pocket?

The reason why we have such big smartphones is that the ratio of screensize (2d area) to battery size (3d volume) is better for smart phones with a bigger screen.

Re: iPhone Air

#914

Post by bluSCALE4 »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #634
jdprgm wrote: 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.

It's a weird cyclical thing. Samsung galaxy s2 was a super small super thin phone, 15 years ago almost, which still had user replaceable battery, microsd, 3.5mm, gps, and everything most people would expect smartphone to have. We then spent a decade making phones 0.2" bigger each generation as if that's an advancement - I.e. As if we couldn't have made them big in the first place (all the while removing physical feat…

I agree to an extent. Most phones back then had no water protection. They also didn't last long so most people carried extra batteries which sucks. Honestly, I'd welcome the whole non replaceable battery if I could completely submerge my phone in water. Maybe when they get rid of the charging port.

Re: iPhone Air

#915

Post by amai »

superb-owl wrote: post #161

All I want is a 4-5 inch phone :( bring back the mini!

The reason why we have such big smartphones is that the ratio of screensize (2d area) to battery size (3d volume) is better for smart phones with a bigger screen.

Re: iPhone Air

#916

Post by ulfw »

paintbox wrote: post #841
AndrewSwift wrote: post #780

It's wild to see the HN crowd, bleeding-edge technologists, regularly bring up "lying flat on a table" as a critical feature for a supercomputer inside a camera that fits in your pocket. Somebody (many somebodies?) is rolling over in his grave.

"a supercomputer inside a camera that fits in your pocket" stopped being a novelty 15 years ago. We call it just "phone" now! "lying flat on a table" is a critical feature for a device that on a daily basis lays on the table. If it clanks and thuds every time you press it (and pressing it is the only way to use it) while lying on the table, then it is bad design that should be addressed.

I legit don't think I have even once used my phone lying on a table. Ergonomically that makes no sense. But then again I neither use my iPad nor Macbook lying flat on a table either, so what do I know...

Re: iPhone Air

#917

Post by ghostly_s »

alkonaut wrote: post #837

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…

Some people just want "the best" regardless of what it is. If you can improve a measurable spec on a luxury device, some people will covet it.

Re: iPhone Air

#918

Post by appel »

serial_dev wrote: post #869
alkonaut wrote: post #837

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”.

Pixel user here, but I feel the same way. The fact that my phones are getting heavier instead of lighter seems counterintuitive on its face.

Pixel 1 (143g)

Pixel 3 (148g)

Pixel 5 (151g)

Pixel 8 (187g)

Pixel 9 Pro (198g)

Of course the displays of these models get bigger which presumably contributes to the weight increase. But still, you'd think parts get lighter over time, not heavier.

Re: iPhone Air

#919

Post by mvkel »

jdprgm wrote: 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.

It exists because it is likely the first volley in a push to a foldable phone. It's the same thickness as one half of the foldable phones on the market.

I am personally interested because I have found iPhones to be offensively bulky for... 10+ years, and this has the potential to feel differently.

Re: iPhone Air

#920

Post by cultofmetatron »

Por the love of god. I'm already scared of dropping my current phone because its so small in my hand unless I put a beefy case on it. Just leave it thick and use the innovations to put a bigger battery in there. I don't give a shit about saving 2mm but and extra 10 hours of battery life would def perk my ears.
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