Maybe I’m just out of touch, but I don’t understand who this is for, and I think it’s going to flop.
First of all…who is asking for thinner phones?
Secondly, the price. This is not an Air SE. This thing is only $100 less than a full-fat iPhone Pro, and $200 more than iPhone base (which is a particularly good value this year).
And what do you get for that price?
- 2 fewer lenses than the pro, and 1 fewer than the base
- Titanium frame, I guess?
- Less powerful processor than the base
- Inherently more fragile frame
- Less battery life than even the base model (this was often cited as the shortcoming of the iphone Mini)
- Slower charging speed than both models
- no cinematic video mode
Are people really clamoring for thinner phones so badly that they’ll spend more money for less features?
https://www.apple.com/iphone/compare/?modelList=iphone-17-pro%2Ciphone-air%2Ciphone-17
Edit: 1 week later and the Air underperforms the base model as well (as expected)
Also someone pointed out below that the 16e is only 2 grams heavier and is $400 cheaper.
I’d bet when you benchmark them, the Air will run into thermal limitations such that it’s insignificant. I feel like if people cared at all about performance they would just spend the extra $100 for the Pro (among the other features).
Most People who buy that don’t want the cheaper chip
It is relevant that they have the chip called pro in it, even when they only use a fraction of its power.