I want to love Apple’s new iPhone Air, but the iPhone 17 is a better deal

My husband is a gadget fanatic. He’s already on his second folding smartphone — a Galaxy Z Flip7 — after having a Motorola Razr when it first got here out. I’m extra of a “persuade me” sort of gadget lover. If I see a purpose to get excited, I’m in. In any other case, I’ll stick to what I’ve bought till I’ve a purpose to improve. I nonetheless bear in mind when Apple got here out with Contact ID to finish password fatigue. I purchased one instantly.

I’ve been within the Apple ecosystem for greater than a decade as a result of my work pc is a Mac and having my cellphone and Watch all work collectively is each sensible and useful. Sure, that’s the definition of the Apple moat. However I wouldn’t take into account myself a fangirl. For the file, my private pc — that means the one I purchased myself for non-job-related makes use of — is an HP Spectre on Home windows. And I like it.

So, I’m nonetheless utilizing an iPhone 13. As a lot as I like how hubby’s cellphone matches so properly in a pocket, I choose practicality over novelty. However my cellphone’s battery and touchscreen are getting old, and it doesn’t have a chip highly effective sufficient to run the promised Apple Intelligence AI future. So it’s time for an improve.

Right this moment, I used to be inside a heartbeat of getting ready to preorder the new iPhone Air. It seemed like the very best of all worlds to me: greater display but sufficiently small to slot in my small hand, finest chip, and solely $200 greater than a 17, however still cheaper than a Pro. I’ve by no means been a Professional person. I don’t movie Hollywood-esq motion pictures, don’t have any social media-creator hobbies, so I’ve at all times opted for the higher value.

However as I dive into the specs, the iPhone 17 looks like a better deal.

Within the Air’s favor, it has a 6.5-inch display, in comparison with the 17’s 6.3-inch, but is lighter to carry. It additionally has the A19 Professional chip, quite than A19 chip. However oddly, this isn’t the identical Professional chip that’s within the Professional cellphone. It has a 6-core CPU with a 5-core GPU. That’s just like the A19 within the 17. (The Professional mannequin has a 6-core CPU and 6-core GPU.)

The 17 beats the Air on battery life, too, promising 30 hours of video playtime versus the Air’s 27 hours, in keeping with Apple. And whereas one other $99 will purchase a battery pack for the Air, bringing battery life as much as 40 hours, that pack defeats the aim of a lighter, thinner cellphone.

The Air is utilizing a brand new and fascinating computational pictures digicam, that means digicam options powered by software program. This permits a single lens to behave like a number of lenses — together with a pleasant new function that enables simultaneous entrance and rear digicam pictures. That’s good for filming reactions to the world and can be enjoyable to personal! However the Air lacks the 48-megapixel Fusion Extremely Broad lens the 17 has. 

The Air’s storage options are far better — as much as 1TB — however for a value. The 1T possibility prices $1,400, which makes it solely $100 lower than a 1T storage on a Professional at $1,500.

All in all, as a lot as I wish to love the larger-screen, lighter Air, if I had been to deal with myself and get a higher-end cellphone, I’d simply go forward and purchase a Professional. 

If the Air turns into Apple’s folding phone, as some suspect, I’ll ditch my 17 for a surprising folding iPhone at that time. Till then, for normal Joe customers like me, the 17 nonetheless looks as if a greater deal.