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.
once you get a big screen, you don’t go back, bean
Only because they don’t sell phones with smaller screens. If there was a good smaller phone available, I’d go for it right away.
Only because that’s all you can buy now.
I felt the same preference for large TVs, for which smaller options are def still available. you first think it’s big and then think it should be bigger. and the normal iphone fits in my pocket with lots room to spare
You don’t hold TVs in your hand though…
point is people who prefer small screens are unfortunately a vocal minority. the iphone minis were discontinued for low sales
See Samsung Flip 7 sales. Apple is inventing this next year.
I went from a motorola moto g3 (5” screen, 72.4mm phone width) to a samsung galaxy s9+ (6.2” screen, 73.8mm phone width) to an iphone 13 mini (5.4” screen, 64.2mm phone width).
I once held in my hand an iphone 4s, and I think that is the perfect physical size for my hands (58.6mm phone width).
Yes the (relatively) small screen on the iphone mini can sometimes be a bit of an hindrance, and yet I would buy an iphone 4s-sized phone in a heartbeat.
I got a big screen and I went back. I’d go back further if I could.
I actually did go back to a regular iPhone Pro after using the Pro Max for a while, and feel like I could go even smaller. I have a tablet for when the situation calls for it, and I like my phone to be more compact/easy to hold.