This year, Apple likely surprised the crowd with its iPhone Air because, despite its 5.6mm thickness, it comes packing with top-end hardware, a gorgeous design, and does not extensively compromise on features like other slim smartphones are forced to. At the same time, the technology’s iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are boasting new aesthetics, fresh paint jobs, and some of the best internals for a 2025 flagship series. Naturally, it was going to be a conundrum picking between these two device classes, and according to the latest report, Apple’s design team did this on purpose.
One Apple executive says that making it a struggle for customers to pick between an iPhone Air and an iPhone 17 Pro was something that the company has been dreaming about
Are you scratching your head, contemplating which iPhone to pre-order this Friday? Do not worry, because Apple wanted to confuse on purpose. According to The Wall Street Journal, the company’s design team wanted this to happen, with Molly Anderson, VP of industrial design, saying that it is ‘something that we dreamed about for a long time.’
“I really think people will struggle with it. Because, you know, the Pro is a beautiful and incredible product as well. But I think the lightness, the lean towards style, the idea of not carrying so much weight, is just such a different experience.”
The iPhone Air certainly flaunts a breathtaking design, but that is not to say that it comes with its set of trade-offs. Firstly, it only features a single rear camera, and while Apple claims that it features a versatility of its own, a single unit will always have limitations. Additionally, the Cupertino firm added the improved C1X 5G modem to the iPhone Air, but the latter continues to lack mmWave 5G, not to mention that its USB-C port is capped at USB 2 transfer speeds.
However, Apple has attempted to mitigate these compromises by incorporating its N1 wireless networking chip, which is a standard on all iPhone 17 models, and when working in unison with the iPhone Air’s C1X, it can deliver ‘better than expected’ battery life. Still, charging $999 for a product that lags behind last year’s iPhone 16 Pro in some areas is something that potential buyers will be disgruntled about.
News Source: The Wall Street Journal
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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