The iPhone Air, despite failing to meet Apple's lofty expectations and enduring a severe bout of criticism, especially in relation to its curtailed battery capacity, is significantly outselling not only its in-class competitors, such as the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, but also predecessors such as the iPhone 16 Plus, as per the insights gleaned from a new Ookla report.
Apple iPhone Air is not a failure, even by a long shot
A new Ookla report has detailed how the C1X modem within the Apple iPhone Air is able to maintain a huge lead over Qualcomm's X80 modem - found in the iPhone 17 Pro duo - when it comes to latency, while exhibiting comparable download speeds in most markets.
Even so, the report has a few choice tidbits regarding the sales uptake of the iPhone Air. According to Ookla, Apple's ultra-slim iPhone currently commands a 6.8 percent share of its speedtest samples vs. just a 2.9 percent share that the iPhone 16 Plus had commanded. This suggests that the iPhone Air has vastly outperformed its iPhone 16 Plus predecessor.
What's more, according to Ookla, the iPhone Air continues to sell particularly well in aesthetics-conscious markets such as South Korea and Japan, while performing poorly in markets focused on price/value. Ookla goes on to add:
"The iPhone Air has largely eclipsed the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge globally, out-sampling it 3-to-1 in the U.S. based on Speedtest data, while the Edge remains statistically negligible in terms of adoption across European markets."
For the benefit of those who might not be aware, the iPhone Air has a battery capacity that is just 62 percent of the iPhone 17 Pro Max's, and around 11 percent below even that of the base iPhone 17. This means that Apple's ultra-slim iPhone can last just around 12 hours in real-world settings, which is hardly something to boast of, and becomes a debilitating shortcoming for power users.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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