9 things the iPhone Air sacrificed to get that slim waistline | Infinium-tech

Apple iPhone Air feels something that will design Apple a few years ago – things make sacrifices on the altar of cool design, whether people think that those features were necessary (or that design is all cool).

We have seen incredible butterfly keyboard and Iffy cooling on MacBook, we have seen Bindy iPhones and those who have connectivity issues that depend on how you catch them.

So, what did the iPhone air designers sacrifice to make the phone 5.64 mm thick? We will not be able to know that completely until people have been using them for a few months, but here there is a clear lapse that comes with the wind. Note that we are not going by order of importance, even if we start with the biggest issue ever.

1. Battery

The iPhone Air has a 3,149mAh battery-which is less than a 3,692mAh battery inside the iPhone 17 and 17 Pro Max (5,088mAh is much smaller than a 4,832mAh battery in 5,088mAh (if you receive ESIM-Only models).

This means that low endurance on the same charge – we have not yet tested it, however, the number of European Union’s energy label suggests that the iPhone Air lasts up to 40 hours on a charge, while 41 hours for vanilla phones and 53 hours for Prof. Max.

To make things worse, small batteries also mean slow charging – both Vanilla iPhone 17 and 17 Pro Max can get up to 50% in 20 minutes, the air requires 30 minutes to reach there. This is despite the lower filling capacity.

Interestingly, Apple did not renounce the Magsafe support, which may be shaved with a fraction of one millimeter. This may not be a philanthropic step, however – perhaps the iPhone Air Magsafe Battery will be an essential purchase to get you through the day. Probably not until you are a heavy user, but it has something to keep in mind.

Apple iPhone Air Magsafe Battery

2. Display shape

The iPhone Air has 6.5 “displays – which is smaller than the iPhone 16” panel on 16 plus and is smaller than the iPhone 16 and 17 Pro Max.

We are bringing it up because it can be a technical range – the air is still the only new iPhone to use a titanium frame. Even professionals switched back to aluminum. Titanium is a stifer compared to aluminum, which means that it opposes better bending.

However, the titanium with such a thin frame may not be quite strong if Apple would have gone with 6.7 “or 6.9” displays. Samsung also used titanium for the Galaxy S25 Edge and while it is a slightly thick (5.8 mm), it has a large 6.7 “display.

We will have a better idea why Apple 6.5 “would have settled in the diagonal when the first twist is tested.

3. Main camera

The iPhone Air has a single camera on its back – which could be cured for cheap iPhone 16E (it was, but still), although it is quite thicker on a $ 1,000 phone.

And this is also not the best main camera of Apple. The air module is the same on the vanilla phone – it has 1/1.56 “sensor, which is smaller than 1/1.28” in two Pro models. In terms of pixel size, it is 1.0 Signm vs. 1.22. M is m.

If this camera does not cap on the video frame rate on 4K 60fps, we slide it, while professionals can up to 120fps. In addition, it lacks priorus, priorus raw and Apple log 2 support (it may be related to #7 in the list, but unlikely).

There is more, the lidar has gone – pro models use it to speed up autofocus and improve portrait mode. It is also used in some niche applications such as improving the accuracy of AR tracking, 3D scanning objects and so on.

4. Telephoto camera

The 48MP module has a blameless 2x zoom, but that you can go – after that, the quality of the image starts down. Well, the Galaxy S25 Edge does not have a dedicated telephoto camera, but at least 200MP is the main. This is a better chance to take a good picture beyond 2x, although it is a hypothesis that we have to test clearly.

Perhaps, Apple did not want to tune the 200MP sensor just for air. ,

5. Ultra-wide camera

How many times do you use ultra-wide camera on your phone? Probably not often, but even it provides a unique perspective that you cannot find with a narrow lens. In addition, on iPhones it is tasked with macro photography – it is just missing from the iPhone Air.

6. Pro chipset

“Wait a minute, iPhone Air has a pro chipset!” You might be thinking. But is it? Apple is traditionally tight about details on Apple A-Series Chips, so what we know from glasses here:

	iPhone 17 (A19)	iPhone Air (A19 Pro?)	iPhone 17 Pro/Max (A19 Pro)
CPU, Performance Core	2x	2x	2x
CPU, efficiency core	6x	6x	6x
Agitation	5 core	5 core	6 core
NPU	16 core	16 core	16 core

So, uh, how is the chipset inside the air “Pro” and the iPhone 17 is not one inside? We will check the difference after we have our hands on the new iPhones.

While Apple RAM does not report abilities, we know that there is 12GB in air and Pro phones, only 8GB in vanilla models. It can play in the “pro” label, but who knows.

7. USB 3.0 port

Most people use USB-C port on their iPhone for charging and nothing else. And that’s fine, but iPhone professionals are capable of recording high bandwidth princess videos up to 4K 120fps on external storage.

As we have given above, it can be to do something with a lack of support support on the air. Of course, iPhones can record prurse for internal storage, so the most likely clarification for this is that the Pro camera is just more capable. Nevertheless, have you noticed how much APPLE charges for upgrade from 256GB to 512GB storage? One reason is that many are using external SSDs.

8. Stereo speakers

Apple iPhone Air has a single speaker – which is built in the top part. The bottom part – which, again, measures only 5.64 mm thick – may not have enough space for an additional speaker. Or maybe Apple decided that the use of space by battery would be better.

9. Are the bumpers back?

The bumper became a practical requirement when the Apple failed to separate the antenna on the iPhone 4 properly – your hand could significantly reduce the strength of the reception.

This was fixed in the next generation and there is no problem since then, but now the bumper is back? They are actually they are. Here is the iPhone air bumper, which is “designed from reinforced polycarbonate for additional edge protection”.

Now, titanium is not a material that dents easily (it is more flexible than aluminum in this regard), so it seems that Apple is concerned about the drop resistance on its super-slim new phone.

As soon as it is said, beauty requires sacrifice. What do you think about the iPhone wind – does it sacrifice too much or it still covers all important items, while distributing that impressive slim design?