MKBHD review. His take: Its surprisingly durable, but the battery is not that great. Plus, it I would seem that it charges slower than the other phones of the 17 family.
For my part, I don’t care about the Air. I would get the iPhone 17, but I would wait for Apple’s summer back to school special.
I recently heard a tech podcaster comment that if you put a case on the iPhone Air, you lose much of its advantage, the case makes it nearly as thick as the iPhone 17 or 17 Pro. Since I always use a case, this may push me toward one of those models instead. And if battery life truly proves to be an issue, adding a battery pack only further cancels out the appeal of a thinner phone.
I won’t have a clear sense of this until I visit the Apple Store.
I owe an update after a few days of use.
I love this phone. The mix of size and weight is exactly what I never knew I needed. I haven’t used a pop socket with this phone because it’s actually manageable to use - even one handed at times.
I disagree with the comments on adding a case. I have the clear Apple case, and it feels like it hardly adds any thickness at all. It adds some but it’s really negligible. Noticeable if the case is off, but not so much that it removes from the experience of using the phone.
Regarding battery life, I take tech reviewers’ analysis with a grain of salt. I live in a rural area and work from home. Fewer cell towers/tall buildings and being on WiFi most of the day usually yields much better battery life for me. I can see if you’re doomscrolling half the day or out and about where the battery would get sucked down quickly on this phone. My experience is I’m still sitting at around 25-35% by the time I go to bed. Keep in mind I got the phone three days ago so there may be further adaptive optimization to happen yet. YMMV.
The speaker seems to be a nonissue. It’s just a bit quieter and obviously not stereo. But still sounds great.
I could see hitting some of the limitations of the camera, but mostly in one-off cases. The photos this thing takes are just as good or better than my 14 Pro. Sometimes the ultra wide was nice, and I definitely feel the lack of it. I also attempted some astrophotography with 10s night mode the other night. The result was mediocre at best, likely due to the smaller sensor.
Overall, three days in and “new shiny” hasn’t worn off. But I enjoy using this phone. Like, a lot. And I haven’t been able to say this for a number of years.
I don’t doom scroll or do SM, so that is not an issue. My concern is the latter, especially when traveling. I could purchase the MagSafe charger, but that is one more device and cord when traveling, and apparently, it only charges to 60% and slowly.
Decisions, decisions … 
I’ll be testing it end of next month on a business trip. I have an Anker battery pack I’ve used so I’m planning just to stick with that for now.
I have one also, I just don’t like carrying it on a trip if avoidable.
Tried buying one of your phone options and returning it within the 14 day window?
I’m tempted, and I know this might sound silly, but I’ve never bought two devices to try them out and then return one. For some reason, I feel guilty about doing so. 
Maybe I should get over it.
I share most of @justindirose 's opinions at this point - granted, we’re only 4 days in.
The phone still feels amazing to me. I do not have a case on it but I did buy a case and didn’t think it was a big deal/loss to have it on.
The screen is so nice. Side by side with the Pro there is no objective reason why it should seem SO much more usefully bigger, but it does. I’ve never wanted to read for any extended period of time on my phone but I’ve found myself clearing my RSS feed and doing a few minutes of book reading while standing in line with this phone.
I’m getting perfectly usable (I hate to say it, but “all day”) battery life out of the phone. I think I travel more than most and I’m not hesitant to make this my daily driver.
I do not use the speaker at all - on any phone - so I have no comment there.
I haven’t had many photo-taking opportunities over the last 4 days, so I’m not sure how I’m going to feel about that when the time comes.
I think I’m going to do 3 more days like this (I have a trip Thurs/Fri so I want to get through that) and then I’m going to “swap” - make the Air my personal phone and the Pro my work phone for the next week. I have another trip next week Mon/Tues, so I think after all that I will have done the best comparison I can.
Do not be ashamed! Benefit of Apple’s policy and get rid of any doubts
Do you think you may be overthinking this? For a delta of $200 the pro seems to be the right choice. I can’t believe you will ever think, “boy, I have too much camera performance.”
I just watched the MKBHD review and all I could do was laugh at the end. He says he has two major concerns – durability and battery life.
Then he says the durability is phenomenal. Then he says the battery life is C-.
Then he says you end a normal day with 15% battery life.
I don’t know what people are looking for. The battery got through the day.
Your actions would only help justify the staff at the Apple Store. Apple can afford any restocking cost.
You think? 
I always overthink decisions that cost me a $1K.
If MKBHD is comparing to the Pro Max, of course it’s a C-. The capacity just can’t compete.
The way I see it, the bigger concern is degradation over time. If it’s 15% end of day at 100% health, what will it be when it nears 90%? 80%?
It’s an outstanding question I have, and battery aging is probably the biggest reason I see for the MagSafe battery pack.
I think I’m the rare user that is not interested in Apple’s battery pack. They’re (I had the last one) underpowered and over priced. I have a $45 Anker one that works great, has more capacity, and works with all my devices. And, I almost never have to use it despite some very long days. We will see if that changes with the Air next week.
I’ve been sticking with my iPhone 13 mini, which is still in awesome shape and at 82% battery life still has plenty of juice for me to last a full day no problem. I tend to doomscroll for maybe an hour or two at most in-between commercials while watching a live football game, but even then I never drop below 35% battery life after a full day. I also could care less about having the most advanced camera features. For me, the Air seems like a no-brainer upgrade from my 13 mini. There are only three reasons I haven’t forked over my money for one yet:
I am finding the reviews online to be quite odd. It amazes me how MKBHD didn’t state in his review regarding concerns about battery life that he is a major edge case user - he films stuff constantly and I suspect doomscrolls constantly as he has to to maintain his business/revenue. Yet he still had battery life left…
Yes, I’ll be buying one soon. : )
I was listening to MacBreak weekly today while I had my coffee. Jason Snell raised a good point about how back in the days of fewer phones, Apple had to work harder to make sure fewer devices worked for more people. Now with the 17, Pro, Pro Max, Air, and 16e (which my kids have and love), there is something for everyone.
For me, I like the Pro Max. I’m a bigger guy, I have large hands, and I have no problem with the size of the phone. I’m also on the side of forty which is inching me closer to fifty, so my eyes aren’t what they used to be in close proximity. The bigger screen is great for my failing vision and I’m just one of those people who always goes big screen. Phone, TV, Projector - always as big as I can.
I also like the fact that - while I don’t travel a ton - if I do go away somewhere or have a long flight or conference away from chargers, I’m not worried about my phone making it through a long day.
Side note with @justindirose – I’ve found being in areas with poor cell coverage actually smokes the battery because it’s constantly looking for a signal it can’t find. In fact, I was even able to return a phone to a carrier many years ago due to this being a documented issue with many customers in a low coverage area. But WiFi wasn’t an option for me, so I hear you.
To me, the Air’s simplified camera setup wouldn’t work. My kids play sports and I find myself using the zoom quite a bit on my camera. I do often toggle between options, not because I’m any kind of photographer, but because different scenarios dictate different lenses/options.
I also don’t love the idea of “the battery is fine”. I’ve used big phones since the 7 or 8 Plus, so I don’t know that I could go back to fine. And yes, there is a battery pack for the Air, but at that point, why not just order the regular iPhone or Pro since it negates most of the point of the phone - it being thin.
That said, I totally understand its appeal and like Jason S said - not everyone needs the same phone.
Though I am curious how much of the positivity is related to it being the new kid on the block with the shininess of the first big design change in a while. Curious to hear where the reviews land 6 months from now.
I have just got my new battery for my iPhone 13 mini. Faster iOS 26 now!
iPhone Air is never an alternative to iPhone mini. I have no options at this moment.
