Next spring, Apple will take the stage to unveil the second-generation iPhone Air to the world, after taking a bit more time to go back to the drawing board and incorporate a second camera into the design. That said, iPhone Air is no longer the flashy cool phone, now iPhone Duo is.
With that being the case, it seems obvious to me that iPhone Air 2 will need to appeal to a wider audience, beyond just the enthusiast crowd.
iPhone Air wasn’t an incredible seller. That said, it was still an incredible marvel of engineering – proving that you can still pack a largely flagship smartphone experience in such a thin design. It wasn’t perfect though, and the compromises alongside its higher price tag meant it only appealed to a small audience.
Now that iPhone Air 2 won’t have the shiny-new-thing factor going for it, it seems almost imperative for Apple to address some of the key shortcomings of the original iPhone Air.
We already know Apple is going to address two of the biggest ones: adding a second camera, as well as a larger battery capacity.
iPhone Air concerns don’t end there, though. There’s also compromised speakers, a compromised connectivity and charging experience, and a compromised camera experience.
iPhone Air has a single mono earpiece speaker. Audio on it isn’t excellent. Luckily, with iPad mini 8, Apple introduced acoustic display – which allows speakers to play through the display glass. Perhaps some of that tech can be taken for iPhone Air 2 to improve the subpar speaker experience.
Another major drawback is connectivity and charging. iPhone Air only supports USB 2, while the Pro iPhones support USB 3. Does this matter to most consumers? Maybe not. When the iPhone Air fetches very close to Pro pricing though, it should offer it. On the charging front of things, iPhone Air only supports 20W MagSafe and 25W fast charging, compared to 25W MagSafe and 60W fast charging on iPhone 18 Pro.
It's nice to wish everything was the best, but the air works great for me. Whatever camera it's got is better than whatever I had 10 years ago, and I'm not a professional photographer, so, it's fine. Battery life and charging speed are better than whatever I had 10 years ago, and I've never had a moment where I regretted either of those issues. I absolutely cannot stand listening to anything on little tiny phone speakers, and I never do, and I never did. I use earbuds all the time. So the speaker is irrelevant to me. What is relevant is, it is thinner and lighter than any phone I've had in 10 years, and THAT I notice every time I pick it up, and every time I slip it in my pocket.
Lastly, the camera. I expect the camera quality to still be limited as a result of smaller sensors, but there are a few things you miss out on with iPhone Air: RAW support, cinematic mode, and macro mode. The latter is more of a result of the phone lacking an ultrawide camera, so ideally we’ll see macro come to iPhone Air 2.
All in all, iPhone Air 2 needs to have a firm position in the lineup. If it’s going to come within $100 of a Pro iPhone, it should offer an experience close to that. The fact that it’s thin should be just another feature, rather than it being a justification for compromise.
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Michael is a 9to5Mac Reporter, leading all of our Apple news coverage on weekends and reviewing the newest Apple products and accessories. He got started in the world of Apple news during the pandemic, and it became a growing hobby. He’s also an indie iOS developer, and started the weekly Indie App Spotlight series, which has covered hundreds of blooming new apps since it launched. In his free time, he enjoys shooting street photography around New York City on his Sony A7RV.
Featuring two built in cables, a built in display, multiple ports, a 25,000mAh capacity, and up to 100W of output – this is one of the best battery banks for recharging your entire Apple ecosystem on the go.
Despite a new version reportedly being around a corner, I still personally believe AirPods Pro 2 are a great deal. They're already equipped with USB-C, and continually gain new software features. With them consistently going on sale, it's a great purchase to make. Features like Adaptive Audio are incredible.
