Apple’s latest innovation, the iPhone Air, tries to do what the iPad Air did years ago — deliver the same Apple experience in a sleeker, lighter frame. It’s the first time the “Air” moniker graces an iPhone, and while the design overhaul is genuinely striking, the question remains: how much of it is substance, and how much is just style?

Design

The iPhone Air makes a strong first impression. At just 5.6 mm thin and weighing under 165 grams, it’s the lightest iPhone ever made — and it feels every bit the premium Apple product you’d expect. The matte aluminium frame and frosted glass back look sophisticated, but the ultra-thin body does take some getting used to.

In hand, it’s almost too light — which feels joyful to use, but also makes me wary because of my butterfingers. Apple’s Ceramic Shield glass on the front and back helps with durability, though a case might be a non-negotiable to some, given its build.

The phone comes in four shades — light gold, cloud white, sky blue, and space black — all distinctly muted yet classy, in typical Apple fashion. I’ve got the cloud white variant for review, but personally find the light gold to be the most visually striking.  

Display

Apple has equipped the iPhone Air with a 6.5-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display that supports up to 120 Hz ProMotion refresh rate and 3,000 nits peak brightness outdoors. The result? Smooth scrolling, crisp text, and punchy colours, whether I’m binge-watching Shrinking on Apple TV or editing a short clip for Instagram.

It also includes the Always-On display, which comes in handy if you sleep with your phone next to you, or like to steal quick glances for a quick time or notification check while it charges. 

Camera

The iPhone Air sports the new 48 MP Fusion camera system which is aided by the relatively new and highly customisable set of photographic styles. This helps me really tune the aesthetics of what I’m capturing to my liking rather than stick to the default tones that Apple generally prefers. 

Photos in daylight look crisp and well-balanced, both in 1x and 2x shots. Anything beyond that starts looking a bit grainy and although technically one can shoot at up to 10x, you’d rather not considering how noisy the stills get. Low-light shots, however, remain impressive for the segment, both indoors and outdoors at 1x and 2x zoom. 

There’s Focus Control which automatically captures depth information so users can turn photos into portraits later in the Photos app. However, at this price point, I’d have loved to see a dedicated Portrait mode ont he Camera app to save me the trouble of post-processing stills into portraits. 

Apple has equipped the iPhone Air with its Center Stage front camera, capable of shooting fairly stable 4K HDR video. The new Dual Capture mode further expands usage possibilities, allowing me to record simultaneously from the front and rear cameras — a handy tool for vloggers and visual storytellers who want to stay in the frame while capturing their surroundings.

The 18 MP front camera does a decent job with selfies, and makes you look good on online meetings and briefings as well. 

Performance

The iPhone Air runs on the top-of-the-line A19 Pro chip. Everyday tasks such as messaging, multitasking, casual gaming, video editing — fly without a hitch. The phone does warm up a bit around the camera module when I was capturing photographs for an extended period of time, but also cools down almost immediately after I’m done. Gaming enthusiasts will appreciate smooth frame rates on their favourite games although I’m not sure this is the ideal model for marathon gaming sessions. The Air’s compact design and smaller thermal envelope make it better suited for moderate gaming use.

Running iOS 26, the iPhone Air brings all the new Apple Intelligence features integrated with mails, messages and more. The OS feels fluid, intuitive, and deeply integrated with the ecosystem — perfect for anyone already using a Mac, iPad, or Apple Watch.

Battery

Despite its ultra-thin body, Apple claims to deliver “all-day” battery life! In my daily usage, I’d see a battery drain of about 10 per cent each hour of watching videos or taking photos, so the phone would keep me company for easily more than 10 hours or close to a “working day”. 

Verdict

The iPhone Air is an engineering marvel — sleek, lightweight, and delightfully minimal. But it’s also a conservative update, in terms of camera and features, for anyone already using a recent iPhone (anything post the iPhone 15 series). The iPhone Air is Apple minimalism at its finest — but not necessarily essential. It’s for those who prize design, portability, and quiet elegance over bells and whistles.

If you’ve always wished your iPhone felt as light as it looked, this is Apple’s best work yet. But if you’re chasing raw power or camera innovation, you might be better served the last few generation of iPhone - especially the Pros - which often dips close in price during sales.

Price ₹1,19,900 (256 GB)

₹1,39,900 (512 GB)

₹1,59,900 (1 TB)

Pros - Featherlight, premium design, gorgeous OLED display with ProMotion, smooth performance, decent battery life for its size

Cons - Slim profile can take some getting used to, limited camera chops, pricey for what it offers aside from the design

Published on October 22, 2025