iPhone Air review: Apple's stunning £999 smartphone feels like a (very thin) slice of the future

iPhone Air wants to set back the clock, promising all of the trimmings of a top-tier smartphone in the thinnest-ever design. And it delivers, albeit with a few caveats.

Side-by-side with the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max, which both measure 8.75mm, the iPhone Air is one-third slimmer. Every time we picked up the iPhone Air, we were blown away by its slender chassis. It's worth heading to your nearest Apple Store to try for yourself.

Trust us, this phone feels every bit the serious feat of engineering that it undoubtedly was to piece together. But it's the difference in weight that really makes the biggest impression.

Tipping the scales at just 165g, iPhone Air weighs less than a sharing bag of Malteasers you'd pick up from the snack stand in your local cinema.

It's that combination of a lithe and featherweight frame that makes the iPhone Air so manageable to use, despite its expansive 6.5-inch screen. This feels like the first big-screen iPhone that's easy to use one-handed. That's good, since it takes the spot of the iPhone 16 Plus successor in the lineup.

That means those who want a larger screen for watching movies, playing games, and reading without paying the price tag of the Pro Max model will need to plump for the iPhone Air this time around. But we suspect a lot more people than that will err on the side of the, ahem, Air.

Despite its razor-thin design, all of the usual buttons are present and correct: iPhone Air sports the customisation Action Button, volume controls, the Side button to summon Siri or Apple Pay with a double-click, and even the Camera Control introduced last year.

This acts as a shortcut to launch the camera, no matter what you're doing on your phone at the time, and offers a small touch surface to make adjustments to zoom and other settings.

In fact, the only thing that didn't make the cut is the traditional SIM card tray, making iPhone Air the first eSIM-only smartphone to launch worldwide.

Apple has worked hard to make the switch as seamless as possible. If you're moving over from an older iPhone with a physical SIM card, you'll be able to convert it to an eSIM when transferring photos, apps, and settings during the switchover process. Some networks can even digitally assign an eSIM to your iPhone when you buy it, so your new (or existing) mobile number will connect automatically when you switch on the handset for the first time.

It's clever stuff, and part of a truckload of work in iOS 26 to make using eSIMs easier. For instance, if you choose to buy a data-only eSIM while travelling abroad to save on roaming costs from your UK network, your iPhone Air will automatically switch back to your regular eSIM when it detects you’re back from your trip. You can store eight or more eSIMs and swap which two are active at any time by simply changing your selections in Settings.

The transition to eSIM promises to be a simple one. With this new iPhone lineup all-in on eSIM, we'd love to see this innovation continue. For example, a way to recall an eSIM from a stolen iPhone, so you can continue to use two-factor authentication and access some of your important apps, like banking apps and messaging services, like WhatsApp?

The demise of the SIM card tray is one of the only major differences between the iPhone Air and other models announced this month (and that's in the UK, in the US and other territories, the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are also eSIM-only to make room for a bigger battery)

But while it couldn't fit a plastic nano-SIM, the trim chassis of the iPhone Air still manages to come equipped with a ProMotion display, a faster A19 Pro system-on-a-chip, and new Ceramic Shield 2 glass on the front that Apple claims offers 3x better protection against scuffs and scratches.

It'll take more time with the iPhone Air to determine whether this toughened glass lives up to those claims, but even a few days in, there's no sign of the light abrasions on the screen we'd usually start to see from the rivet at the top of our jeans pocket.

On the back, the original Ceramic Shield, launched alongside the iPhone 12 lineup, protects the back panel. When Apple first introduced Ceramic Shield, it said it offered 4x better drop performance over previous strengthened glass used on its smartphones. So, iPhone Air should be able to withstand a few accidental drops.

Speaking of durability, at this point, you're probably wondering if the iPhone Air can bend and break. After all, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus that previously held the crown for thinnest smartphone shipped by Apple did bend in several viral YouTube videos. Apple is extremely confident that its ultra-slim iPhone won't suffer the same fate.

Using titanium, which boasts one of the highest strength-to-weight ratios of any metal on Earth, in the frame is part of its success. The internal layout of the iPhone Air is another core element.

Apple allowed us to watch one of the rigorous bend tests used when developing the iPhone Air (and the rest of its iPhone lineup). While the chassis definitely flexes— that's by design to remove the risk of damaging the battery, by the way — it bounces back to its original state.

It's astounding to see the amount of force that can be applied to this ultra-slim smartphone (more than we were able to exert from our hands alone in another demonstration) and watch it shrug it off.

Durability isn't just about bend-strength, iPhone Air is rated IP68, which means it can survive in up to six metres of water for 30 minutes — that's the highest of any smartphone on sale today.

Despite the slimmer profile, Apple hasn't skimped on power. Inside the iPhone Air is the same A19 Pro system-on-a-chip as the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. This cutting-edge silicon offers "MacBook Pro levels of compute in an iPhone," according to Apple Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, John Ternus.

And we can believe it.

Whether you're editing 240-frames-per-second slow-motion video filmed in 1080p HD doesn't even cause the iPhone Air to sweat, and applying complex edits to dozens of high-resolution photos takes seconds.

With an entirely new GPU architecture, A19 Pro confidently handles fast-paced games that boast ray-tracing, high frame-rates, and other console-quality visuals. While the iPhone Air doesn't include the new custom-designed vapour chamber found inside the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max, Apple says it's developed a new heat spreading plate as part of the internal design, which ensures solid thermal performance and repairability. The expanded camera bump — dubbed the "plateau" — is also partly to improve heat dissipation in such a slim design.

In our time with the iPhone Air, we haven't noticed it become unbearably hot in the hand.

Aside from delivering laptop-levels of oomph, one of the benefits of the A19 Pro is the improved efficiency. Combined with the custom-designed C1X model, iPhone Air is the most power-efficient phone ever built by Apple.

And that's critical for battery life.

iPhone Air really surprised us with its battery life. This handset consistently lasted an entire day bouncing between 5G and Wi-Fi with its Always-On feature enabled on the Super Retina XDR display.

If you're planning a long-haul flight and want to play games of binge-watch boxsets the entire flight (and still have enough juice when you land to get to the hotel via CityMapper or Uber or pay for a few things with Apple Pay) you might want to invest in the new Magsafe battery pack that's exclusively sold for this model.

But in normal day-to-day use, the iPhone Air is comparable to the iPhone 16 released last year.

If you want to be able to forget your charger on an overnight trip and be confident that your iPhone will endure 48 hours, then we'd recommend the iPhone 17 Pro Max. But iPhone Air is no slouch.

Wired fast-charging will top-up the battery to 50% in 30 minutes, which is a great feature, but 10 minutes slower than the even faster fast-charging found in the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Interestingly, Apple only promised 11 hours of video playback from the battery inside the 6.9mm iPhone 6 when it launched 11 years ago. For comparison, the Cupertino company is confident that you'll enjoy 27 hours of video playback on its slimmer iPhone Air — showing just how much progress we've made in the efficiency of these advanced chipsets and battery technology.

And you'll want to maximise the amount of time you can spend staring at the gorgeous 6.5-inch Super Retina Display XDR on the front of the iPhone Air. The stunning edge-to-edge screen offers cavernous blacks and vibrant colours, thanks to the finely-tuned OLED panel. Apple has increased the maximum outdoor peak brightness up to 3,000 nits, which means you'll never miss a detail even when checking your iPhone Air in direct sunlight.

There's a new anti-reflection coating on the screen too, which makes a difference, but isn't the transformative how-is-that-even-possible experience found on the MacBook Pro's glare-killing displays.

You'll also benefit from ProMotion, which intelligently adjusts the refresh rates between 1Hz to maximise efficiency, up to 120Hz for buttery-smooth system animations and fast-paced gameplay. The Always-On display lets you check the time, real-time information on widgets, and notifications at a glance. Unlike many Android rivals, the Always-On experience on iPhone remains in full colour and even keeps a hint of your wallpaper visible.

Watching an episode of Severance or Schmigadoon! on that screen is a complete joy. And the generous screen size means there's no need to worry about packing a tablet for longer journeys.

iPhone Air ships with a single 48MP "Fusion" camera on the back, which produces crisp 24MP photographs with all of the usual trimmings you'd expect from a modern smartphone, including Portrait Mode to add a bokeh-style blur behind subjects, Panorama shots up to a whopping 63MP, Action Mode for GoPro-like stabilisation during video capture, 2x lossless zoom for stills and video, and Night mode to eke as much light as possible in gloomy conditions without a blinding LED flash.

You'll also benefit from the clever Spatial Audio recording features introduced with the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max last year, letting you fine-tune the sound of your video after the fact to eliminate wind noise.

It's a decent camera that produces some stunning snaps. However, iPhone Air owners will miss out on some of the best features found in the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. That includes the nifty, future-proofed Spatial Video that records dimension from the scene, Cinematic Mode, which adds a Portrait Mode-style blur behind the subject of your video footage in real-time, the 0.5x ultra-wide camera, and a Macro mode for close-up shots that kicks in automatically when you're within 2cm of a subject.

Thankfully, the iPhone Air ships with the same front-facing camera as other models in the new lineup.

And it might be the single biggest upgrade to iPhone photography in years. Dubbed the Centre Stage camera, this 18MP front camera uses a new square-shaped sensor to bolster your video calls and group selfies.

For the first time, you can take a landscape photo without adjusting your grip on the iPhone. It's as simple as tapping a button. If you're also someone who is always called upon to take the group selfie (you do it, you've got the longest arms... etc), this is a game-changer.

Holding the iPhone Air in portrait feels more natural, since the shutter button sits naturally beneath your thumb, compared with the struggle of balancing the handset in landscape, supported precariously on a pinky finger, and trying to work out the best place to look for the finished photo.

Apple will even use AI to automatically change the orientation to fit everybody in-frame based on the numbers in the viewfinder. Video calls benefit from the same technique, keeping your face positioned in frame even as your hand tires or moves around.

You can also capture video from the front and rear camera at the same time. So, you could film your child winning the three-legged race at Sports Day and your reaction from the stands. This seems a little gimmicky and we'd be surprised if your social media feeds are filled with these dual-view videos in the coming months.

Out of the box, iPhone Air ships with iOS 26 installed, the latest mobile operating system from Apple. It introduces an entirely new design, known as Liquid Glass, which Apple called its "broadest design update ever" when it was unveiled during its Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this summer.

As the name suggests, Liquid Glass adds translucency throughout iOS, preventing icons and menus from drawing attention away from whatever you're doing on-screen.

There are also lifelike light refractions that react to the movement of the iPhone in your hand and some playful squidgy and springy animations as you tap, swipe, and prod the new Liquid Glass elements. This makes iOS feel responsive to every touch (and plain fun).

The new look arrives across all Apple devices at the same time, including iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Vision Pro, and Apple TV — so iPhone owners should feel familiar with these other platforms.

Apple has been slowly unifying its operating systems for some time, but this is the first time we've seen a new design language appear simultaneously across all devices. Few apps are now specific to one platform, with the likes of the Phone and Journal app making the jump from iPhone to Mac and iPad for the first time — handy if you're an iPhone owner curious about buying another Apple device.

Elsewhere, Messages borrows a few features from WhatsApp, including typing indicators for every person in a group chat. You'll also be able to send polls and set a custom background to your conversations and group chats, picking between a slew of preinstalled options, photos from your library, or generating a never-before-seen image with Image Playground.

Plugging your iPhone Air into a compatible infotainment system will bring its new Liquid Glass appearance to CarPlay, too.

New features in Apple Maps, which track Visited Places with end-to-end encryption and intelligently learns your daily routes to preemptively provide delay notifications and alternative suggestions, will also be accessible via CarPlay.

iOS 26 isn't exclusive to iPhone Air. If you own an iPhone 11 or newer, you'll be able to take advantage of many of these features too. However, the laptop-like power of the A19 Pro is sure to offer one of the best experiences with these complex animations and lifelike light refractions.

For decades, we've heard whispers from Apple's secretive Cupertino-based HQ that it wanted to develop an iPhone that looked indistinguishable from a single slab of glass, with no ports or buttons.

While the iPhone Air is decidedly not that — with recent additions like Camera Control and Action Button, the iPhone has never had so many buttons dotted around its frame — using this handset feels exactly like you're holding a thin sheet of glass.

The generous 6.5-inch Super Retina Display XDR bleeds to the very edge of the tough titanium frame, and when combined with the svelte 5.6mm sides and lightweight 165g design, iPhone Air feels like a futuristic smartphone featured in an episode of some hit science-fiction show rather than a product available to buy now.

It's surprisingly easy to forget the iPhone Air is in your jeans pocket.

Granted, this ultra-slim iPhone isn't for everyone — if you want the most complete camera system, you'll likely miss the features unavailable on this single 48MP lens, for example — but those who want a (very thin) slice of the future will be extremely pleased.