Apple’s new smartphones have been announced very recently, and we’re here to compare two of them. In this article, we’ll be comparing the Apple iPhone 17 vs Apple iPhone Air. We haven’t reviewed either of these two phones yet, do note that this is more of a spec comparison rather than anything else. The iPhone Air is the brand new addition to Apple’s iPhone lineups in general, it is replacing the ‘Plus’ model. The iPhone 17 received a considerable boost compared to the iPhone 16.
Both of these phones are quite compelling, though in different ways. For most people, the iPhone 17 will likely be the better choice. Still, the iPhone Air has plenty to offer. We’ll first list the specs of both smartphones, as we usually do, and then we’ll move on to their designs, displays, performance, battery, cameras, and audio. Let’s get to it, shall we?
Specs
Apple iPhone 17
Apple iPhone Air
| Apple iPhone 17 | Apple iPhone Air | |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 149.6 x 71.5 x 8 mm | 156.2 x 74.7 x 5.6 mm |
| Weight | 177 grams | 165 grams |
| Display | 6.3-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED | 6.5-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED |
| Refresh rate | 1-120Hz | 1-120Hz |
| Resolution | 2622 x 1206 | 2736 x 1260 |
| Chipset | Apple A19 | Apple A19 Pro |
| RAM | 8GB | 12GB |
| Storage | 256GB/512GB | 256GB/512GB/1TB |
| Main camera | 48MP (f/1.6 aperture, 1/1.56-inch sensor size, sensor-shift-OIS) | 48MP (f/1.6 aperture, 1/1.56-inch sensor size, sensor-shift-OIS) |
| Ultra-wide camera | 48MP (f/2.2 aperture, 1/2.55-inch sensor size, 120-degree FoV) | N/A |
| Telephoto camera | N/A | N/A |
| Periscope telephoto camera | N/A | N/A |
| Selfie camera | 18MP (f/1.9 aperture, OIS) | 18MP (f/1.9 aperture, OIS) |
| Battery size | 3,692mAh | 3,149mAh |
| Charging | Wired, 25W MagSafe wireless, 4.5W reverse wired (charger not included) | Wired, 20W MagSafe wireless, 4.5W reverse wired (charger not included) |
| Colors | Black, White, Mist Blue, Sage, Lavender | Space Black, Cloud White, Light Gold, Sky Blue |
Apple iPhone 17 vs Apple iPhone Air: Design
From the front, these two phones look very similar. The iPhone 17 does have slightly thinner bezels but other than that, they look the same. You’ll notice a flat display on both smartphones, along with a Dynamic Island cutout on the front. Both of them also have a power/lock key on the right, along with the Camera control button. On the left, they have volume up and down buttons, and the Action key.
With that being said, that’s where design similarities end. The iPhone 17 is thicker, and it’s made out of aluminum and glass. The iPhone Air is made out of titanium and glass. It’s immensely thin. Yes, both frames are mostly flat on the side, while being rounded towards the edges, but the two phones feel entirely different in the hand. If we flip them around, you’ll notice considerably different back sides.
The iPhone 17 has the same look as the iPhone 16. It includes two vertically aligned cameras in the top-left corner. The iPhone Air, on the other hand, has a vertical camera bar on the back, at the top of the back side. There is a single camera included there, and that camera bar does protrude on the back quite a bit. It has to, as the phone is only 5.64mm thick, it’s thinner than the Galaxy S25 Edge, even.
Both smartphones are IP68 certified for water and dust resistance. Both of them are also quite slippery in the hand. The iPhone 17 is considerably shorter, narrower, and thicker. It is also 12 grams heavier than the iPhone Air.
Apple iPhone 17 vs Apple iPhone Air: Display
The Apple iPhone 17 features a 6.3-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED display with HDR support. That panel is flat, and it offers an adaptive refresh rate (1-120Hz). Its peak brightness is 3,000 nits, while the screen-to-body ratio is at around 90%. The resolution here is 2622 x 1206, while the display aspect ratio is 19.5:9. This display is protected by the Ceramic Shield 2, new protection from Apple that is more scratch-resistant.
The Apple iPhone Air, on the other hand, features a 6.5-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED display. That panel is also flat, and it also comes with an adaptive refresh rate (1-120Hz). HDR is supported, and the peak brightness the display offers is 3,000 nits. The screen-to-body ratio is at around 89%, while the display aspect ratio is 19.5:9. The resolution this display offers is 2736 x 1260. This display is also protected by the Ceramic Shield 2.
There’s not much to complain here, really. Apple finally brought ProMotion to the base iPhone, and the Air also supports high-refresh rate. Both displays do look vivid, and they’re sharp. Both of them also come with anti-reflective coating and good protection. From what we’ve seen, the viewing angles also seem to be very good. So, all in all, both of these displays seem to be very good.
Apple iPhone 17 vs Apple iPhone Air: Performance
The Apple A19 fuels the iPhone 17. That is Apple’s new hexa-core chip, which comes with a 5-core GPU. It is paired with 8GB of RAM and NVMe flash storage. The iPhone Air, on the other hand, is fueled by the Apple A19 Pro. That is also a hexa-core chip with 5-core graphics, but it’s more powerful in comparison. The iPhone Air uses the same chip as the ‘Pro’ models. It comes with 12GB of RAM and NVMe flash storage. Neither phone supports storage expansion.
We’re still not sure what the two phones will perform like, as we didn’t review either of them. They launched quite recently. However, the first impressions seem to be very good, and the performance shouldn’t be an issue. Both of these phones are quite powerful, and we do expect them to offer great performance, similar to their predecessors. It remains to be seen if heat will be an issue with the iPhone Air due to its thinness and titanium frame. Apple hopefully learned its lessons from past experiences.
The gaming likely won’t be an issue either, but we’re very interested in seeing how will the iPhone Air perform. Once again, the thermals are what interest us the most when it comes to gaming.
Apple iPhone 17 vs Apple iPhone Air: Battery
The Apple iPhone 17 comes with a 3,692mAh battery on the inside. The iPhone Air packs a 3,149mAh unit. Apple’s iPhone Air model actually has a somewhat larger battery than we’ve expected. It’s still rather modest, but still, it’s not as small as rumored. Also, iPhones in general have smaller battery packs than their Android counterparts due to the way iOS and iPhones work, they don’t require as much power.
With that being said, Apple has very bold predictions for the iPhone 17 battery life. The company is claiming it’ll do even better than the iPhone 16. If true, that’s huge, as the iPhone 16 offered great battery life. Even for power users, the iPhone 16 was more than enough. What about the iPhone Air? Well, that’s more of a mystery. It will not offer better battery life than the iPhone 17, that’s for sure, not even close. The fact that Apple announced a battery bank especially for it is also not promising, it remains to be seen.
Apple still didn’t confirm the wired charging speed for either phone, but we’re guessing it’s around 30W at its peak. The company did confirm that the iPhone 17 will charge faster despite the fact it has a larger battery, so it obviously has faster wired charging. It also supports 25W MagSafe wireless charging, compared to 20W MagSafe wireless charging the iPhone Air offers. Both phones also support 4.5W reverse wired charging and don’t ship with chargers in the box.
Apple iPhone 17 vs Apple iPhone Air: Cameras
The iPhone 17 is equipped with two rear cameras. It has a 48-megapixel main snapper (1/1.56-inch sensor size), and a 48-megapixel ultrawide camera (1/2.55-inch sensor size, 120-degree FoV). The iPhone Air, on the other hand, has a single camera on the back. It has a 48-megapixel camera (1/1.56-inch sensor size). It’s actually the exact same main camera that the iPhone 17 offers.
Apple decided to use the same main camera on the iPhone 17, as the one that was used in the iPhone 16. That same main shooter is also placed on the back of the iPhone Air. We’re expecting to see both of these phones to provide similar shots to the iPhone 16. In other words, they’ll likely be good, though not on the same level as the ‘Pro’ models. It’s nice to see that the iPhone 17 received an ultrawide camera boost, though.
Unfortunately, neither of these two phones ships with a zoom camera. If that’s something you use regularly, neither of these two will do. The iPhone 17 will also be better when it comes to macro shots than the iPhone Air. Both phones come with an upgraded 18-megapixel selfie camera.
Audio
The Apple iPhone 17 does include stereo speakers, the iPhone Air, however, does not. It ships with a single speaker. No matter how you cut it, the iPhone 17 will offer better sound output because of that.
Neither phone has an audio jack either. That’s something that very few high-end modern phones have. You can use their Type-C ports for your wired audio needs, though. Both phones also support Bluetooth 6.0, for wireless audio.
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