Posts Tagged → iPhone Air

The Reason for the iPhone Air

I’ve heard from a lot of people questioning why the iPhone Air exists. This is common from power users when Apple releases a niche product. In my mind, there are several good reasons why the iPhone Air exists.

1. There are a substantial number of people who want the lightest and smallest iPhone they can get their hands on. Those people are not as concerned with battery life and camera quality as they are with weight, and now there is an iPhone just for them. Just because it’s not for you (or me) doesn’t mean that there isn’t a market for it. While the iPhone Air doesn’t qualify as the smallest, it certainly qualifies as the lightest. Those people are not normally power users, but their money is as good as anybody else’s, and I’m sure Apple is happy to take it to give them what they want.

2. This phone gives Apple the ability to experiment with making the thinnest possible iPhone at scale. That’s an important skill to master because…

3. Apple absolutely wants to make a folding iPhone, and a lot of the technologies they use to make the iPhone Air that thin are going to transfer into that folding iPhone next year.

A Few Notes on iPhone Teardowns

iFixit has been at it again, and there are a few notes worth mentioning regarding the teardowns of the latest iPhones.

The iPhone Air is More Durable and Repairable Than Expected

One of the big questions surrounding this phone was durability, but the titanium frame appears to render it just fine on things like bend tests. Moreover, once pulled apart, you can really see that all of the components fit in the body of the phone with the rest of the space dedicated to the battery. Impressive.

The iPhone Pro Vapor Chamber Is Just Cool

I expected the vapor chamber would be full of water, but it turns out that’s not how they work. There’s a single drop of water inside that makes it work.

Image: iFixit

It looks as if the sharp corner of the camera plateau is susceptible to scratching and losing its anodized color.

The TechWoven Case is Better than FineWoven

iFixit also took its testing techniques to the new TechWoven case. In short, it’s a lot more resilient out of the box compared to FineWoven. However, taking a razor blade to it cuts through the surface treatment, which leads to trouble. It sure is a good thing I don’t keep an exposed razor blade in my pocket.