Which one is best for you?

Now that we have seen the precise iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Professional fashions — they had been revealed at the Apple iPhone event in the present day — it is time to resolve if you happen to’re able to improve to one of many newer gadgets. If you happen to watched Apple’s keynote or pored by way of Engadget’s liveblog, you most likely seen the Air and 17 Professional share fairly just a few similarities — most of the specs are equivalent, or almost so.

For starters, each run the brand new A19 Professional chip, giving every of them a efficiency edge over the non-Professional A19 within the baseline iPhone 17. And their screens, our bodies and primary characteristic units — high-refresh ProMotion screens, Apple Intelligence, scratch-resistant Ceramic Defend back and front, Digital camera Management button, MagSafe wi-fi charging — are all largely aligned, too. And there is solely a $100 delta of their worth tags, with the iPhone Air beginning at $999 and the iPhone 17 Professional at $1,099.

However these two telephones have two very completely different audiences. The Professional, as normal, is designed to be the no-compromise iPhone, whereas the Air is way more of a trend assertion. It is the thinnest iPhone ever, and that comes with some notable compromises.

To that finish, let’s take a deep dive on the important thing areas the place the newly launched iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Professional diverge. (For extra of in the present day’s Apple releases, take a look at our hands-on with the new AirPods Pro 3 and the Apple Watch Series 11.)

Measurement and weight

The iPhone Air is Apple’s thinnest cellphone but, at simply 5.6mm thick. Compared, the iPhone 17 Professional is 8.75mm thick — that is greater than 3mm thicker than the Air! I am virtually sure the Air would get misplaced between my sofa cushions on day one.

With regards to the display screen measurement, the iPhone Air has a 6.5-inch show, which is bigger than the 17 Professional’s 6.3-inch display screen. (If you need bigger nonetheless, the iPhone 17 Professional Max is a whopping 6.9 inches diagonally). However the display screen tech makes use of the equivalent Tremendous Retina XDR expertise with all the identical bells and whistles — ProMotion excessive refresh fee, P3 shade gamut, True Tone. They need to look just about equivalent.

As for weight, the Air with its titanium casing ideas the scales at simply 5.82 ounces (165 grams), whereas the iPhone 17 Professional weighs 7.27 ounces (206 grams) with an aluminum chassis. That is a tad greater than the iPhone 16 Professional’s weight of seven.03 ounces (199 grams), most likely because of the newer mannequin’s bigger battery.

If you happen to resolve to improve to the 17 Professional Max as an alternative, it has a bigger 6.9-inch show and weighs a whopping 8.22 ounces (233 grams).

However lengthy story quick, the Air’s superthin design and wispier weight is just about the rationale you are shopping for this cellphone.

Cameras

This is the place the most important variations lie: the cameras. Whereas the iPhone 17 Professional has three rear 48MP cameras, the iPhone Air has only one (additionally 48MP, although it serves as two cameras in a single). This is what they embody:

iPhone 17 Professional rear cameras: The Professional boasts a triple array “Professional Fusion digicam system,” the place the three 48MP cameras mix to supply .5x, 1x, 2x, 4x and 8x optical zoom choices. The Professional additionally gives macro pictures, spatial pictures and may shoot in ProRAW picture mode. Video choices are additionally full-tilt, with 4K Dolby Imaginative and prescient video recording as much as 120fps, together with a litany of refined choices that may enchantment to extra severe video shooters (ProRES Uncooked, Genlock help, cinematic mode and extra).

iPhone Air rear digicam: By comparability, the Air has a single 48MP Fusion digicam system that delivers solely 2x optical zoom along with normal. That additionally means it lacks even the ultrawide (.5x) mode discovered within the baseline iPhone. Video recording is equally restricted to simply half the Professional’s framerate, albeit nonetheless in 4K Dolby Imaginative and prescient.

Each telephones have the new Center Stage 18MP front-facing “selfie” camera, which eliminates the necessity to rotate your cellphone to take a panorama photograph. You as an alternative simply faucet to develop the sector of view. And when others be a part of the photograph, the digicam robotically expands the view. And while you’re on a video name, the digicam makes use of synthetic intelligence to regulate the body. Additionally they each provide Twin Seize, so you may shoot from the back and front cameras concurrently.

Nonetheless, the digicam compromises are arguably the Air’s greatest shortfall. Do not get this cellphone if you happen to like lengthy zooms, ultrawide pictures or top-notch video high quality.

Battery life

Battery life scores ought to at all times be taken with a grain of salt. That mentioned, Apple claims the Air will ship as much as 27 hours of video playback and may rise up to a 50% cost in half-hour. The excellent news is that principally matches the battery claims of final yr’s iPhone 16 Professional. The dangerous information is that it falls nicely wanting the brand new and improved battery specs on this yr’s 17 Professional. That mannequin is rated as much as 33 hours of video playback and as much as a 50% cost in simply 20 minutes with a 40-watt charger.

Now, in contrast to the cameras, there is a workaround for the Air’s shorter battery life. Apple gives an add-on iPhone Air MagSafe battery which snaps on to the Air’s bottom and will get you as much as 40 hours of video playback. However it prices $99 and fattens up your superthin cellphone — does not that kinda get you again to sq. one?

Value

The iPhone Air begins at $999, which matches the value on the 256GB tier of the iPhone Plus mannequin it is changing (which simply so occurs to be my favourite). In order that’s $100 greater than the beginning worth of final yr’s 128GB Plus, however with the storage doubled, I suppose I am unable to complain an excessive amount of.

For 512GB, it’s going to value you $1,199; and if you happen to splurge on 1TB, you will be paying $1,399. And the Air is accessible in 4 lighter shade palettes.

However, the iPhone 17 Professional begins at $1,099 with 256GB, which is simply $100 extra. You can even select 512GB for $1,299 or 1TB for $1,499. (The iPhone 17 Professional Max begins at $1,199 for 256GB and goes as much as $1,999 for 2TB.) The Professional is available in solely three colours, although the Cosmic Orange is unusually daring for the iPhone Professional line.

iPhone Air vs. iPhone 17 Professional: How to decide on

As I instructed above, the iPhone Air is definitely eye-catching, however you actually need to be sure you’re prepared to just accept these digicam and battery compromises. The iPhone 17 Professional is way more of a “no compromise” alternative, albeit one which’s much less of a looker (relying on how you’re feeling about that new “digicam plateau” on the high). That mentioned, bear in mind you may at all times default to the baseline iPhone 17, which is arguably higher than ever — and has some good feature one-ups on the Air, besides.

If I had been selecting between the Air and the Professional, I do know which one can be the clear winner for me — however I am going to go away that call as much as you as a result of I am holding out (and hopeful) for a foldable iPhone in 2026. Within the meantime, you may take a look at Engadget’s preliminary hands-on impressions of the iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro and baseline iPhone 17, in addition to our full critiques of these fashions coming within the close to future.

Full specs comparability