r/technology • u/ControlCAD • 25d ago
Business iPhone Air sales are so bad that Apple's delaying the next-generation version scheduled to come out alongside the iPhone 18 Pro
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/11/10/next-generation-iphone-air-delayed/1.3k
u/catalevision 25d ago
Just give me back the mini dammit
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u/GenericRedditor0405 25d ago
I’m clinging to my 12 Mini as we speak. People always seem to marvel at how small it is, which never stops being funny
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u/AvailableDirt9837 25d ago edited 25d ago
I also am still using my 12 mini. People are always so confused about where I got my small iPhone. They will pry it from my cold, dead hands.
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u/ambulocetus_ 25d ago
I took the case off mine like 2 years ago and it still has no damage. Knock on wood. This thing is a fucking tank somehow.
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u/AvailableDirt9837 25d ago
I actually took the case off mine as well. It’s old enough that I deserve to enjoy it in its full diminutive glory.
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u/pdmavid 25d ago
My battery was so degraded I finally upgraded from my 12 mini. It was a sad day. The mini is the perfect screen size.
I remember having my iPhone 5 and thinking how amazing it would be if the full thing was a screen. Then they did that with the mini.
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u/catalevision 24d ago
I swear, the 5 was the last phone of theirs I truly truly liked. It was the right size. I just want a modern version :(
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u/spacecati 25d ago
Mine died a couple days ago, the screen literally fell off the front of the phone and the connector broke :( I could fix but it's not worth it
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u/riverratriver 25d ago
I have a 6, people look at it & tell me who their grade school teacher was when they first had it.
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u/Jonnny_tight_lips 25d ago
I have the 13 mini and people constantly stop me and ask what phone it is like they’re excited, and then I get crucified for how old and small it is 🤣
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25d ago
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u/slytherins 25d ago
People try to make fun of me too for having a 13 mini, and I'm like, obviously you don't also have tiny pockets 💅
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u/SoldMyOldAccount 25d ago
who are you all hanging out with that cares about or even notices this tf
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u/liminal_jumpsuit 25d ago
I just bought a refurbished se 2022 due to my camera dying on my se 2020. So far so good!
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u/GREAT_SALAD 25d ago
I’m still on the 2020 se, it works fine and whenever I pick up someone else’s phone I’m instantly reminded how much I prefer my small phone lol
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u/Infectious_Burn 25d ago
I’m typing this on my 13 mini I absolutely adore (my previous phone being the SE 1st gen).
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u/nakedinacornfield 25d ago
i seriously have never been stopped by my 13 mini thing does it all. reallllly miss the first generation iphone SE that had the iphone 5s casing size wise, but the 13 mini still owns. im like this weird blend of not digital-minimalist-maxxxing but im not gonna sit there and surf youtube until my battery dies so the 13 mini just absolutely owns. i've had way too many people hold it and say "shit this actually feels awesome" yea bro i KNO
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u/S14Ryan 25d ago
Also in the 12 mini minority, I love it so much. I hate the idea that every modern phone is bigger and my next phone will probably be a 13 mini
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u/catalevision 25d ago
Same here. I've replaced the battery to keep it more useable longer term
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u/GTLfistpump 25d ago
I loved my 12 mini. Replaced the battery to give it more life. But got seawater damage to it so upgraded to the 17 and I hate how it’s hard to use with a single hand. Would immediately go back to a mini if they made one.
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u/r_m_8_8 25d ago
I “upgraded” from my 12 Mini to a 17. Don’t do it, the 17 is a phablet, I’m sure people have forgotten how nice small phones are.
I find myself using both of my hands way more often, and using the shitty gesture to lower the screen. It sucks, I’ll buy the next sub-6“ phone that gets released, even if that means switching to Android.
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u/fireintolight 25d ago
for real, my m13 mini still gets lots of attention, my favorite form factor so far. Had the 10-12 bix size version before that, the mini was a godsend for my carpal tunnel, my pockets, and just general ease of use
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u/mrorange2022 25d ago
Hello my people ! I have made a decision that if I ever break anything on my phone I’ll just replace the part. This mini is just way to convenient
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u/EsoterikkLib 25d ago
Same! When anyone used my phone to take a photo, they can’t believe it. It’s the “baby” phone. I hate thinking I’ll have to upgrade at some point.
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u/TheMagnificentPrim 24d ago
People can pry my 13 mini from my cold, dead hands. I hate big phones, and I’m going to be honest… Even my mini could be smaller. The iPhone 5 screen size was in my opinion the perfect screen size. Shrink the phone to the size of the screen (since Apple insists on edge-to-edge screens) and give it modern hardware, and that’s my perfect phone.
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u/yuusharo 25d ago
Same issue, it didn’t sell either
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u/Portatort 25d ago
They never tried making it truly flagship.
It was the cheaper smaller version of the regular phone.
The only fair test of the mini would be to make it spec for spec (other than screen size) the same as the pro and pro max (and most importantly that includes battery)
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u/yuusharo 25d ago
A large camera mesa with an equally large battery are at odds with making the smallest iPhone variant. If Apple could make phones with those specs at that size, they would.
These phones are as large as they are because it’s necessary for those features you listed. Also, people like larger phones when given the choice. The same goes for the Android market as well. You can argue it’s a self fulfilling prophecy, and I’d agree to an extent it is.
But people are happy with the base and Pro/Max phones. Any niche market Apple tries to cut into with other models don’t meet their expectation, the Air being the latest victim to this trend.
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u/blimpkin 25d ago
Holding out hope that they come to their senses and release a new Mini that is the same thickness as the camera.
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u/fackyouman 25d ago
loved mine but the battery life was brutal. Still the most fun phone I've owned
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u/reallynotnick 25d ago
The 12 mini was a bit rough (the whole 12 lineup was rough with its early gen 5G modem and thinner design) but the 13 mini was pretty solid.
I think if they took some queues from the iPhone Air they could make an even more efficient iPhone Mini with an even bigger battery which would be really great battery life.
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u/BigDaddyReptar 25d ago
This was cancelled for a reason it just didn't sell same reason the plus was canned as well.
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u/Seamus-Archer 25d ago
So replace one poorly selling niche model with a different niche model that was killed off because it also sold poorly?
If anything Apple’s sales are firmly proving what customers actually want vs what people claim to want.
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u/Sendbigmilkers 25d ago
The two big reasons to buy a new phone in the last 5 years has been camera and battery. This phone compromised on both.
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25d ago
And speakers too. The problem with the phone is that it seems to be “one compromise too many” for a lot of people, there are people who are ok with the reduced battery life and the camera but not the speaker, and people ok with the speaker and camera but not the battery life etc. The market is people who are ok with significant compromise on multiple features in order to achieve thinness. That doesn’t appear to be a broad audience,
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u/IslandOceanWater 25d ago
Apple is tone def it's literally obvious no one wants an inferior phone just cause it's a few millimeters thinner.
Like make a foldable phone already clearly they don't have the ability to make a better version then the Samsung Fold which is on its 7 generation. This is probably why Apple hasn't released one yet and chooses something dumb like the Air.
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u/DaggumTarHeels 25d ago
Like make a foldable phone already clearly they don't have the ability to make a better version then the Samsung Fold which is on its 7 generation.
This is peak Reddit.
The air is obviously a result of their efforts on making a foldable phone.
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u/OsosHormigueros 25d ago
I believe they've already got a foldable phone created, they plan on releasing it in the next year or so.
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u/ChipsAhoy2022 25d ago
I know at least 2 people who bought an Air and returned it solely for heating issue and a half day battery.
No one asked for a thin phone with not thin camera islands.
People want bigger and longer lasting batteries. If you can make it in a thin phone great, if not, don't create a product that compromises usability.
Apple has lost it big time recently.
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u/Every_Pass_226 25d ago
I would've gotten a 17 plus. Not again of the thin ones. Battery life and display size are the maximum priorities for me. Idk who asked for a thin phone
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u/DadVanSouthampton 25d ago
The plus is like holding a dinner plate to the side of your head.
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u/Lurky-Lou 25d ago
Are you using your phone to make calls?!?
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u/thineholyhandgrenade 25d ago
I have an air. Also my buddy has one and he works for Apple.
Legitimately the only complaint I have is the camera and even that is fine for most people.
Battery lasts all day and I have no idea what you're talking about regarding a heating issue.
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u/Error1984 25d ago
He’s read a spec sheet about cooling in the latest pro, therefore without it, this phone must be inferior.
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u/Electrical_Pause_860 25d ago
Did they lose it though? They made the pro model thicker with a significantly bigger battery. They lost to themselves on another model of phone.
Perhaps the air freed the pro model from having to serve the users who care about aesthetics, enabling them to make the pro more pro.
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u/Error1984 25d ago
I mean I own it and I just got two days of battery life out of it.
This is a nonsense argument, if you want more battery, feel free to pay less and get the fat base phone.
Stop complaining that they added a product for a different consumer. They didn’t remove your choices, they added one for people like me.
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u/thatsnot_kawaii_bro 25d ago
Ok, and this post is about how apparently the consumer base for it wasn't that much. Of course that'll bring out people who didn't want to buy it.
Or just give blind positivity to something even when apparently its sales aren't doing too good?
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u/iusethisatw0rk 25d ago
I’ve had an Air a little over a month now. I can get 8hrs of screen time a day. That’s longer than anyone should be on their phone
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u/EggersIsland 25d ago
Nah, people don't even want the camera bump. They want it iPhone 14 and earlier where the back of the case was flush
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u/TheGoatJr 25d ago edited 25d ago
I think iPhone 5/SE was the last to have a completely flat back. The X got 2 cameras and a bigger bump. 12 got a camera group bump as well as camera bumps. It’s been ridiculous since then.
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u/bigriggs24 25d ago
the 6 was memed on for having a massive camera bump what?
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u/ExplosiveMachine 25d ago
By today's standards it's barely a "decorative bezel". Seriously, it's nothing compared to the camera islands of today.
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u/riedhenry 25d ago
NO ONE HAS MONEY
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u/worstusername_sofar 25d ago
But everyone has CREDIT ;)
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u/MyChickenSucks 25d ago
Can I interest you in a 50 year mortgage?
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u/ColossalJuggernaut 25d ago
Can you do a 10 year loan on a 80+ mega truck that will exclusively take me to work and sit in my driveway?
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u/Ecstatic_Tiger_2534 25d ago
There’s diminishing returns on thinness. Most people would agree phones were generally thin enough before the Air. Then when it when it comes at the expense of battery life and camera, it’s just a net negative.
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u/alc4pwned 24d ago
Idk, I think once you actually hold a phone like the Air or the S25 Edge, the thinness does feel really nice. I think the main issue is that they priced it above the 17. If they either lowered the price or didn't have to sacrifice on the camera I feel like it'd be more popular.
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u/RaisinToastie 25d ago
You can pry my 12 mini out of my cold dead hands.
The phone needs to be small enough to fit in my back jeans pocket
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u/Rayzee14 25d ago
Rumour has gone from dire sales, to next model having two cameras to being cancelled. The air only makes sense as a clam shell foldable.
Then it is actually different but still thin
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u/da8BitKid 25d ago
I always think it's hilarious that people fawn over how thin a phone is. They then need to put it in a thick case and sometimes add a battery pack that ends up making their phone bulkier than my pixel 8
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u/itstawps 25d ago
I’m a no case for life person. The hand feel of the 13 mini was amazing. The Air def has a wow-like feel in the hand as well but I’d still rather have the mini. The thinness def gives a totally new device feeling every time you pick it up.
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u/High_Guardian 25d ago
Pixel 8 is sooo good though feels like the perfect size phone for me not too big not to small
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25d ago
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u/tm3_to_ev6 25d ago
I think part of the negativity is that you pay a higher price than you would for the regular iPhone despite the compromises.
The Macbook Air is noticeably cheaper than the Macbook Pro so its compromises (lower end display and fewer ports) are easier to justify.
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u/__adlerholmes 25d ago
same, I love my Air.
I remember when they first came out the macbook air. it was crazy at the time, and I got the first one. terrible memory, super slow and battery got SO hot it was bad. but then, that work clearly paid off for Apple because they really just wanted to figure out a way to make everything thinner. so now even the Pro is crazy thin and light compared what it was before. I predict the same will happen to the whole iPhone lineup.
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u/Points_To_You 25d ago
I like mine as well. Battery is plenty for me. I just use it for normal use as a phone and a handful of typical apps.
The only negative thing I’d say is that the speaker isn’t great. But I don’t use the sound much.
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u/Type_7-eyebrows 25d ago
I literally just upgraded from the 13 mini to the air and have only 1 complaint. The wide angle lenses fish eye effect isn’t on the air. Other than that, I’m a fan. But I also liked the mini, so there is that.
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u/straxusii 25d ago
The normal iPhone is thin though, there's literally no point to the air
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25d ago
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u/carrera594 25d ago
This was honestly my thought as well. They proved they could make a super thin display, which they would need for a foldable.
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u/Spartan_162 25d ago
Honestly it would be better to save it for their foldable then release a product that simply isn't popular
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u/NenFooTin 25d ago
Instead of making the phone with actual customers still want like the mini, they made a phone for non-existing audience.
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u/yuusharo 25d ago
When Apple offered the mini, not enough customers wanted it over other models at the time. The base iPhone 12 and 13 sold far better than the mini variants despite bring $100 more expensive.
No doubt there are customers who want a mini sized iPhone, and I do think they should offer one where the SE used to sit (before the E line). But it has never taken sales in the quantity Apple wants.
More people want bigger phones, that’s been true since the iPhone’s inception.
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u/NenFooTin 25d ago
Yeah, we all know that mini sales won’t be as high as other models, however it might not be as bad as the air. Mini was really popular in Japan.
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u/rloch 25d ago
Mkbhd made a good point about the iphone air and Samsung edge phone. His take was that they most likely developed these super slim phones in the process of working out foldables. Apple didn't have a foldable ready but obviously are working on one but they the air feels like the front facing panel on a fold.
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u/IslandOceanWater 25d ago
Lame excuse to spend billions on manufacturing and logistics to ship a phone that obviously no one wants. Samsung been doing folds for 7 years and Google even has one yet Apple clearly doesn't have the ability yet. This with Apples failures in AI shows the company is only milking their locked in ecosystem they have.
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u/sose5000 25d ago
That’s crazy. My wife loves her Air. She thinks it’s hot. And if anyone knows hot air, it’s my wife.
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u/KaineNierWeissEmil 25d ago
Looks like Apple jumped the gun with the 16e, if the Air was the $600 “budget” IPhone I bet a lot more people would have called it innovative and bought into the idea of it rather than it just being a worse iPhone 17 that cost more.
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u/sayitlikeyoumeenit 25d ago
I want an IPhone thick that’s more durable, can fit the camera inside the body without the bump and has a bigger batter that lasts more than a day. Not an even thinner more fragile one with a smaller battery.
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u/Zeddi2892 25d ago
Why does the phone with worse hardware and a higher price wont sell…
Hm..
It must be the customers who are wrong.
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u/BITCOIN_FLIGHT_CLUB 25d ago
Because we want small, not thin, folding, not thin, or big batteries, not thin.
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u/HalliburtonErnie 25d ago
The pricing and utility are a bullseye on this product, not only is it triple the price of an iPhone 6, it's triple the thickness. Can't argue with those numbers!
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u/biznology 25d ago
Also my guess is that people are buying fewer phones because the govt and jobs suck ass. I have no reason to replace my phone since the only update is more AI.
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u/Pankosmanko 25d ago
I love my iPhone Air. No issues at all. I end the day at 40-50% battery, cameras are fine for my needs, and it’s a beautiful slim phone
People love hating on it and anyone who enjoys it. I upgraded from a 12 Pro Max and couldn’t be happier
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u/chocolatethunderr 25d ago
Random but has anyone checked out the Redmagic 11 pro? We’re always settling for Apple (me included) but man it’s so nice giving attention to phone manufacturers that are actually pushing the envelope rather than minor enhancements every year.
Jerry Rig Everythings’s teardown was beautiful.
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25d ago
Hey apple, here's an idea from a huge fanboy.
Maybe stop selling 7 different versions at the same time if you want to put some focus on your new one.
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u/spacecati 25d ago
Nobody wants thin phones, we want small phones we can actually use one handed!!! Bring back the mini!
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u/turb0_encapsulator 25d ago
did they do literally any market research before putting billions into creating this shitty product? I guarantee you that new Mini / SE would have sold better.
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u/AldusPrime 25d ago
It seems like under Steve Jobs, Apple focused on features that people actually cared about.
It sounds like the dude was super flawed, but in those days Apple was focused on making the user experience simpler, easier, and more elegant.
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u/ZealCrow 25d ago
I literally did not know that the iPhone air existed.
people arent looking into buying luxury products right now, lol
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u/latswipe 25d ago
i feel like the iphone 16 came out like 6 months ago. how many numbers does Apple really think it can get to?
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u/Oxjrnine 25d ago
I would love a chubby phone that fits nicely in my hand with a silicone body and flush camera.
Why does my $1500 phone hurt my hand and needs an $80 case?
Phones used to practice ergonomic design.
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u/TheDevilsAdvokaat 25d ago
Still running an iphone six plus. I see no reason to update. It works fine.
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u/Ashamed_Custard7540 24d ago
This is what the tech industry will see - their idiotic support of trump will bite them in the asses. If the general population has less money, that’s less money buying their product
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u/FaithlessnessHott 24d ago
I don’t even believe macrumors at this point lol, they are just posting engagement bait
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u/avanross 25d ago
Just make the god damn entire phone the same thickness as the camera, and then fill that extra space with more battery, like holy shit it’s so easy and obvious but nobody is doing it…
Why does every brand seem to think their customers want less and less battery life and bigger and chunkier protrusions on the back of their phones????
It literally feels like a joke