iPhone Air vs. iPhone 17 Professional: Which one is best for you?

Now that we've seen the precise iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Professional fashions — they had been revealed on the Apple iPhone occasion in the present day — it's time to determine in case you're able to improve to one of many newer gadgets. When you watched Apple's keynote or pored by Engadget's liveblog, you in all probability seen the Air and 17 Professional share fairly just a few similarities — lots of the specs are an identical, or practically 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 fundamental characteristic units — high-refresh ProMotion screens, Apple Intelligence, scratch-resistant Ceramic Protect back and front, Digital camera Management button, MagSafe wi-fi charging — are all largely aligned, too. And there's 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 totally different audiences. The Professional, as typical, is designed to be the no-compromise iPhone, whereas the Air is way more of a trend assertion. It's 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, try our hands-on with the brand new AirPods Professional 3 and the Apple Watch Sequence 11.)

Measurement and weight

The iPhone Air is Apple's thinnest telephone but, at simply 5.6mm thick. As compared, the iPhone 17 Professional is 8.75mm thick — that's greater than 3mm thicker than the Air! I'm nearly sure the Air would get misplaced between my sofa cushions on day one.

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

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's a tad greater than the iPhone 16 Professional's weight of seven.03 ounces (199 grams), in all probability as a result of newer mannequin's bigger battery.

When you determine to improve to the 17 Professional Max as a substitute, it has a bigger 6.9-inch show and weighs a whopping 8.22 ounces (233 grams).

However lengthy story brief, the Air's superthin design and wispier weight is just about the explanation you're shopping for this telephone.

Cameras

Right here's the place the largest 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). Right here's what they embrace:

iPhone 17 Professional rear cameras: The Professional boasts a triple array "Professional Fusion digital camera system," the place the three 48MP cameras mix to supply .5x, 1x, 2x, 4x and 8x optical zoom choices. The Professional additionally gives macro images, spatial pictures and might 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 can enchantment to extra critical video shooters (ProRES Uncooked, Genlock help, cinematic mode and extra).

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

Each telephones have the brand new Heart Stage 18MP front-facing "selfie" digital camera, which eliminates the necessity to rotate your telephone to take a panorama photograph. You as a substitute simply faucet to broaden the sector of view. And when others be a part of the photograph, the digital camera robotically expands the view. And if you're on a video name, the digital camera makes use of synthetic intelligence to regulate the body. In addition they each supply Twin Seize, so you possibly can shoot from the back and front cameras concurrently.

Nonetheless, the digital camera compromises are arguably the Air's largest shortfall. Don't get this telephone in case you like lengthy zooms, ultrawide photographs or top-notch video high quality.

Battery life

Battery life scores ought to at all times be taken with a grain of salt. That stated, Apple claims the Air will ship as much as 27 hours of video playback and might stand up to a 50% cost in half-hour. The excellent news is that mainly matches the battery claims of final 12 months's iPhone 16 Professional. The unhealthy information is that it falls properly wanting the brand new and improved battery specs on this 12 months'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.

Apple

Now, in contrast to the cameras, there's 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 telephone — doesn't that kinda get you again to sq. one?

Worth

The iPhone Air begins at $999, which matches the value on the 256GB tier of the iPhone Plus mannequin it's changing (which simply so occurs to be my favourite). In order that's $100 greater than the beginning worth of final 12 months's 128GB Plus, however with the storage doubled, I suppose I can't complain an excessive amount of.

For 512GB, it'll price you $1,199; and in case you splurge on 1TB, you'll be paying $1,399. And the Air is offered in 4 lighter coloration palettes.

Alternatively, the iPhone 17 Professional begins at $1,099 with 256GB, which is simply $100 extra. You can too 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 actually eye-catching, however you actually need to be sure to're prepared to just accept these digital camera 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 "digital camera plateau" on the prime). That stated, keep in mind you possibly can at all times default to the baseline iPhone 17, which is arguably higher than ever — and has some good characteristic one-ups on the Air, besides.

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

Full specs comparability

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