Apple just unleashed some wild new Titanic-level tidbits about the iPhone Air, and rightfully so, your head might explode. Essentially, the entire device is this huge battery with the delicate internals packed into its camera bump. Yes, really. All the processing power is crammed into that little plateau at the back. Either the most cutting-edge engineering has been unleashed or is it just Apple being Apple for the nth time?
This leak as given by BasicAppleGuy shows engineering-wise that the whole iPhone Air design is an architectural total re-thinking. Like, they really created the phone around the battery instead of vice versa. And that would make sense because, battery life: that’s basically the number one thing everyone complains about with any phone these days. But hold on: despite the phone practically being the battery itself, 3145 mAh is all it can get. Compared to that, the base iPhone 17 stands at 3692 mAh, the Pro at 4252 mAh, and the Pro Max at a very handsome 5088 mAh. So we got all that space and less capacity than the regular model batteries? What gives, Apple?
This has been an absolute treat for hardcore gamers and techies. Some call it an “engineering masterpiece,” while others say, “all that for the battery life to still be shit smh.” And you know what? Both are pretty much valid. Apple’s design is innovative to jazz, but at the same time… it’s Apple. They wouldn’t be known for giving us everything we’ve ever wanted.
Speaking of things we want—many comments have been asking about removable batteries. C’mon, Apple, just give us removable batteries! But no, that would be way too simple. Instead, we’re stuck with a weird battery-first design that’s bound to have some… let’s say, weird side effects.
Another big concern from the comments is that once compute power demands go into the high levels, this thing will heat up-famous. Having all the processing power concentrated in one small area instead of being distributed-this is basically a recipe for thermal throttling city. And what about when the battery eventually swells? Will the front glass bulge out, or maybe the back glass? Those are the real big questions for people!
And then there’s this whole audio situation. Apparently, the iPhone Air is stuck with really one speaker. No stereo, my friend. Which is… a choice. Definitely feels like this model might not be for the media consumption crowd anyway. Or maybe Apple just assumes everyone is using AirPods anyway, so quality speakers are a bit of a waste.
The situation with colors, though, is pretty interesting. There’s a vibe going around that the Air might have better color options than the Pro models this year. Like Pro colors were “really sad,” one user said; maybe that’s done deliberately to steer more people toward the Air. And eh, they’re throwing in orange! That’s pretty sweet.
But the question goes: Is this even innovative, or is Apple just churning out another different design? From what has been said, it seems like the whole motherboard is right underneath the camera bump and is covered by a kind of panel, so it’s not like the components are in the bump. Rather, they’ve designed the whole phone concentrating on giving the biggest battery space possible.
Some people liken this to an upside-down iMac, which… okay, I can see it. Others are just amazed by the sheer comedic gall that is this design. Definitely a bold move, but we will have to wait and see if it pays off.
Right after you thought things couldn’t get any crazier: battery-focused design, and then Apple goes and releases a battery pack extender. If the entire phone is a battery, why would you need an external battery? Unless the battery life isn’t good, which is according to the specs… I’m not talking about blowing the competition right now.
Those EU requirements are probably one hell of a good grout for this design. With this new regulation stipulating better battery life and replaceability, Apple had to get really creative. And really creative it got. This might be a total hit or a total fail-there’s going to be almost no middle ground in here.
One way or the other, there’s another example of Apple going off their own way. Whether that’s good or bad depends on your perspective. But certainly, from what everyone has seen, the iPhone Air is not boring. It is pushing the envelope and making people talk and probably selling like hotcakes one way or the other, irrespective of whether there are proper battles blasting it or not. Because it’s Apple, and that’s just how they roll.
So, iPhone Air, in all seriousness, is mostly a battery with a phone on it. Whether it’s genius or mad, we’ll see when people get hands-on with it. Till then, it must be among the most interesting phone designs we’ve seen for a bit. Even if the battery capacity numbers are a little bit of an insult.
