iPhone Air vs. iPhone 17 Pro: Which one is right for you?

Now we’ve seen the actual iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro models – they are Revealed in Apple iPhone Event Today – It’s time to decide if you’re ready to upgrade to one of these new devices. If you watched Apple’s keynote or looked at it carefully Engadget’s Liveblogyou may have noticed that the air and 17 professionals share a lot of similarities – many of the specifications are the same, or almost it is.

For beginners, both run the new A19 Pro chip, giving each of them a performance advantage in the non-Pro A19 in the baseline iPhone 17. Its screen, body and basic feature set – high refresh promotional screen, Apple Intelligence, Intelligence, Intelligence, scratch-resistant ceramic shield front and back, wireless phone, Magsafe Widlecafe Buckafe Buckafe, Magsafe Widlecafe Ally Ally Ally Ally Ally lar a lar dar a lar dar ralgely lar dar ry largely. And the Delta with only $100 on the price tag, the iPhone Air starts at $999 and the iPhone 17 Pro costs $1,099.

But these two phones have two completely different audiences. As usual, professionals aim to be a stretchy iPhone, and the air is more of a fashion statement. This is the thinnest iPhone ever, with some notable compromises.

To do this, let’s dive into the key areas of the newly introduced iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro Diverge. (For more information on today’s Apple releases, check out our Hands-on with the new Airpods Pro 3 and Apple Watch Series 11)

Size and weight

The iPhone Air is Apple’s thinnest phone, at just 5.6mm. By comparison, the iPhone 17 Pro is 8.75mm thicker than the air! I’m almost certain that on the first day, there will be air loss between my sofa cushions.

When it comes to screen size, the iPhone Air has a 6.5-inch display that is larger than the 17 Pro’s 6.3-inch screen. (The iPhone 17 Pro Max has an angle of up to 6.9 inches if you want bigger). But the screen technology uses the same Super Retinal XDR technology and has all the same bells and whistles – Promotional high refresh rate, P3 color range, real tone. They should look almost the same.

As for weight, the air containing the titanium casing is only 5.82 ounces (165 grams), while the iPhone 17 Pro has a 7.27 ounces (206 grams) with an aluminum chassis. That’s more than the iPhone 16 Pro weighs 7.03 ounces (199 grams), which is probably more, probably due to the larger battery in the newer model.

If you decide to upgrade to the 17 Pro Max, it has a larger 6.9-inch display and weighs up to 8.22 oz (233 grams).

But, long story short, the super design of the air and the wiser weight are pretty much the reason you buy this phone.

camera

This is the biggest difference: the camera. Although the iPhone 17 Pro has three rear 48MP cameras, there is only one iPhone Air (also has 48MP, although it is used as two cameras). They include:

iPhone 17 Pro rear camera: The professional has a triple array “Pro Fusion Camera System” where three 48MP camera combinations offer .5x, 1x, 2x, 4x, 4x and 8x optical zoom options. The professional also offers macro photography, spatial photos, and can be taken in Proraw image mode. The video product is also fully tilted, with 4K Dolby Vision recording up to 120fps, and a range of sophisticated options to attract more serious video shooters (PRORES RAW, GENLOCK support, Cinematic Mode, etc.).

iPhone air rear camera: In contrast, the air has a 48MP fusion camera system that offers only 2x optical zoom except for the standard. This also means it even lacks the speeding (.5x) mode found in baseline iPhones. Video recording is similarly limited to half the frame rate for professionals, although still in 4K Dolby Vision.

Both phones have New Center Stage 18MP Front-facing “Self-Photo” Camerawhich eliminates the need to rotate the phone to take pictures of the landscape. Instead, you can expand your vision with just a click. The camera automatically expands the view when others join a photo. When you make video calls, the camera uses artificial intelligence to adjust the frame. They both offer dual capture so you can shoot from both the front and rear cameras at the same time.

Still, camera compromise is arguably the biggest gap in the air. Don’t get this phone if you like long zoom, super shooting or top-notch video quality.

Battery life

Battery life should always be done with one grain of salt. That said, Apple claims that Air will provide up to 27 hours of video playback and can get 50% of the fee in 30 minutes. The good news is that it basically matches last year’s iPhone 16 Pro’s battery claims. The bad news is that it’s far less than the new and improved battery specifications of the 17 Pro this year. This model can play videos up to 33 hours and charge 50% in just 20 minutes using a 40-watt charger.

Now, unlike cameras, air has a shorter battery life. Apple offers an additional iPhone Air Magsafe battery that is close to the back of the air and allows you to play videos for up to 40 hours. But it costs $99 and cheer on your super phone? Isn’t this bringing you back to the First Square?

price

The iPhone Air starts at $999, matching the 256GB layer of the iPhone Plus model (just happens to be my favorite). So that’s $100 more than the starting price of the 128GB Plus last year, but with the increase in storage, I don’t think I can complain too much.

For 512GB, it costs $1,199; if you splurge at 1TB, you’ll pay $1,399. The air has four lighter palettes.

On the other hand, the iPhone 17 Pro starts at $1,099 and the 256GB price is just $100. You can also choose 512GB for $1,299 or 1TB for $1,499. (The iPhone 17 Pro Max starts at $1,199 for 256GB and $1,999 for 2TB.) The Pro has only three colors, although the Universe Orange is unusually bold for the iPhone Pro range.

iPhone Air vs. iPhone 17 Pro: How to choose

As I suggested above, iPhone air is certainly compelling, but you do need to make sure you are ready to embrace those camera and battery tradeoffs. The iPhone 17 Pro is more like a “no compromise” option, although it doesn’t look like a different look (depending on how you feel about the highest new “camera plateau”). That said, remember that you can always default to the baseline iPhone 17, which is arguably better than ever – and there are some nice ones Air start,start up.

If I choose between air and professionals, I know which one is my obvious winner – but I will leave this decision to you because I stick with it (full of hope) Foldable iPhone In 2026. Meanwhile, you can check out Engadget’s initial hands-on impressions iPhone Air,,,,, iPhone 17 Pro and baseline iPhone 17and our complete comments on these models in the near future.

Complete specification comparison