After much debate, I ended up pre-ordering an iPhone Air last week. This was unexpected for a couple of reasons. Originally, I assumed I'd want a Pro Max because of the size and new fabric cases, or maybe I'd stick with the less premium 17 Plus, but as I found out, this just wasn't possible.
Taking a look at the Pro Max, none of the colours really stood out to me, especially when paired with the new fabric cases. Leading up to the event, I wasn't expecting Apple to ditch the black colourway. The silver phone/black case combo looks fine, but if I'm spending that kind of money on a new device, I don't want “fine”.
So I shifted gears to the iPhone 17 Plus, but as I browsed the Apple Store for what seemed like forever, I realized they hadn't released this variant for the iPhone 17. This, like the decision to skip the black Pro/Pro Max, kind of blows my mind?
This whole ordeal showed me how much Apple's made this whole process needlessly complicated by offering arguably too many versions and variations for their phones. The days when you simply had to choose a colour and how much storage you wanted are long gone. Now, it's a matter of specs, size, colour, storage, cases... it's overwhelming to say the least.
In the end, after much back and forth, I realized that the iPhone Air gets me close to the 6.5” display I had on my iPhone 16 Plus without breaking the bank on the 6.9” Pro Max in a colour I don't want. I'm interested to see how the battery holds up for me and how the form factor works with my larger hands. I am admittedly excited to have the faster display and ability to enable “always-on”. Those are the two things I really missed last year going from a Pro Max to a Plus.
My Space Black iPhone Air gets here Friday.