The truth they are not telling you about the new iPhone 17 Air: Review

The new Phone 17 Air is the prettiest compromise in the Apple Store—paying a premium in AED for a wafer‑thin silhouette that gives up battery, camera versatility, and sustained performance the regular iPhone 17 delivers for less. For most buyers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the 17 is the smarter daily driver; the new Phone 17 Air is a showroom piece with strings attached.

Price in UAE

The iPhone Air sits in that awkward near‑Pro bracket, typically hundreds of dirhams above the regular iPhone 17, which starts lower and feels meaningfully better value at base storage. Factor in the usual VAT and retailer promos, and the 17’s price‑to‑experience ratio only improves, while the Air still asks extra for thinness.

Performance

The headline A19 Pro in the new iPhone 17 Air isn’t the same beast as in the iPhone 17 Pro; it’s effectively a binned, lower‑ceiling version with tighter power limits and a cut GPU core to live inside that razor frame. The result is classic “bursty fast, then breathless”: short sprints look great, but longer tasks—4K exports, gaming sessions, on‑device AI—see the Air throttle earlier and harder than the 17 Pro, and not meaningfully ahead of the regular 17 in real use.

"“There is no world in which the A19 in this phone (iPhone 17) should be outperforming a chip that Apple is specifically labeling as the A19 Pro(iPhone 17 Air).” - Mrwhosetheboss, Youtube

Thermals and battery

That polished titanium shell is stunning, but it’s a lousy heat landlord in such a slim chassis, pushing the chip into self‑preservation sooner. In UAE conditions—hot cars, beach days, mid‑day errands—sustained performance drops arrive quicker, and so does the battery gauge; expect more top‑ups during maps, camera, and social video. The iPhone 17 carries a healthier cell and stays efficient for longer stretches, which matters more than a few grams saved.

Cameras

To stay impossibly thin, the new iPhone 17 Air trims camera hardware, leaning harder on computational tricks that can’t fully replace missing optics. Low light, zoom flexibility, and fast‑moving subjects expose those limits, while the regular iPhone 17’s more conventional module is simply more dependable for everyday shots. If imaging is a priority, the step up is the 17 Pro—not the Air.

Display and build

Yes, the new iPhone 17 Air is shockingly light and thin, and the 120 Hz OLED is gorgeous; it feels like someone sharpened an iPhone to a blade. But when the iPhone 17 also brings a fast, bright screen and solid speakers without the thermal baggage, the Air’s wow factor shrinks to pocket feel over practical gains. Beauty contest winner; marathon DNF.

What reviewers are saying

Early coverage from prominent reviewers has circled the same talking points: dazzling design, noticeable trade‑offs in thermals, battery, and camera flexibility, and pricing that crowds the Pros without their staying power. The vibe is consistent: great to hold, harder to recommend unless thinness is the only non‑negotiable.

Verdict

In the UAE, the writing is in the air, save with the iPhone 17 for balance, or stretch to the 17 Pro for real headroom; the Air taxes the basics to win the catwalk. Call it yet another likely failed attempt at force‑fitting a fourth iPhone after the Mini, the Plus, and the discount‑driven 16e—history doesn’t repeat, but this rhyme is getting loud.