It’s often said that Apple doesn’t do things first; it does them right. But not everything can be done right. And my fear is that the faults of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, which launched this week a good four months before the iPhone 17 Air, are innate to this type of device rather than something that can be fixed.
There are obviously positive points to this form factor, which is why Samsung and Apple are both going down the sub-6mm road. As well as being just 5.8mm thick, the S25 Edge weighs 163g, which is amazingly light for a phone with a 6.7-inch display and actually lighter than each of Apple’s current 6.1-inch handsets. I haven’t held one, but by all accounts, the Edge’s lack of heft is strikingly noticeable in the hand, and I can see why that appeals… it just doesn’t appeal to me.
If you offered to make my 3.5-pound MacBook Pro lighter, I’d jump at the chance. Less weight in the rucksack when I take it to the office would be a welcome upgrade. Same for my iPad Air (460g) and AirPods Max (386g, plus another 135g for the stupid case). But weight simply isn’t a pain point for my iPhone 16 Plus (6.7 inches, 199g). And I’d go further and say that I would actively dislike it being made any lighter.
Ever notice that a tennis ball is more difficult to catch than something harder and heavier, like a baseball or cricket ball? It’s because weight makes an object sink into your hand and stay there, while lighter objects need to be actively gripped. A 199g phone, plus case, sits nicely in my hand. A phone that’s 163g (which likely isn’t cased because you want to show off the groundbreaking slimline design) is far more likely to be dropped, especially if it’s almost entirely made of smooth glass. And then, enhanced crack protection or no enhanced crack protection, you’re risking disaster.
What does this dubious gift of lightness cost us? Plenty. The S25 Edge comes with three main compromises: lower battery capacity (1000mAh less than the S25+ with significantly slower charging), a weaker camera system (no telephoto lens, hence worse zoom), and a higher price. Phone cameras have debatably reached a stage of evolution where any one of them is as good as almost anyone needs, but price and battery life are, unlike weight, active pain points. I find it baffling that someone would willingly pay more for a phone that lasts less time purely for the sake of making it thinner.
It’s not like this is a particularly attractive design, either. It’s just the same old glowing rectangle, camera lenses arrayed vertically on the back in the usual Galaxy style, pinhole camera cutout on the front. And because of the design obstacle that is the USB-C port (if only there was some way to get rid of that…), the bottom edge looks wonky, with the port sitting closer to the rear of the chassis than the front. It’s just not a design that has anything to recommend it other than being thin.
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
All of these compromises—and more—are expected to afflict the iPhone 17 Air. Apple’s ultra-thin handset will reportedly have just one rear camera, a higher price than the iPhone 16 Plus, and battery life so bad that it will sell an accessory just so users can get through the day. Granted, people who have held dummies have come away very impressed with the design, but remember, these aren’t working models. First impressions are one thing; actually using it after the wow factor wears off is another.
A common argument in favor of major change is to say that you’ll feel differently once you’ve had a chance to get used to it. And until now Apple watchers have been holding out hope that the iPhone 17 Air would pull off a similar trick, that while it seems impractical in theory, we’ll fall in love with the object once it’s in our hands, once we’ve spent some time with it and grown accustomed to its benefits. That’s why rival products are so important for our understanding of the 17 Air. They give reviewers a chance to actually experience the reality of a sub-6mm smartphone.
The launch of the S25 Edge, then, has been an interesting exercise for Apple fans. But if this is what’s in store for the iPhone 17 Air in the fall, I feel less optimistic than ever. Not for me, thanks.