WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:04.400 Here it is. The iPhone Air. 00:00:03.439 --> 00:00:11.000 >> Wow. >> Okay. Very funny, guys. Where is it? >> Our friends at Dbrand sent it over. 00:00:13.040 --> 00:00:16.519 >> Here you go. 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:26.640 >> According to the instructions, Dbrand wants me to get it myself. 00:00:24.560 --> 00:00:30.640 >> Actually, don't don't >> Why do that? >> It is a real cut. You don't do that, 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:35.520 please. >> But that's Look at the blood on it. It's ringing. 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:41.200 >> I could get my arm out of it. >> Don't do that, Lionus. 00:00:39.120 --> 00:00:44.399 >> No. My god, Lus. >> No. No. 00:00:42.800 --> 00:00:49.200 >> Okay, there's an iPhone. >> Oh my god. 00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:54.399 >> Okay. >> What a poorly crafted trap, Dbrand. 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:57.840 >> Oh, well that that was better than I expected. 00:00:56.480 --> 00:01:03.680 Next time, if you don't want me to get the iPhone Air, you'll have to make a better trap. Also, I'm just going to 00:01:00.480 --> 00:01:07.360 break the glass for fun. There you go. 00:01:03.680 --> 00:01:09.360 Get Get this out of here. 00:01:07.360 --> 00:01:15.040 Without further ado, let's open up the extremely generous accessory package for 00:01:12.159 --> 00:01:21.040 the iPhone Air. Inside you will find a USBC to C USB 2 cable. 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:28.799 Wow, is that even a meter? Did you measure 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:30.000 it? and one piece of paper. That's it. 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:33.360 I mean, it's better than what they include with the AirPods Pro 3s. You 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:40.479 don't even get a cable with those anymore. But how else would Apple save 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:43.600 the envir Wow, it's really thin. 00:01:40.479 --> 00:01:46.000 Oh, and it doesn't have the issue that I 00:01:43.600 --> 00:01:50.000 have with some iPhones where the edges are really sharp. Like, they managed to 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:55.200 make it this thin without you feeling like it's going to slice your fingers 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:57.360 off at the first knuckle. Oh, I like it. 00:01:55.200 --> 00:02:01.280 I don't even mind the plateau. See, Google, I blame Google for this. They 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:07.320 normalized this Apple's just taken Google's crappy design and 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:07.320 elevated it. Get it? 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:14.560 It's taller. In all seriousness, the plateau, which 00:02:12.480 --> 00:02:19.040 Apple says was created to house some of the essential functions of their 00:02:16.239 --> 00:02:22.160 thinnest phone ever, is far from the only controversial thing about this. 00:02:20.720 --> 00:02:27.920 Let's start with a quick exterior tour. Over on the right, we will find our lock 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:29.599 button along with oo camera button. I 00:02:27.920 --> 00:02:33.120 don't actually like it for using as a shutter. I actually just prefer the 00:02:30.959 --> 00:02:38.400 on-creen button, but I do like it as a quick button for opening up the camera. 00:02:34.959 --> 00:02:42.480 On the bottom, we find Oh, interesting. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:44.239 An offcenter USB 2 type-C port. Oh, it's 00:02:42.480 --> 00:02:48.400 not that offc center. People are complaining about such little things, 00:02:46.480 --> 00:02:52.959 man. especially when you have big things to complain about down here, like the 00:02:50.080 --> 00:02:58.640 lack of a speaker. The amplified earpiece speaker right here is the only 00:02:56.000 --> 00:03:02.959 speaker you will find on the iPhone Air. Finally, over on the other side, we've 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:06.560 got our volume rocker as well as action button, which can be programmed to long 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:10.319 press and activate pretty much whatever you want as long as Apple authorizes you 00:03:08.720 --> 00:03:14.159 to use it for that. There's really not much else to say about it other than 00:03:12.480 --> 00:03:19.120 damn, I know it's $200 extra for a phone that 00:03:17.519 --> 00:03:24.720 is missing a lot of features from the regular iPhone 17, especially notably a 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:31.599 second camera. That's right. You get just one 48 megapixel fusion camera with 00:03:28.640 --> 00:03:34.799 2x optical zoom that is not optical zoom at all. It's just playing around with 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:39.120 which pixels it's using on the sensor and applying digital processing. full 00:03:37.200 --> 00:03:42.640 support for MagSafe in spite of its thinness. Do we have any Mags safe 00:03:40.480 --> 00:03:47.360 accessories that we can stick on it? I'm kidding. I wouldn't want them. What 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:52.080 would be the point of buying the world's thinnest iPhone only to put a giant 00:03:49.599 --> 00:03:55.760 honking accessory on it? And yet, you know that's what you're going to do. If 00:03:54.640 --> 00:04:01.120 you're going to put a skin on, it should be from our sponsor Dbrand. 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:02.720 Wow. Thank you. Oo, tank case. Oh my 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:07.599 god. Really? So Dbrand took the whole concept 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:11.840 of why would you put a big bulky case on 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:16.320 the thinnest phone and freaking ran with it with this thing. I mean, I'd hate for 00:04:14.799 --> 00:04:22.240 my expensive iPhone air to get broken unless this thing started at $1,000. 00:04:19.840 --> 00:04:25.440 It's like the very opposite of who I would imagine the target audience is for 00:04:23.840 --> 00:04:29.919 the iPhone Air. Everything about the iPhone Air says I'm an Asian lady who 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:34.800 loves designer brands. And everything about this case that I've put on it says 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:36.720 that I'm a pubescent or young adult male 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:41.199 who's into guns. Apparently the buttons on it are interchangeable though. That 00:04:38.400 --> 00:04:46.080 okay. Okay, that's pretty cool. I'm going to go with the green one because 00:04:43.280 --> 00:04:51.440 whatever. I think camo is cool. Oh, I didn't see the pink ones. Why' I put the 00:04:48.080 --> 00:04:53.199 stupid military green on? All right, 00:04:51.440 --> 00:04:57.600 there it is. The tank. You can get yours at my boss is a shortnaristic 00:04:55.360 --> 00:05:01.759 asshole.com. I assume they own that domain as well. 00:04:59.919 --> 00:05:06.800 Nope. >> Nope. They have to buy it now. 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:11.680 And the best part is when a Dbrand employee buys it, well, I'm not their 00:05:09.919 --> 00:05:15.280 boss. One area where you won't find any 00:05:13.280 --> 00:05:20.720 controversy around the iPhone Air is the screen. It's absolutely gorgeous. At 6 00:05:18.160 --> 00:05:26.560 1/2 in, it is just in between the iPhone 17 and 17 Pro and the 17 Pro Max. And 00:05:24.479 --> 00:05:31.759 like them, it features Apple's ceramic Shield 2, which they claim is much more 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:35.680 scratch resistant. And it features a maximum brightness of up to 3,000 nits 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:42.000 outdoors, which we were able to validate, and 1,600 nits maximum in HDR. 00:05:39.840 --> 00:05:46.560 Of course, for me, the bigger one is that they claim one nit of minimum 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:50.720 brightness in their brightness reduced mode, which can be accessed. Oh, shoot. 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:56.720 It isn't linked on this one. I will have to edit it. And it's worth it because it 00:05:53.120 --> 00:06:00.400 is so awesome. Yeah, it's an excess. Ah, 00:05:56.720 --> 00:06:02.000 it's Dude, this at night is a freaking 00:06:00.400 --> 00:06:06.400 lifesaver. You crank your brightness all the way down, dude. Okay, it looks like 00:06:04.479 --> 00:06:10.160 nothing right now. That's because it's almost nothing. But like at night when 00:06:08.400 --> 00:06:13.520 I'm going to bed, forget like reduce blue light mode or whatever. This is 00:06:12.080 --> 00:06:17.199 freaking awesome. Sitting there playing Wordscapes in bed with the wife. It's 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:20.960 great. I just have to figure out how to turn it back on. Or maybe I shouldn't. 00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:25.919 This is a great opportunity to have a look at Apple's new anti-glare coating. 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:32.000 Oh, okay. I gotta say, I wouldn't quite put this 00:06:28.479 --> 00:06:34.639 on par with the S24 Ultra, but damn, 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:41.520 that's not bad. Here, let's grab a crappy phone. Ah, 00:06:38.880 --> 00:06:44.479 it's a little better. Yeah, you just you just want less. So, I'm scanning around 00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:49.360 for the same. Like, here's the brightest spot. It's a little better. Like every 00:06:47.280 --> 00:06:55.440 iPhone in the 2025 lineup, it features an up to 120 Hz prootion display. But 00:06:53.039 --> 00:07:01.039 unlike the other iPhones that it came out alongside, the performance in gaming 00:06:57.840 --> 00:07:02.400 is not necessarily peak. See, Apple 00:07:01.039 --> 00:07:07.840 raised a lot of eyebrows when they announced that the Air would feature the 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:11.120 same A19 Processor that's in the iPhone 00:07:07.840 --> 00:07:13.120 17 Pro and Pro Max, albeit with one 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:17.599 fever GPU core. So, we were thinking like, man, it's so thin. And they were 00:07:16.080 --> 00:07:21.520 up there on stage saying, "Yeah, we needed an aluminum body in order to 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:26.479 freaking cool this thing in our Pro phono." But then the Air has a titanium 00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:32.319 body, which in people's bent tests has apparently held up extraordinarily well. 00:07:29.280 --> 00:07:35.039 What gives? Turns out what gives is some 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:41.759 thermal throttling. With that said, while the iPhone Air does fall behind 00:07:37.440 --> 00:07:44.080 the 17 and the 17 Pro in most cases, 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:50.160 what it doesn't fall behind is its Android competition. I was shocked to 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:52.160 see it not only lead the Galaxy S25 Edge 00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:57.120 in everything but Geekbench CPU multi-threaded where it ties and 3D Mark 00:07:54.720 --> 00:08:01.759 Steel Nomad where I don't even know if I can count because in 3D Mark Wildlife 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:06.400 Extreme where we actually run the test multiple times once it reaches its 00:08:04.400 --> 00:08:10.479 minimum score where realistically all of the phones are thermal throttling the 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:15.360 air comes out ahead and that ignores the absolute 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:18.080 buttwamping that the Pixel 10 Pro gets. 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:22.639 Like, man, for years, Apple's whole pitch was, well, our hardware is kind of 00:08:20.400 --> 00:08:26.479 a generation or two behind, but you'll stay for the software and the ecosystem. 00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:31.360 Nowadays, it's like, I got to be Apple sitting here going. 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:34.959 This is our thin one. Y'all can't even beat this. 00:08:33.760 --> 00:08:39.599 If you guys want to check out the details, we're going to have the Labs website linked down below where they'll 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:46.080 have more extensive testing and graphs and all that good stuff for you folks who enjoy it. In the meantime, let's 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:49.839 talk about charging and battery life. Yes, my friends, we are returning to 00:08:47.680 --> 00:08:56.080 controversy. The iPhone Air not only charges slower than its 17 and 17 Pro 00:08:53.040 --> 00:08:58.240 compatriots, but manages less battery 00:08:56.080 --> 00:09:04.240 life in usage thanks to, of course, being well, significantly thinner. With 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:10.959 that said, it's not that bad. It's worse than the Galaxy S25 Edge, but then it's 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:14.080 also thinner than the Galaxy S25 Edge. 00:09:10.959 --> 00:09:17.440 And embarrassingly again for Google, it 00:09:14.080 --> 00:09:22.240 manages to beat the Pixel 10 Pro in 00:09:17.440 --> 00:09:24.240 battery life for crying out loud. Man, I 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:29.519 don't know who's making it harder to be an Android user these days, Apple or 00:09:26.959 --> 00:09:33.279 Google. We were able to validate Apple's claim that you can reach up to 50% 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:37.920 battery life in 30 minutes with an appropriately spec charger. Not that 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:43.920 they include one in the box. And perhaps more impressively, from zero, you can 00:09:39.920 --> 00:09:45.839 get to about 25% in just 12 minutes. Not 00:09:43.920 --> 00:09:49.440 bad. But what will I be doing for all of that battery life? Why don't we fire up 00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:55.040 YouTube and see just how usable these speakers are? Give me that crab rave. 00:09:55.040 --> 00:10:00.839 Okay, it's the worst speaker I've heard on an iPhone in quite some time. 00:10:01.760 --> 00:10:07.839 And it's not close. 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:12.399 Physics, right? Like Apple has done a lot to bend the laws of physics in terms 00:10:10.320 --> 00:10:18.800 of making their very compact devices sound shockingly big, but there's only 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:22.640 so much they can do. It's just not a very big speaker. It's about as good as 00:10:21.040 --> 00:10:27.600 I could have possibly imagined it sounding, though. Let's try out the 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:30.000 camera. Ooh, new camera design now 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:34.079 simpler than ever. Gotta say, man, as someone who uses the telephoto on my 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:37.120 phone a lot, like I don't really care about not having the ultra wide, but 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:43.920 missing the telephoto is kind of a downer. Wow, look at that, dude. I don't 00:10:42.079 --> 00:10:49.200 even have noise in your shirt. Like, there's a little bit, but like wow. And 00:10:46.959 --> 00:10:53.920 like, it knows that you and Reese aren't the same color. Dude, you see some of 00:10:51.279 --> 00:10:58.640 these like racist phones we get? Like I can't believe what some phones are doing 00:10:56.000 --> 00:11:03.920 to skin tones. Whereas like Apple, they just Yep. That's what they look like. 00:11:01.760 --> 00:11:07.839 That's good. And that's especially hard cuz it's it's legitimately like really 00:11:06.240 --> 00:11:12.959 dark over there. They're all sitting in the shadows. I'm I'm actually really I'm 00:11:10.640 --> 00:11:19.200 Man, I'm really happy with that. Now, let's have a look at the fake telephoto. 00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:20.640 Yeah, it's it's worse. It's just It's 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:24.480 just not better, though. That's the issue that I have. I swear to God, one 00:11:23.040 --> 00:11:28.560 of these days I'm going to get through an Apple device video without talking 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:35.279 about the inconsistency in their UI design. I want to un what I'm doing. No, 00:11:31.839 --> 00:11:38.560 I have to painstakingly do this because 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:40.959 you don't have a back button. 00:11:38.560 --> 00:11:45.440 Oh. Oh, I should try the new simultaneous recording feature. How the 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:48.640 hell do I do that? Whoa, check this out. Like I'm on the ShortCircuit set. This 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:53.680 is what everything looks like on the ShortCircuit set. Look, look at there's Labs nerds. 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:58.000 >> You can move the window around, too. >> What's up? I can move the Oh, I can 00:11:55.920 --> 00:12:01.920 move. Oh, yeah. Oh, I can put it dead center so I can just look at myself 00:12:00.079 --> 00:12:06.800 instead of other people because that's honestly the most important part for me 00:12:04.079 --> 00:12:09.680 cuz I just love the look of myself. I can't actually. Apple won't let you just 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:16.240 put it wherever you want. You have to put it in a corner. See? Oh man. Sorry. 00:12:13.920 --> 00:12:22.639 Apple, man, you got no consistency when it comes to UI UX philosophy. See, you 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:25.920 do want to dictate where I put my stuff, right? You won't just let me put it 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:32.160 wherever I want, but you would let me put it in the way of like buttons and 00:12:28.800 --> 00:12:36.399 what the why wouldn't it be here and 00:12:32.160 --> 00:12:38.399 here? Like, that's stupid. They might as 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:43.040 well put like a big hole in the middle of where my display is supposed to. 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:45.920 Okay, before we finish up with the camera, can I get all of my friends in 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:50.320 here? And I need to have it automatically frame a shot for me. One 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:55.519 of the big features here is, of course, Apple Intelligence. uh more specifically 00:12:53.839 --> 00:13:01.600 the Apple intelligence way that they're using their new 18 megapixel square 00:12:58.160 --> 00:13:03.839 sensor here to automatically refframe 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:07.760 and crop your images so that you can fit all of your all of your paid friends 00:13:05.839 --> 00:13:10.000 with you. So if you're taking a picture okay is it going to automatically go 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:13.360 landscape for me? >> Oh no, it just went wider. >> Yeah, but that's just already a thing. 00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:17.519 >> Wait, we need more people. >> Yeah, we need more thing. More thing. We need more Yeah, we need more thing. 00:13:16.800 --> 00:13:24.160 Look, >> it's been a long day. Okay. Okay. So, I'll take a picture of myself because 00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:30.240 that's what I do. Okay. All right. Then a couple people come in. 00:13:26.959 --> 00:13:32.480 Oh, dude. Oh, dude. That's so cool. I 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:37.360 love it. See, this is the kind of thing I want 00:13:34.959 --> 00:13:41.519 Apple spending R&D money on. Fighting the war that I can't afford to fight 00:13:39.760 --> 00:13:46.399 against people holding their phones like this and filming content that would be 00:13:44.079 --> 00:13:52.320 way freaking better if they went like this. And a square sensor is such a 00:13:49.680 --> 00:13:55.040 freaking smart solution to this. They could crop it this way. They could crop 00:13:53.680 --> 00:13:59.440 it this way. They can do whatever they want. They got 18 megapixels and they 00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:06.399 can be any shape you like. Freaking awesome. I love it. Oh, also it's 00:14:02.160 --> 00:14:09.440 probably a decent selfie camera. Yep. 00:14:06.399 --> 00:14:11.680 Solid. That's healthy. You love to see 00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:15.440 it. Some other key features include the use of Apple's new C1X modem, which 00:14:14.160 --> 00:14:20.399 they're claiming makes this the most efficient iPhone ever, as well as the 00:14:18.160 --> 00:14:24.560 ability to send out SOS messages via satellite if you are out of reception 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:28.079 and you are lost. If I was buying a phone for a kid or a dependent, that 00:14:26.079 --> 00:14:32.480 would be a major factor for me. Other key features, we've got Wi-Fi 7 again, 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:37.760 but this time with Bluetooth 6, which theoretically should give us, you know, 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:39.760 better security, better everything. 00:14:37.760 --> 00:14:45.680 Cool. Which means the last major feature is of course iOS 26 which has some stuff 00:14:42.959 --> 00:14:49.760 that I got to say is extremely tempting. You can check out our rundown from back 00:14:47.519 --> 00:14:54.480 when they announced it. But for me the standout feature is to just 00:14:51.839 --> 00:14:58.320 automatically screening unknown callers, having them state their purpose and then 00:14:56.480 --> 00:15:03.199 only ringing my phone if they have a valid one. 00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:07.680 That alone has got me going, well, I might as well just do another iPhone 00:15:04.560 --> 00:15:09.920 30-day challenge because I might just be 00:15:07.680 --> 00:15:13.519 ready to go iPhone right now. I have not had a great experience with my Pixel 9a. 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:17.600 You guys, if you watch ShortCircuit regularly, will have known that just 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:22.000 about every phone we unbox on here, I'm like, maybe this will be it. Maybe this 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:26.560 will be my daily driver. And like, I just haven't found anything that's been 00:15:23.839 --> 00:15:30.160 exciting and and reliable. This has great battery life, but other downsides, 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:34.720 I just I think I'm ready. Apple, bring me into 00:15:32.560 --> 00:15:38.240 the ecosystem. It's too bad the AirPods Pro 3 suck ass.