I've never experienced this and I've own 10 MacBook variations in my life...
Only QC issues for me has been the display lottery and dust under the cameras.
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iPhone 17 Pro Max GSMArena review is out
- Thread starter nickelro
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Only QC issues for me has been the display lottery and dust under the cameras.
If only more people would NOT buy what they don’t like. Good on you!
As an Apple shareholder, I'm glad the chargers are sold separately.
GSMArena has reviewed the iPhone Air and it scored 4.0 stars(17 Pro Max scored 4.4)
One of the cons is: “cheap-ish feeling in the hand”
Discuss.
Link: https://m.gsmarena.com/apple_iphone_air-review-2885.php
One of the cons is: “cheap-ish feeling in the hand”
Discuss.
Link: https://m.gsmarena.com/apple_iphone_air-review-2885.php
Phone Arena use a picture of an iPhone 4s when they’re referring to the iPhone 4 in that article.
Review invalidated.
They should have offered the phone -$30, and then offered a charger for +$30 if needed.
I personally don’t need another charger, so I’m fine with them leaving it out, but the option should still be there. Instead, they decided to have their cake and eat it too.
I am not impressed with that review. It is clear in the review, that the people involved were not objective.
If I didn't know any better, I would have said the review was written by one of the device extremist here on MR (cheapish feeling in the hand).
Comparing the phone to other phones is not what a device review should be about, in my opinion. A person should be able to view an objective review and see information specific to the device being reviewed with what is often seen as typical day to day use with a phone. In other words, I don't need pro / pro max advocates reviewing the phone and then creating cons based on what the reviewers are used to with the pro series phones. Ideally, someone looking at the Air should be seeing an honest review from someone coming from a base series phone like the 16e or 17e.
How does the Air fare with general email, website usage, video streaming / playback, calls, and FaceTime?
How well does the modem respond on Wifi and cellular?
How does it sound with typical use?
These are just a few things I look for.
If I didn't know any better, I would have said the review was written by one of the device extremist here on MR (cheapish feeling in the hand).
Comparing the phone to other phones is not what a device review should be about, in my opinion. A person should be able to view an objective review and see information specific to the device being reviewed with what is often seen as typical day to day use with a phone. In other words, I don't need pro / pro max advocates reviewing the phone and then creating cons based on what the reviewers are used to with the pro series phones. Ideally, someone looking at the Air should be seeing an honest review from someone coming from a base series phone like the 16e or 17e.
How does the Air fare with general email, website usage, video streaming / playback, calls, and FaceTime?
How well does the modem respond on Wifi and cellular?
How does it sound with typical use?
These are just a few things I look for.
Details aside, looking at each of the new models in general, this generation of iPhones is disappointing. The only one that's truly worthy of the Apple logo is iPhone 17.
More than ever I'm glad I resisted the urge to just upgrade because I enjoy having Apples latest and best. iPhones this year compared to generations past, leave much to be desired.
Especially glad I kept my iPhone 16 Pro Max as it’s mission critical for work.
Looking forward there's always next year. Apples so big they certainly won't miss my money.
More than ever I'm glad I resisted the urge to just upgrade because I enjoy having Apples latest and best. iPhones this year compared to generations past, leave much to be desired.
Especially glad I kept my iPhone 16 Pro Max as it’s mission critical for work.
Looking forward there's always next year. Apples so big they certainly won't miss my money.
Well one thing this review might do if bring us IPhone Fan Boys together. They took a dump on the Pro and Air. 
But I’m still loving my Pro Max Blue. Upgrading to me was a no brainer. I’m on AT&Ts Next Anytime plan. Signed up last year and only got half the trade in value and was paying $25 a month for my 16 PM and this year got the full $1100 and now only pay $2.75 a month.
But I’m still loving my Pro Max Blue. Upgrading to me was a no brainer. I’m on AT&Ts Next Anytime plan. Signed up last year and only got half the trade in value and was paying $25 a month for my 16 PM and this year got the full $1100 and now only pay $2.75 a month.Yeah they’re definitely mistaking the thinness and lightweight for cheap when reviews show the Air has insane durability and the scratch test set a new standard for all phones if you trust Jerryrigeverything.
The hypocrisy is that they called the build quality of the Samsung Edge, which is almost as thin and uses titanium, a Pro touting “premium build with titanium frame”…hmmm
For reviews related to camera performance, i would only look for reviews from camera sites.
Check the video at the top of this story, iFixit did a teardown and even showed how well the Pro manages heat. Scrub to ~ 3:30
OP did not link to the review, posting only a screenshot of a summary. Here's their review, in which they actually show the 17PM had the best performance of the phones they tested in four out of five of their "stress tests." including GeekBench and AnTuTu. The one where the phone didn't do as well (top iPhone, but 5th on the list) is a gamer benchmarking tool called 3D Mark "Wild Life Extreme." So naturally that's the one test they did screengrabs of to show the throttling. Definitely not pushing a narrative there
That review does call it "the best iPhone ever," and notes when discussing the chipset that "the Apple A19 Pro is a more powerful piece of hardware (as compared to the 16 PM), so even when throttled to these levels, it should provide more oomph than the throttled A18 Pro." So, despite what the screengrab at the top of this thread says, the review clearly states that sustained performance has improved over last year's model. Their results show this.
So the review basically says it's very good but flawed. Of course it's not the definitive review, but it does have data and reviewer impressions that consumers should check when comparing with reviews from other sources. It's more nuanced than the screenshot at the top of this thread, which seems to not agree with their own review.
Hmmm I wonder if MagSafe + the pop-on battery like the one on the Air would be a workaround? A way to heep the devices IP68 and also have a "removable" battery?
Sort of a "word of the law not the spirit of the law" approach, but it wouldn't surprise me if they tried.
We all know it, and have known it for years, that algorithms used by social media lean more heavily toward negative content, because it is engaging. People get angry and click and comment, and do it over and over. They're all guilty of it, and YouTube may be the worst offender.
Go to YT and look at all the faces of the "influencers" staring at us from their thumbnails, pointing and apparently shouting, along with a headline like "WORST (fill in the blank) EVER!" or DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID!" or "DON'T BUY THE (fill in the blank) UNTIL YOU SEE THIS!" It's like they think we're 12 years old.
So yes, negativity sells. They don't actually care about consumer advice, they care about their own clicks.
And this may be the least helpful comment I've seen today. Someone here asked for the review, rather than just a screengrab, and OP basically says they're not worth their time to reply. With a wink.
Not only is it rude and condescending, but telling people to search for info themselves when asked is actually against the forum rules.
I agree that they went too harshly on it, but this is basically the exact same thing I observed myself the first time I held the new Air in my hands:
"We can't quite put our finger on it, but the side frame's finish feels cheap, almost plastic-like."
Maybe it's because there's much less metal now than it used to be when they did polished stainless steel, or perhaps it's the finishing and the weight of it. But it does for some reason feel somewhat tacky/plasticky. That's not to say that it isn't factually well build with great materials and durable (it is). Which is why I think they went on it too harshly. But the impression not looking at the specs can be that.
In general I agree but I just stumbled upon this in their Air's review:
Apple kicked-off a trend with super slim and lightweight phones with the release of the iPhone Air. Even if Samsung beat Apple to the market with the Galaxy S25 Edge, there's little doubt who influenced who to go there.
Like wtf am I even reading 🤣
They all have it since M1 series. Check with flashlight. My cheap HP laptop with OLED does not have these QC issues.
I think it's quite funny how this iPhone generation is simultaneously the best and the most disappointing.
Subjectively, I am not enticed by any of the new iPhones and I think this is the first time ever that that has happened. I have skipped upgrading many times, but never because the phones were completely unattractive. I upgrade on a four-year schedule and so quite a few times I had to tell myself not to buy the new iPhone because I liked and wanted what the new versions bring, but I couldn't justify the cost. This year is the first time I am not even remotely considering it, hard pass, absolutely nothing draws my interest.
However, at the same time, I realize that this may be the most significant iPhone generation yet. Apple have made the most powerful iPhone more powerful and are seemingly changing direction when it comes to design, which is a massive change going forward. They introduced a new thin iPhone that is supposed to be Apple's version of pushing the envelope and it's a precursor for what's coming. At the same time, the regular iPhone is the best value it's ever been with the introduction of ProMotion.
So while many people will be put off, on paper this is huge as all of these changes are objectively very very good, just not polished enough for the palate of the average iPhone aficionado.
I don't think the Air is disappointing at all. If you have a PM then you might not be interested but it's surely a great engineering product to have that level of durability in something that thin which I assume you haven't used. If you can't respect that or it doesn't at least get you interested in the future then you're bound to be locked into the same old boring chunky Pro line but hey, that's the pro life for a pro user like you that takes full advantage of everything it has to offer...right
Not quite sure what GSMArena meant by this but it feels as if they are implying that Samsung heard rumors in the supply chain, as well as seeing that Apple is ordering 6.5 inch OLED displays from them and though “hmm maybe we release thin phone earlier than Apple” which I doubt holds any ground.
Samsung also needs time for r&d and on corporate level this time equals to Apple’s, so it is highly unlikely Samsung “copied” from rumors and released their version earlier than Apple.
However maybe Apple had plans for this device much earlier and Samsung got the leaks sooner than Apple started productions, anything can be