By Kavita Mistry 
In the beginning, there was a single iPhone.
And almost every year, Apple launched a new one.
It was one of Steve’s Jobs,But then Jobs passed, And a new Cook,
Released more iPhones every year come September
Their number rose to three by 2019, and all was well.But then came the 2020s, And the number rose to four,
The Pro, a maxed pro, a plain, a mini (replaced by a plus)
And lo and behold, the fourth one always tripped up…And thus was born the curse of the fourth iPhone…
– From “Apples and Debugs: The Cupertino Code” an always forthcoming book!
That might sound a little dramatic, but ever since Apple took the number of iPhones launched at its annual iPhone event to four, one of the four iPhones has always tended to have a tough time in the market and has eventually ended up being discontinued. Apple had been releasing three iPhones at every launch event from 2017 (in which it unveiled the 8, 8 Plus and X) to 2019 (when it took the wraps off the 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max), but in 2020, even as the world reeled under COVID, it surprised many by adding a fourth device to its launch list, launching the now-routine trio of plain (iPhone 12), Pro (iPhone 12 Pro) and Pro Max (iPhone 12 Pro Max), and also a totally new device, the iPhone 12 Mini.
Fourth iPhone jinx: Neither a smaller nor a larger iPhone work!
The iPhone 12 mini was targeted at consumers who wanted a smaller, compact iPhone. It was also the most affordable iPhone of the lineup at USD 699. While it received very positive reviews, it did not exactly set the sales charts on fire. Apple tried the small form factor again with the iPhone 13 mini at the same price in 2021, but the same pattern was repeated – the reviewers loved it, but the consumers seemed to prefer a larger phone.
Seeing the smaller and more affordable price tag fail, Apple went to the other extreme in 2022, replacing the mini with a larger-than-normal Plus model. The iPhone 14 Plus was not only larger than the iPhone 14 but also came with a larger, higher-resolution display and boasted excellent battery life. The non-Pro iPhones now mimicked their Pro bros – there was a compact variant and a larger one with a bigger display and battery. However, once again, this model did not do as well as expected. Some felt that at USD 899, it was placed too close to the better-specced Pro model, which started at 999.
Drop some awe: the fourth iPhone is…Air!
Not surprisingly, Apple dropped the Plus (along with Awe) from its lineup this time around. But taking the fourth slot in the lineup was not a larger or smaller version of the regular iPhone this time, but a whole new kind of iPhone – the iPhone Air. And as it grabbed the most attention of the recent launch, even eclipsing the Pros (like the 12 mini did in 2020), we wondered if Apple finally had an iPhone that would break the “fourth iPhone jinx” and avoid the cell graveyard where the Mini and Plus iPhones were resting in peace.
Unlike the Mini or Plus, the iPhone Air is not a larger or smaller version of another iPhone, but is essentially an independent iPhone in its own right, which is why it is rightly called the iPhone Air, not iPhone 17 Air. The iPhone Mini phones were basically for folks who liked the basic iPhone but wanted a smaller version, while the iPhone Plus phones were for those who found the regular iPhone too small and wanted a larger iPhone with bigger battery, but the iPhone Air falls somewhere between the regular and Pro range, and in some ways even resembles the most basic iPhone of them all – the iPhone SE. And looks nothing like any of them – its lack of thickness has grabbed attention, but it is also very different-looking from the other iPhones and is the only iPhone in the current range that uses Titanium.
Its spec sheet is like a Mobile Martini that could not make up its mind about being a stirred version of the iPhone 17 or a shaken version of the iPhone 17 Pro: its 6.5-inch display is neither as compact as the 6.3-inch one of the regular phone nor as big as the 6.9-inch one of the Pro Max, while it comes with a flagship level camera, it has no secondary sensors on the back, it has only one speaker, but adding a Pro-level topping to this rather relatively routine phone pizza is the Pro processor that runs the Pro and Pro Max. All this comes with a price tag that is way more premium than the Mini or Plus: the iPhone Air starts at the same price as the iPhone 17 Pro: USD 999, although the 17 Pro is significantly more expensive than the Air in India, for reasons we know nothing about.
Slim, with shades of the classic iPhone, and a premium SE, but will consumers breathe this Air?
While many are looking at the iPhone Air as a fashion and style icon, thanks to its extraordinary slimness and that titanium frame, the iPhone Air actually seems like a VERY premium version of the iPhone SE Apple releases from time to time. It is streets ahead of the very basic SE in terms of design, but beneath those sleek and stylish looks is the Pro processor, which makes it a terrific workhorse. That makes it great for those who want an iPhone for lots of work, but are not too keen on photography or gaming. Perhaps that is why it is the only iPhone in the new lineup that is actually available in that most functional of colors: black!
The iPhone Air definitely would have appealed to the crowd that loved the iPhone in its initial years – the ones that mainly wanted a phone that looked and worked differently from the others, and were willing to pay a premium for it. But that era has passed, and most users have moved on to more complex devices. Will they return to a phone that might be different, but lacks features like multiple cameras and stereo speakers that are almost a given now?
It is literally a breath of fresh Air in the iPhone portfolio, and is the most different iPhone we have seen from Apple for a while. But just being different – even if it comes from the brand that Thinks Different – is unlikely to spell success for the iPhone Air. In fact, one of its biggest rivals is going to be its own Pro sibling, which comes with a similar price tag and now has a striking design (and orange hue) of its own.
While many feel that its slimness and spec combination makes it special, had not so many thought that the Mini was just the iPhone we all needed in the age of massive phones, and had not so many also insisted that the Plus was the perfect iPhone as it got folks a big display and a big battery (the two biggest perceived weaknesses of the ‘regular’ iPhone)? Time proved us thoroughly wrong in those cases, and only time will tell just how much consumers like to breathe this kind of Air, and if they like it enough to cough up a premium price for it, thus ending the “fourth iPhone curse.” If it does, we have the lines ready:
And then came an iPhone
That was neither mini nor plus,
But simply Air,
And the fourth iPhone breathed again…
Will it happen? Watch this space, while we watch the fortunes of the iPhone Air!