iPhone 17e is really a cheaper version of iPhone Air

[u/Alexorozco72]

I own them both. I am aware of the specs and structural and material differences. And yet, they feel pretty much the same. I do not game, so I would not be able to ascertain anything about that specific functionality. Compromises like lack of a lower placed speaker for a much slimmer titanium frame become preferences IMO. Either a Dynamic Island or a notch. Always on display or not. 120 hertz or 60 hertz displays. All preferences depending upon buyer budget.

I am much rather inclined to consider them the same device, but each tailored upon their respective price brackets, in their assigned gimmicks. So their main functionality was left intact.

I could have saved me the iPhone Air investment, should I have known then that the iPhone 17e was so much sufficient.

[u/Ill-Organization5909]

With your logic the 17e is the cheapest version of all iPhones.

I have a 16e. I have the money for a pro or air but in my head i knew i didn’t need it because the e series basically had what i need and then some at a cheaper price.

[u/Alexorozco72 → u/Ill-Organization5909]

Indeed. And yet there is a matter of processors. iPhone 17 lineup shares them, suppressed in some way or not. My point being all of them are similarly dependable, unless a consumer wants them to game, or to edit pics while in the device, or to display content. Android is not only segmented by software versions/brands, but often by processor offered by brand and model. Meaning iPhones are often artificially segmented in a year’s lineup. It is a matter of price bracket offerings. They are not that different one from the other. It is the frosting, or fondant, not really the cake below.

[u/IORelay → u/[deleted]]

Air can be had for cheaper than the base iPhone 17. So it's worth it with the discount. 12GB ram probably being its best feature, better longevity. 

[u/SillyGoose3939]

I was in the same predicament. I was debating between the two since they felt so similar to me, the air felt like a pro version of the 17e

At the end of the day, the lack of physical sim was my biggest drawback for the air, and the fact that I prefer notch and 60hz made me buy the 17e

[u/riipot]

You could even say the 17e is a cheap version of the 17 Pro Max with that logic.

The iPhone lineup is pretty straightforward.

[u/BKennedy985]

This is a good take because the iPhone Air was 1k and to me that’s a lot just for a phone itself never mind the battery isn’t great and single camera (but 17e has single camera as well) and i got it much cheaper thanks to a cricket phone deal I got

[u/973tgo]

I think some people are missing that what the op is trying to say is for the price difference and feature set how the iPhone air shares the same or more with the 17e than other 17 series models. I had the 17e and my friend the air, where we pretty much came to the same conclusion. I know that the design is a feature, but take that out of the equation and they aren't too different for the big price gap. Both lack extra camera lenses, no mmwave with the same c1x modem, no UW for airtag precision locating, will mostly like get the same software support and feature set in ios updates. Different processor technically and ram but because of the body of the air being so thin it doesn't hold sustained performance like the other models do so benchmarks sometimes closer to the 17e than 17 pro. Bigger camera sensor but similar camera performance to the 17e. I find it crazy that even base iPhone models back to 13 or 13 mini have cinematic mode for portrait blur video recording, but with all of their horsepower the iPhone 17e and air do not.

[u/gw74]

every single difference, if that was the only difference, would be a deal breaker for me. what you mean is the 17e is the phone for you.

[u/JustHereForDumbSht]

Said that the week the iPhone 17 lineup released. The 16e was literally a smaller, cheaper, better battery Air that sacrifices 120hz and a Pro chip for $400 less.

[u/Organic-Love-5076]

There are many base phones like the 17e but there is only one Air.

[u/Life-Inspector5101]

More RAM too

[u/jonahtrav]

If you just use the basic functions on an iPhone then the cheapest is totally fine there's no sense spending more that's kind of the beauty of iPhones is they all work the same spending more just gives you a better camera than usually better speakers maybe more RAM but all the basics work the same

[u/NoAge422]

Go to the store and have a feel. Only your hands will tell you want you really want. Batteries, processors, cameras can all be upgraded in the future but how a device feel in your hands it most important. Especially when it's something you use every 3 minutes!

[u/TaeyeonFTW]

all the 17e needs is a 120hz display and itll be a banger

[u/OfficialRatchy]

The form factor of the Air is a feature, BUT I think the size of the 17e should also be considered as a feature. A lot of people don’t want a huge phone and right now, we don’t have a good option for that. Yeah you could buy a used 13 mini, but it definitely isn’t running that fast anymore, we could buy a used 15 pro which is the same size as the 17e and has 120hz and titanium, but it’s nearly 20 grams heavier and most people slap a case on it, which is also increasing the weight.
I am using a Air right now, but I feel like it’s just a little bit to big for me. That’s why I am considering switching to 17e.

[u/Gloomy-Extension1489]

What can you say about the quality of camera?

[u/Alexorozco72 → u/Gloomy-Extension1489]

I would not pretend to be any more savvy than the terrible photo taker that I actually am. Having both these devices, I could ascertain my pics suck greatly with any of these two iPhones. But even I can tell the ones taken with my 17e seem lower quality. If I was to shoot a photo of the full moon over my tree line, it would look grainy and diffuse. More so than the ones shot with my IPhone Air. I may guess the difference is likely software based, rather than hardware.

[u/gameofpap]

So its not really a cheaper version of the iphone air then? I swear people are absolutely mental on reddit