I had been happily using an iPhone 15 after my trusty old 12 mini. And yes, I still miss the mini. But the 15 was a good iPhone that at the time came at a not unreasonable price. Nevertheless, my 15’s screen had acquired some scratches, 128 GB was getting tight, and I would have liked to at least test the new no-longer-dumb-as-a-brick Siri. So initially, I had my eyes set on getting an 18.
And then Apple just had to turn around their entire release schedule to prioritize eternally squeezing that bigger-better lemon and so no 18 until spring 2027. At the same time, the AI baloney had finally caught up to the iPhone and the 17 was now going for another $100 higher than its already bold pricing. To make matters worse, the only rumors being floated for the 18 were that it was going to be a meh update compared to the 17 (no surprise considering how strong of an update the 17 had been over the 16) and that chances were high there would be another price hike. My patience and my tolerance for shenanigans were being tested. Eventually I concluded, screw that. If Apple doesn’t want to give me what I want when I want it, then no new sale. I’ll just get a refurb instead.
It turns out that iPhone refurbs — at least here in the States — stink. You can find a 16 or 16e there discounted by a measly $40 (compared to their release prices), but forget about getting a 17 or an actual good deal over there. Fortunately though, Amazon does sell refurb iPhones. I’m no fan of Bezos or Amazon in general, but I will say that they have in my experience always been excellent about returns and refunds. And it turns out they offer what they refer to as “Renewed Premium” refurbs which come with a 12-month return period and >90% battery capacity guaranteed. So I was quite set on getting a refurb 17 for about $800.
I still felt like that was a steep price to pay for a refurb, but whatever, my VOO just increased by 12% these last 12 months. But at that point, I suddenly became aware that in the same premium refurb section, you could get an iPhone Air for $770. And that now got me thinking.
I had never considered an Air before because I always felt that if you’re paying an extra $200 on top of what is already a $900 phone, you want to get better everything. But the real Air was just thinner and lighter, while its camera and speaker were clearly poorer so no way in hell would I ever pay an extra 200 bucks for that.
But now I was faced with an entirely different proposition: should I pay less and get a thinner lighter phone or should I pay more to get a thicker heavier phone but one that comes with an ultrawide lens.
And then the answer seemed perfectly clear to me. Although I do snap pictures every once in a while, I’ve never been huge on photography. I’ve always preferred to experience the moment rather than trying to catch it on film (or flash memory) and I abhor Instagram and all that comes with that crowd. So it comes as no surprise that I’ve used the wide angle perhaps 3 times in my 15’s 3 years of its life.
But having a phone that bucks this incessant trend to ever heavier and fatter, and just focuses on what to me is important (great screen, good battery, minimalist package) seemed right. I don’t like that it’s slightly larger than the 17, but the 3 mm width and 7 mm in height seem acceptably small enough to me if that is what gives me a thinner and lighter overall package. And it’s less expensive too.
Perhaps I will find that I miss the ultrawide after all or that the added footprint does end up bugging me more than I thought (I am/was a mini fan after all). I can always still get rid of it in spring and swap it for a then new 18 — the current BackMarket trade-in for a 256GB Air in good condition is at $511 so even by then, my Air experiment would likely not end up costing me too much (especially factoring in 6 months of use I would get out of it either way).
It should arrive tomorrow. Anxious to see how it feels in everyday use. I’m getting $240 from BackMarket for a scratched and dented (but fully functional and unlocked) iPhone 15 so this Air stunt should be a fun and not too risky trial run.
