iPhone Air gains traction despite getting labeled a ‘flop’

The iPhone Air accomplished one of the goals Apple surely had for it: It’s reportedly outselling the device it replaced — and by a wide margin. That said, the super-slim iPhone hasn’t exactly taken the world by storm.

Still, it’s far from the flop that some critics labeled it.

iPhone Air sales could be worse

iPhone buyers can be divided into two groups: those who chase power and those who are attracted to great design. The first group gravitates toward models with the fastest processors, longest battery life and most advanced camera systems.

The second group is drawn to the device as an object. These people favor slimmer profiles, lighter builds and refined finishes. They often care as much about how the phone feels in the hand as what it can do.

Apple released the iPhone Air last fall for the second group. This handset emphasizes reduced thickness and weight above all else, with a chassis that is several millimeters slimmer than standard iPhone models and a correspondingly lighter overall mass.

Many people in the group that prioritizes power disparaged the Air’s shorter battery life and limited cameras. They predicted inevitable failure. It’s even been labeled a flop.

Turns out the iPhone Air draws a relatively modest amount of attention from buyers, and far more than the model it replaced in Apple’s product lineup.

Ookla makes Speedtest, a widely used service that measures internet connection performance. It knows what iPhone models its application is running on, and a report published Sunday says the iPhone Air made up 6.8% of iPhone users in the United States in Q4 2025.

If that sounds unimpressive, compare it to the 2.9% share that the iPhone 16 Plus accounted for in the same period a year earlier. That model (and a couple of predecessors) offered a large screen but more modest internal specs. (See also: Why you should choose iPhone 16 or 16 Plus over iPhone 16 Pro [Review].)

The concept didn’t catch on — obviously — so Apple replaced the Plus models with the iPhone Air last year.

iPhone Air around the world

“While the device has struggled to move beyond a niche role in markets like the United States, it has found greater traction in regions where form-factor innovation and device portability are paramount,” noted Ookla’s Mark Giles, who wrote the report.

iPhone Air made up 11.2% of iOS users in South Korea, for example. It was 8.9% of the total in Japan, and earned similar shares in Sweden and Singapore.

Difficulty judging

Estimates from Ookla and other companies provide necessary insight because Apple does not reveal how many iPhones it sells, and certainly doesn’t break out sales by model. But there’s always some room for questioning these estimates.

There’s sample bias, for example. One could argue that the type of people who buy a handset for its slim design might be less likely to run Speedtest, an app that tests performance, than people who choose their iPhone based on performance.

Still, there are other indications that the iPhone Air isn’t a huge hit. Apple never had problems meeting demand for this model in the United States. Meanwhile, buyers of other iPhone 17 versions faced wait times in the weeks after launch.

Time matters

When deciding whether you think the iPhone Air is a success, be sure to take into account the fact that Ookla’s figures come from the quarter after the slim phone’s launch.

People who prioritize a handset’s power can decide they want a new model based simply on specs. And if their current device seems outdated, it’s time for an upgrade. That makes upgrading a quick process.

Those who put more emphasis on design generally want to hold a new device in their hand before making a decision. And older models don’t become obsolete just because there’s a new one on the market. This means their upgrades come more slowly.

So the iPhone Air might be more of a slow burn that increases to eventual success.

Ed Hardy

Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh SE/30 (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer.

That’s because he’s a “tablet first” type of guy. Rather than use a Macbook, he connects a keyboard case to the iPad. And instead of a desktop Mac, he connects his tablet to a 27-inch display and full-size keyboard. (So don’t try to tell him that everyone has to use a Mac to be productive.)

Before coming to Cult of Mac, Ed wrote for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview and Brighthand, as well as other sites.