Report: iPhone Air is about twice as popular compared to the Plus model it replaced
9to5Mac • • general
Key Points:
- Ookla's cellular network data indicates the iPhone Air is about twice as popular as the iPhone 16 Plus during their respective launch periods, making the Air a relative success despite being the least popular iPhone 17 model.
- The iPhone Air captured 6.8% of usage share in the U.S. during its launch window, nearly triple the less than 3% share held by the iPhone 16 Plus a year earlier, while the base iPhone 17 and Pro Max shares remained steady year-over-year.
- The Air's popularity is notably higher outside the U.S., reaching up to 11.2% usage share in South Korea and strong demand in Japan, Sweden, and Singapore, highlighting regional differences in consumer preference.
- The iPhone Air has outperformed the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge in the U.S., with over three times the number of Speedtest samples, indicating stronger domestic demand.
- The iPhone Air's C1X modem delivers 5G download speeds comparable to the Qualcomm modem in the iPhone 17 Pro models, marking a significant improvement over the original C1 modem in the iPhone 16e.
