iPhone Air Durability Test
Today we have the thinnest smartphone Apple has ever made; the new iPhone Air! Tim Cook should be singing a eulogy for it as soon as this phone lands in my territory. Sit back and enjoy, because we don’t care about warranties or anything like that here. I know this is every phone’s nightmare. While this Air model is a bit rare, I do have a spare one. It’s also been getting a lot of buzz because of its suffocating style. It’s time to see if it needs a repair or if it’s headed straight to the graveyard! So without further ado, let’s get to the durability test of Apple’s thinnest phone yet, the iPhone Air!
When we take it out of the box, it’s surprisingly light, and that mirror-finished grade 5 titanium frame is incredibly thin. Titanium is probably my favorite metal, and I’m sad to see it removed from the rest of the iPhone 17 series. But it’s cool that the edges have the same glossy finish as the original iPhone from 17 years ago.
For our American friends, the iPhone Air is about the thickness of an Oreo cookie or three wooden toothpicks. It could be half a Lego brick, or the size of three US 25 cents, or, say, seven blades from my JerryRig cutter.
For the rest of the world, the iPhone Air is 5.6mm thick. My concern is that the placement of the buttons compromises the strength of the titanium frame. The buttons eat away at a significant portion of the titanium wall. And as anyone who’s played Jenga knows, if you break something down enough, it’ll eventually fall apart.
But like the hundreds of other phones we’ve tested over the past decade, let’s start by testing the new Ceramic Shield 2, which is said to be three times more durable. We’ll see! Plastic usually scratches at level two or three, glass at level five or six, and sapphire at level eight or less. As you can see in my pics, scratches at level six are almost invisible, and you can barely see anything at level seven. So I can’t even say my usual line! Apple screwed up! Corning’s Ceramic Shield 2 is a huge improvement this year. However, glass is still glass, and even if Ceramic Shield 2 is harder than before, glass will never be completely impact-resistant.
iPhone Air Durability Test
Comprehensive durability test results for Apple’s thinnest smartphone ever made
Extreme Durability Test
The iPhone Air was subjected to scratch, bend, and pressure tests to determine its structural integrity and durability under extreme conditions.
| Category | Test | Results |
|---|---|---|
| Design & Build | ||
| Dimensions | Extremely thin at just 5.6mm thickness | |
| Weight | Remarkably lightweight | |
| Frame Material | Grade 5 titanium with mirror finish | |
| Sustainability | 80% recycled titanium content | |
| Display Durability | ||
| Screen Protection | Ceramic Shield 2 (3x stronger than previous generation) | |
| Scratch Resistance | No visible scratches at level 6, minimal marks at level 7 | |
| Anti-Reflective Coating | Inferior to Galaxy S24 Ultra’s display | |
| Front Camera Protection | Protected by Ceramic Shield 2 with new square sensor | |
| Structural Tests | ||
| Button Integrity | Buttons don’t come off, but cutouts may weaken structure | |
| Bend Test – First Attempt | No damage from initial bending force | |
| Bend Test – Second Attempt | Minor flex but returns to original shape thanks to titanium | |
| Pressure Test | Withstood pressure up to 98kg (216 lbs) before breaking | |
| Overall Structural Score | Passed durability test 100% | |
| Additional Features | ||
| Charging Port | Off-center with four additional holes (likely microphone ports) | |
| Audio | Mono speaker only (no stereo speakers) | |
| Charging Speed | Slower than Pro models – 50% in 30 minutes | |
| Water Resistance | IP68 rating with waterproof metal mesh on microphone | |
| Rear Camera | Single 48MP lens (wide and telephoto combined) | |
| Verdict | ||
| Pros | Excellent titanium construction – Remarkably durable for its size – Ceramic Shield 2 is impressive – Sustainable materials | |
| Cons | Slower charging – Mono speaker only – Inferior anti-reflective coating compared to competitors | |
| Final Score | 9/10 – Exceptionally durable despite extreme thinness | |
Apple says its new screen has an anti-reflective coating, but that anti-reflective coating is nothing compared to my Galaxy S24 Ultra from 2 years ago. On the Samsung glass, you can count every single LED diode in my reading light, while the iPhone Air just shows a white rectangle. The winner is clear. Hopefully, Apple next time! The 18-megapixel front-facing camera is also protected by the same Ceramic Shield 2. It has a new square sensor inside, but we’ll have to see what it looks like in an autopsy.
The reason titanium is my favorite metal is because it’s significantly lighter and stronger than other metals and is compatible with the body. That means all the artificial joints and screws that are implanted in the human body and bones are usually made of titanium. And even more interestingly, when people are cremated, the only thing left in the ashes are the titanium parts of their bodies. And I’m sure this is irrelevant, but… the iPhone Air is made with 80 percent recycled titanium. They’re hot on their heels about this move. Titanium doesn’t make as sharp and piercing a sound as aluminum, but the exterior still scratches. The iPhone Air’s buttons aren’t removable either.
We get to the bottom of the phone. We see a charging port that’s slightly off-center and four additional holes. I’m guessing these are the microphone holes that have a mesh, since the Air doesn’t have a bottom stereo speaker and only has a mono speaker in the earpiece. The charging port also charges much slower than the Pro models. So not only is the battery smaller, but it also charges slower. It takes 30 minutes to charge to 50 percent, compared to 20 minutes on the Pro models. So if battery life and charging speed are important to you, as well as listening to music with two ears, you might be better off buying a regular iPhone instead of the Air.
We get to the back of the Air. We have a matte glass panel with a shiny, smooth Apple logo in the center. If you zoom in on the logo, you can see that the image of the apple itself is slightly higher than the matte part, but it’s not a big deal. A perfect apple is hard to find and this is just a minor quibble.
Moving on to the camera island, which is made from the same single piece of glass, meaning the bump won’t come off on its own. Apple says this single 48-megapixel lens is two cameras in one. Well, it can call itself anything it wants, but it still doesn’t have the wide-angle and telephoto lenses that the Pro models have. So if you’re a photography enthusiast, keep that in mind. The rear microphone has a metal mesh that’s waterproof to IP68 standards, and there’s a single-color LED flash with a matte plastic cover.
Honestly, one thing that not many people talk about but should be said is how Tim Cook single-handedly saved this year’s iPhones from certain disaster. We all know the tariff situation is terrible, but a 100% tariff on imported electronics was about to hit the US until Tim Cook bravely walked into the Oval Office with a gold bar worth probably $150,000 and placed it on Donald Trump’s desk. And boom! The next day, all tariffs on iPhones were lifted, saving us consumers from paying about $1,000 more for each phone. What a sneaky 4D chess move by Tim Cook! We were about to pay $2,000 for this phone instead of $1,000. And while we’re at it, I hope Mr. Cook has some of those pure gold bars saved for next year. Interestingly, the flame didn’t seem to have anything to do with the oleophobic coating.
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And finally, the bend test. Titanium is about twice as strong as aluminum and about 60% more flexible. This means that if it bends, it won’t stay bent. So, in theory, we shouldn’t have to face that iPhone 6 bending disaster again. In theory!
I push with all my might on the first bend, nothing happens! I turn it over and push from the front. This time it bends a little. But thanks to that titanium, it snaps back into the shape I took it out of the box a few minutes ago. It looks like it was made in the heart of a dying star or in the fires of Mount Doom. The iPhone Air has no right to be so unbreakable! Now both my thumbs are hurting and my pride is hurt. The iPhone Air passed my durability test 100%.
But I had a backup plan for when Apple wins. And since Apple won, it’s time to implement Plan B: to figure out exactly how much pressure the iPhone Air will break at. Come join me on a science camp in my garage. With a crane scale behind me, we can find the official number where titanium breaks. I think there’s a metal battery inside. I hope we don’t get it.
Okay, I’ll put it under these two bars. After all the pressure and resistance that this phone has shown, it finally broke under about 220 pounds of pressure. Okay, now I’m going to put it down, weird! The back glass is still intact. The front glass is completely shattered right under the volume down button. That’s the amount of weight it would take to break an iPhone Air. Remember, all of that 216 pounds was concentrated directly in the center of the phone. If you were a 220-pound person sitting on your phone, that weight would be spread out over the entire surface. Unless you have glutes of steel, I think your pants pocket would tear before you could do any damage to your new iPhone Air. So feel free to sit on it as long as you like. I can personally guarantee that the iPhone Air is structurally unbreakable, except from drops and scratches, which, like any other smartphone, still cause damage.
