According to data from mobile networks provided by Ookla, the iPhone Air is about twice as popular as the iPhone 16 Plus during the same launch period for the iPhone 17 and last year's iPhone 16 series.
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Even though the Air appears to be the least popular model of the iPhone 17 generation, Apple will consider it a relative success, as this report shows that the Air has significantly outperformed the sales performance of the outgoing Plus model.
Ookla's data comes from mobile network data collected from users, including analyses gathered from the actual usage of the Speedtest app on iPhones.
Sales figures for the iPhone Air and iPhone Plus are estimated by comparing the volumes of Speedtest samples used by each model. For the iPhone 16 Plus, this accounted for less than 3% of usage during the iPhone 16 launch period in late 2024. This was behind the base iPhone 16’s figure, which was 5.9%, and well behind the popularity of the 16 Pro and Pro Max, which accounted for 34% and 56% respectively.
For the same period in 2026, the shares of the base iPhone 17 and Pro Max are largely unchanged compared to their iPhone 16 counterparts. The biggest increase is seen when comparing the Plus to the Air year-over-year, with the Air taking 6.8% of usage, almost three times what the Plus achieved. This increase appears to be at the expense of the 17 Pro, which fell from 34.9% to 30.6%.
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This places the Air on the same level as the base iPhone 17. However, it is assumed that Air buyers are more likely to be tech enthusiasts and early adopters, who tend to upgrade as soon as phones become available for sale. As a result, the gap between the Air and the base model may widen over time.
Nevertheless’, these are positive numbers for the Air. Apple has tried to establish a differentiated fourth iPhone model for quite some time, experimenting with the Mini and Plus forms. Ultimately, these models failed in the market. In contrast, the Air seems to have carved out a notable position.
Ookla's data also shows a sharp division of demand for the iPhone Air by geographic region. The above figures are for the domestic market of the United States. However, the Air captured significantly higher shares in other countries, reaching up to 11.2% of the market in South Korea. It was also popular in Japan, Sweden and Singapore.
See also: Apple's C1X modem failure first reported in iPhone Air
Finally, the iPhone Air has consistently outperformed its rival Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge in terms of popularity. In the domestic market, the Air records more than three times the samples of the S25 Edge.
