Apple’s new iPhone Air is already showing strong early momentum, outpacing the model it replaced by a significant margin. According to recent data, the iPhone Air accounted for 6.8% of iPhone 17 sales, compared to just 2.9% for the iPhone 16 Plus.
The iPhone 17 overall is also performing better than its predecessor, capturing 7% of the total iPhone sales compared to 5.9% for the iPhone 16. As a result, the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max now make up a slightly smaller share of family sales, reflecting a shift in customer preference. The Pro models saw the largest drop, suggesting that many buyers opted for the Air instead of the more expensive Pro versions.
It is important to note that these figures come from Speedtest by Ookla samples and are not official Apple data. Still, the trend hints that Apple’s focus on a thinner design may have resonated with customers. Unlike the iPhone 16 Plus, which was essentially a larger version of the iPhone 16, the iPhone Air has a clear and appealing unique selling point.
In a comparison with Samsung, the iPhone Air outsamples the Galaxy S25 Edge in the United States by roughly three to one. Meanwhile, the S25 Edge has barely any presence in the UK and Germany, holding less than 1% of the market.
Another key factor may be Apple’s C1X modem. Ookla reports that it has reached a “critical maturity point,” moving from lagging behind Qualcomm to achieving competitive real-world performance. Against Qualcomm’s X80 modem, the C1X delivers download speeds that are very close worldwide. This is a notable improvement over the original C1 in the iPhone 16e, which could only manage much slower speeds.
