The days of people lining up around the block outside Apple stores are long gone, with online shopping now the simplest and fastest way to get access to the latest phones, so there’s not likely to be too many people queuing up this Friday when Apple’s 2025 range of iPhones go on sale.

For the first time in around four years, there’s a fresh look to one of the iPhones being released and that is the all-new iPhone Air.

I’ve been testing all four of the new iPhones, but have spent most of the time with the iPhone Air as it is certainly attracting the most attention and questions from observers of the latest Apple News.

Key questions I’ve picked up have been around the iPhone Air being eSIM-only, a first for Australia; its thin profile and how that affects battery life; and the camera – will a single lens cut it?

A radical change from Apple with the iPhone Air being eSIM only – this means you can’t take the little plastic SIM card from your current phone and put it into your new iPhone Air.

There’s some people very worried about how that will work, I’m here to tell you – relax.

On your current iPhone, you can simply enter the settings and “Convert to eSIM” your current number.

This then will transfer easily when you switch to your new phone.

Additionally, when you sign into a new iPhone with your Apple ID, it will offer you the option to convert any of your phone numbers from other phones to an eSIM – it really is a very simple process, not something to get concerned about.

Just be sure you have details of your telco account login as that will be required for most conversions.

Super thin iPhone Air’s battery life

How on earth can the battery life be any good when the iPhone Air is basically half the thickness of a traditional iPhone?

Apple’s own numbers give the Air a better battery life than last year’s iPhone 16, and just shy of the new iPhone 17.

My four full days of usage have demonstrated this is certainly an “all-day” battery.

In normal use, I’ve been getting 16-17 hours before I drop below 20%.

No, it’s nothing like what you get on the Pro models – but it is by far more than enough when compared to other models in the range.

Does a single-lens cut it on the iPhone Air?

Apple executives are quoted talking about seeing this as a single camera as being misleading.

Yes, it can do 3-4 “focal lengths” but it’s really just taking a crop from the exceptional 48MP camera to do that.

And, there’s no 0.5 ultra-wide.

I suspect Apple has missed the popularity of that lens.

A younger owner is using 0.5 a lot, it’s omission from the affordable 16e iPhone meant my kids didn’t want to use it long term.

And I would suggest the Air will suffer the same fate.

The only saving grace would be the outstanding – and I really mean that – outstanding selfie camera.

It’s an 18MP camera, with a square sensor – this allows Apple to introduce Centre Stage which allows the iPhone to expand to a wider view when other people come into the picture, and offer both portrait and landscape shots without twisting the phone on its side.

That selfie camera is on the entire 2025 lineup, and should not be missed as a core and attractive feature of this range

The premium iPhone 17 Pro

All the lenses on the Pro model 17’s are now 48MP fusion cameras.

This means excellent detail, high-quality photos – no matter the lens you choose.

An 8x zoom is shown on the screen when in the camera, but it’s again, more of a crop in on the 4x optical lens.

The 17 Pro is down to 4x optical from the iPhone 16 Pro’s 5x zoom – but the extra quality likely makes up for that.

My testing of that zoom level shows a distinct improvement in quality of images when zoomed, and there’s no question the zoom on videos is also excellent.

However, there’s still some artefacts on zoomed videos, which take away the sharpness – I can see more content being made with the zoom, but more work to be done to make it genuinely impressive.

Both Pro phones are big, and heavy, but not more so than last year, just way more so than the iPhone Air which I’ve been favouring.

My pick of the bunch – the entry-level iPhone 17

Apple has pulled a real swifty with the entry-level iPhone 17.

It’s the same price as last year’s iPhone 16 at $1399 but it’s double the storage with 256GB being the lowest capacity.

Plus, it has an outstanding screen with 120Hz refresh rate down to 1Hz.

And it has the new A19 chip, and both rear cameras are 48Megapixels, while the front-camera is that impressive centre stage selfie camera.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the entry level iPhone 17 is the best value iPhone released in many many years, and if you had to pick just one from the four released this year – no question the iPhone 17 offers the best bang-for-your-buck.

I can’t imagine any owner being anything but happy with their iPhone 17.

The only reason not to love it is the lack of a 4x zoom or similar as you’d get on the Pro. That’s it.

The entire iPhone lineup for 2025 goes on sale this Friday at Apple, retail stores and telcos across Australia.