Apple iPhone 8 Plus vs Apple iPhone Air

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iPhone 8 Plus compared with iPhone Air

	AppleiPhone 8 Plus	AppleiPhone Air
Overview
Released
Released	September 2017	September 2025
Display
Screen size
Screen size	5.5″	6.5″
Resolution
Resolution	1920 × 1080	2736 × 1260 (better)
Sharpness
Sharpness	401 pixels per inch	463 pixels per inch (better)
Panel
Panel	LCD	LTPO OLED
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	60 Hz	120 Hz (better)
Peak brightness
Peak brightness	625 nits	3,000 nits (better)
Display type
Display type	Retina HD display; 5.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen LCD Multi-Touch display with IPS technology	Super Retina XDR OLED display with Dynamic Island
Pixel density
Pixel density	401 ppi	460 ppi
Brightness detail
Brightness detail	625 nits max brightness (typical)	1,000 nits max (typical); 1,600 nits peak (HDR); 1 nit minimum
Always-on display
Always-on display	–	Yes
Screen protection
Screen protection	Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating	Ceramic Shield 2 front, Ceramic Shield back
Display features
Display features	True Tone; wide colour display (P3); 3D Touch; 1300:1 contrast ratio (typical); dual-domain pixels for wide viewing angles; Display Zoom; Reachability	ProMotion adaptive refresh; HDR; True Tone; Wide colour (P3); Haptic Touch; 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio (typical); anti-reflective coating
Performance
Chip
Chip	A11 Bionic	A19 Pro
Memory
Memory	3 GB	12 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	64 GB, 128 GB, 256 GB	256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	Six-core (2x Monsoon + 4x Mistral) (GSMArena); 3 GB of Samsung LPDDR4 RAM (iFixit)	6-core CPU with 2 performance and 4 efficiency cores
GPU
GPU	Apple-designed three-core GPU (GSMArena)	5-core GPU with Neural Accelerators; hardware-accelerated ray tracing
AI engine
AI engine	Neural Engine	16-core Neural Engine
Cameras
Main camera
Main camera	12 MP	48 MP (better)
Ultra wide camera
Ultra wide camera	None	None
Telephoto camera
Telephoto camera	12 MP	None
Optical zoom
Optical zoom	2× (better)	None
Front camera
Front camera	7 MP	18 MP (better)
Main camera
Main camera	12MP Wide, ƒ/1.8 aperture, optical image stabilisation, six-element lens, LED True Tone flash with Slow Sync	48MP Fusion Main, 26 mm, ƒ/1.6 aperture, sensor-shift optical image stabilisation, 100% Focus Pixels; 24MP and 48MP photos
Telephoto camera
Telephoto camera	12MP Telephoto, ƒ/2.8 aperture, 2x optical zoom	–
Front camera
Front camera	7MP FaceTime HD camera, ƒ/2.2 aperture, Retina Flash	18MP Center Stage camera, ƒ/1.9 aperture, autofocus with Focus Pixels
Zoom
Zoom	2x optical zoom in; digital zoom up to 10x (photos) and 6x (video)	12MP optical-quality 2x Telephoto (52 mm) from the Main camera; digital zoom up to 10x
Video recording
Video recording	4K at 24, 30 or 60 fps; 1080p at 30 or 60 fps; 720p at 30 fps; optical image stabilisation for video; slo-mo 1080p at 120 or 240 fps; time-lapse with stabilisation; 8MP stills while recording 4K	4K Dolby Vision at 24, 25, 30 or 60 fps; 1080p Dolby Vision at 25, 30 or 60 fps; Action mode up to 2.8K Dolby Vision at 60 fps; slo-mo 1080p at 120 or 240 fps; Dual Capture up to 4K Dolby Vision at 30 fps; HEVC and H.264
Front video
Front video	1080p HD at 30 fps	4K Dolby Vision at 24, 25, 30 or 60 fps; slo-mo 1080p at 120 fps; ultra-stabilised video; Centre Stage for video calls
Camera features
Camera features	Portrait mode; Portrait Lighting with five effects (Natural, Studio, Contour, Stage, Stage Mono); Live Photos with stabilisation; wide colour capture; auto HDR; panorama (up to 63MP); burst mode; HEIF and JPEG	Photonic Engine; Deep Fusion; Smart HDR 5; next-generation portraits with Focus and Depth Control; Night mode; Photographic Styles; customisable default lens; Camera Control
Battery and charging
Battery
Battery	2,691 mAh	3,149 mAh (better)
Video playback (maker's claim)
Video playback (maker's claim)	Up to 14 hours	Up to 27 hours
Wireless charging
Wireless charging	Yes (wattage not published)	Up to 20 W
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Lasts about the same as iPhone 7 Plus; talk time up to 21 hours; internet use up to 13 hours; wireless video playback up to 14 hours; wireless audio playback up to 60 hours; 3.82 V, 10.28 Wh, 2,691 mAh (iFixit)	Up to 22 hours streamed video playback; up to 40 hours video playback with the iPhone Air MagSafe Battery (sold separately); EU energy label class A, 40 hours per charge, at least 1,000 charge cycles
Wired charging
Wired charging	Up to 50% in 30 minutes with an 18W adapter or higher (sold separately)	Up to 50% in 30 minutes with a 20W adapter or higher (sold separately)
Wireless charging
Wireless charging	Works with Qi chargers	MagSafe and Qi2 up to 20W with a 30W adapter or higher; up to 50% in 30 minutes
Design
Type
Type	Standard	Standard
Weight
Weight	202 g	165 g (better)
Thickness
Thickness	7.5 mm	5.64 mm (better)
Height × width
Height × width	158.4 × 78.1 mm	156.2 × 74.7 mm
Water and dust resistance
Water and dust resistance	IP67	IP68
Materials
Materials	Glass front and back with an aluminium frame	Grade 5 titanium frame with a polished mirror finish; 3D-printed titanium USB-C port
Colours
Colours	Gold, Silver, Space Grey; (PRODUCT)RED from April 2018	Space Black, Cloud White, Light Gold, Sky Blue
Buttons
Buttons	Home/Touch ID sensor; volume up/down; ring/silent; side button	Action button; Camera Control; side button; volume up/down
Water resistance detail
Water resistance detail	IP67 (maximum depth of 1 metre up to 30 minutes) under IEC standard 60529	IP68 (maximum depth of 6 metres up to 30 minutes) under IEC standard 60529
Biometrics
Biometrics	Touch ID fingerprint sensor built into the Home button	Face ID
Sensors
Sensors	Touch ID fingerprint sensor; barometer; three-axis gyro; accelerometer; proximity sensor; ambient light sensor	Barometer; high dynamic range gyro; high-g accelerometer; proximity sensor; dual ambient light sensors
Speakers
Speakers	Stereo speakers	Built-in speaker (one, not stereo)
Microphones
Microphones	–	Built-in microphones; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modes
Software
Operating system
Operating system	iOS	iOS
Software at launch
Software at launch	iOS 11	iOS 26
Software updates
Software updates	–	Security, corrective and functionality updates for at least 5 years after it stops being sold (EU product information sheet)
AI features
AI features	–	Apple Intelligence; Visual Intelligence
Safety features
Safety features	–	Crash Detection
In the box
In the box	–	iPhone Air, USB-C Charge Cable (1 m), documentation; no power adapter
Connectivity
Satellite messaging
Satellite messaging	–	Yes
Mobile network
Mobile network	Model A1897: UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA; GSM/EDGE; FDD-LTE (bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 66); TD-LTE (bands 34, 38, 39, 40, 41); VoLTE; Wi-Fi calling	Apple C1X modem; 5G (sub-6GHz) with 4x4 MIMO; Gigabit LTE with 4x4 MIMO; UK model A3517
SIM
SIM	Nano-SIM (GSMArena)	Dual eSIM (two active, stores eight or more); no physical SIM card
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 802.11ac with MIMO	Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) with 2x2 MIMO; Apple N1 wireless networking chip
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 5.0	Bluetooth 6; Thread
Ultra Wideband
Ultra Wideband	–	Apple second-generation Ultra Wideband chip
NFC
NFC	NFC with reader mode; Express Cards	NFC with reader mode; Express Cards with Power Reserve
Satellite features
Satellite features	–	Emergency SOS via satellite; Roadside Assistance via satellite
USB
USB	Lightning connector; video mirroring and video out up to 1080p through the Lightning Digital AV Adapter and Lightning to VGA Adapter (sold separately)	USB-C with charging and USB 2 (up to 480Mb/s)
Positioning
Positioning	Built-in GPS/GNSS; digital compass; Wi-Fi; cellular; iBeacon microlocation	Precision dual-frequency GPS (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, BeiDou and NavIC); digital compass; iBeacon micro-location