Deep Dive: Callaway Apex Ai Irons

Callaway’s new Apex Ai lineup has landed at retail and while you might be curious, we know it’s not always easy to know which model is right for you.

Look, I’m always going to tell you that your best chance at making the right decision is to get fitted but since that isn’t always possible (and some of you just don’t want to), we decided to build on our First Look piece in the hope of helping you find the right Apex.

Let’s start with the easy way.

Are you an Apex player?

The Apex Ai (and Ti Fusion) family is the first time Callaway has leveraged an Ai Smart Face in an Apex design.

Your refresher, as the name overtly suggests, Callaway has leveraged artificial intelligence (AI) to design an iron face to achieve a specific objective more efficiently than it could with human intelligence alone. (While the rest of the world uses AI for short, Callaway persists with Ai in their brand names.)

While AI hasn’t replaced the R&D team, it does allow engineers to explore a wider range of possibilities, figure out what will and what won’t work and iterate significantly faster than they did in the old days (like three years ago, maybe).

In previous iterations of its AI-driven designs, Callaway has emphasized distance (go figure) but with the new Apex Ai iron family, while ball speed was still part of the equation, AI was tasked with optimizing launch and spin to create steeper landing angles into greens.

Callaway wasn’t able to include Ai Smart Faces in the previous round of Apex designs, but with Ai 200, Ai 300, and Ti Fusion, Smart Face is part of the equation, if not the allure.

So, with the long-winded intro out of the way, a simple, though admittedly incomplete, place to start is that if you’re currently playing well with the prior-gen’s standard Apex, the Apex Ai 200 is your most likely option.

If you’re a DCB player or an Apex player looking to maximize forgiveness but keep it in the family, Ai 300 is the best starting point.

Having said that, probabilities aren’t always realities. Your swing may have changed. The new models could be different enough to matter so if it’s possible (and I realize it isn’t always possible), I’m going to recommend you get fitted.

Apex Ai 200 versus Ai 300 – The fitting difference

If you read our story on Callaway’s Paradym Ai Smoke drivers, you might recall that Callaway’s extensive player testing allowed it to categorize golfers into what amounts to fitting buckets.

For example, a faster swing speed player with a positive attack angle and relatively consistent contact will likely fit into the Paradym Ai Smoke LS.

A golfer with a slower swing speed, negative attack angle and the mindset of I paid for the whole face, I’m sure as hell going to use it, will likely fit into the Paradym Ai Smoke Max.

In doing similar player testing with irons, Callaway didn’t find the same level of granularity in the data. That is to say that we’re more similar in how we swing irons than we are with drivers. Case in point: not many of us hit up on a 9-iron. At least not on purpose.

With that, the most influential factor in determining which Apex AI iron model is right for you will be swing speed.

Callaway Apex Ai 200 irons

Of the two models in the current Apex Ai family, the Ai 200 is the more player-centric of the two but there are a couple of key points to keep in mind.

First, remember that Ai 200 is the replacement for the standard Apex. That makes it a middle-of-the-category player’s distance iron. It’s not super-extra-uber forgiving but it’s not a punishing compact player’s design, either.

In terms of the footprint, head size, geometry … whatever you want to call it … Apex Ai 200 is more or less what the standard Apex has always been.

I point this out with the hope that it will help clarify the relationship between the two. If we think of Apex Ai within the scope of the entire player’s distance category, Ai 200 is in the middle while Ai 300 leans ever-so-slightly more to the forgiving end of the category.

Neither is what we reasonably consider a compact player’s iron nor is either a super-forgiving shovel-type design.

Who is Apex Ai 200 for?

With the understanding that there is some complexity in trying to make clean recommendations, Callaway says Apex Ai 200 is a good fit for golfers in the 5-12 handicap range with a casual nod towards faster swing speed players. For the sake of putting numbers on it, let’s call it golfers with driver speeds in the mid-high 80s and above.

While the medium-sized footprint suggests some measure of forgiveness by way of MOI, there are aspects of forgiveness that come from Callaway’s Ai Smart Face. The magic in the design is that it seeks to decouple from, or perhaps extend, the concept of forgiveness beyond conventional measures, most notably MOI.

Callaway says the new Ai Smart Face design of the Apex Ai 200 helps to create higher launch, higher and more consistent spin rates, and significantly tighter dispersion.

With that, you can expect steeper descent angles relative to past Apex design. And while it wouldn’t be an Apex if distance wasn’t part of the conversation, the emphasis of the new design is on what you might call total playability through a new Dynamic Sole design, improved trajectory and more stable spin rates.

Callaway Apex Ai 300 irons

In one sense, you can think of the Ai 300 as a bigger version of the Ai 200. At the risk of repeating myself, while it is more forgiving than Ai 200, this isn’t a chunky game-improvement design.

Frankly, while there are noticeable differences between the two, if you like the Apex Ai 200, you’re probably not going to find much of anything objectionable in the Ai 300.

To my eye, it’s still solidly mid-sized and, if nothing else, that leaves room for an Ai 400 should Callaway decide it needs a bigger Apex in the lineup.

Leaning into swing speed as our key variable, the Ai 300 is going to be a better fit for moderate to slow swingers. Loosely, it’s for golfers with driver swing speeds in the mid-80s and below. And because there is a correlation between swing speed and handicap, we’re talking about golfers with indexes from 12 and up.

Again, none of this is 100 percent “carved in stone for every golfer” type of stuff so I’m going to again recommend that fitting be a part of the buying process whenever possible.

With the larger footprint of the Ai 300 you’re still getting full forged construction but this time with full hollow body construction (Apex Ai 200 is partial hollow body). With the bigger shape comes a wider sole and thicker topline and more offset. All of those should be prefaced with a little bit.

Again, Apex Ai 300 is not a overly big iron.

Like Apex Ai 200, a good bit of the performance story (consistency, more optimized flight, etc.) is coming from the Ai Smart Face. The added benefit is that, with the 300’s bigger body, you’re getting a bit more forgiveness by way of MOI.

If maximizing forgiveness is your primary objective, of the currently available options, Apex Ai 300 will likely prove the better choice.

But those lofts

Where I think the Ai 300 risks confusion is that lofts are a degree stronger than the AI 200 throughout the set. With that, the natural assumption is that they’ll fly lower, which obviously wouldn’t be ideal for the target player.

Callaway says the AI 300-specific Smart Face design works with the larger body (more offset, deeper CG, etc.) to provide the target player with higher ball flight.

To be sure, this is absolutely “one of those mileage may vary” situations but in the interest of breaking this down as simply as possible, the Callaway Apex Ai 200 offers a balance between speed, distance, control and forgiveness. The Ai 300 should launch higher, be more forgiving, and still offer the moderate swing speed player plenty of control by way of greater spin consistency than past Apex models.

Apex Ti Fusion

It’s reasonable to call the Apex Ti Fusion an outlier in Callaway’s new Apex lineup. The construction is different (faces are titanium), the aesthetics are different (they’re black) and the price is different ($300 per stick instead of $200).

Taking those differences off the table for a moment, you can think of the Apex Ti Fusion as something akin to an Ai 150. There’s room in the lineup for a smaller, player’s design but of the three new Apex irons, the Ti Fusion is the most compact of the lot.

Apex TI’s smaller shape brings with it thinner toplines, less offset and narrower soles.

That’s the stuff you can see.

What you can’t see is why Callaway describes Apex Ti as a concept iron.

The “Ti” in the name is a nod to Ti Fusion’s titanium face. To be sure, this isn’t the first time that someone has paired a steel body with a titanium face in an iron. The differentiator is the process Callaway uses to bring the pieces together.

The background is that bonding steel and titanium is more complex than it likely sounds to most of us (just glue it or use some duct tape, amiright?). Previous methods of joining the materials, for example, combo brazing and swaging, limit the face’s ability to flex near the joint.

Callaway says its brazed titanium approach allows it to avoid those pitfalls, allowing for greater deflection across more of the face.

Said another way, Apex Ti gives you more speed and forgiveness in a more compact package.

Blending the two materials has additional benefits as well. First – and this is the industry standard one – titanium is lighter than steel, which creates discretionary weight.

You know where this is headed …

With some free mass to play with, Callaway was able to move the center of gravity back. With that, you can expect Apex Ti to launch higher than similarly sized designs.

The other benefit for Callaway is that titanium is a more AI-friendly material. That is to say, it’s easier to work with than steel which allows the company greater ability to tune the Ai Smart Face to achieve the specific performance objectives of a given design.

What does all that get you?

Making it super-easy, if pricing is no object and you want bleeding-edge technology in your bag. Apex Ti Fusion is for you.

Spelled out in more detail, Ti Fusion is Callaway’s take on a higher-flying, more forgiving player’s iron. Whether that makes it a better CB or a better-looking DCB (or none of the above) is open to interpretation but the takeaway is that it’s something entirely different within the Apex lineup.

According to Callaway Senior Product Manager, Zach Oakley, “it’s unlike anything we’ve ever tested.” The subtext there is that it’s also likely to be unlike anything you’ve hit before which is why it’s not the kind of thing you should buy without trying first. And at $300 a stick (and the risk of beating a horse corpse), you shouldn’t buy without getting fitted.

Specs, pricing, availability

The Apex Ai 200 and Ai 300 irons are available in 4-iron through gap wedge.

The Ai 200 comes stock with the True Temper Dynamic Gold Mid100 shaft in regular and stiff. The new UST Mamiya HDC (High-Density Carbon) Recoil Dart 80 is the stock graphite shaft. The Golf Pride Z is the stock grip.

The Ai 300 is lighter all around, with the Dynamic Golf Mid 90 the stock steel shaft and the HDC Recoil Dart 70 the stock graphite, with the Golf Pride Z the stock grip.

Both sets will come in left- and right-handed models.

Retail price for both is $200 per iron, $1,400 for a seven-piece set.

The Callaway Apex Ti Fusion will be available in 4-iron through gap wedge for lefties and righties. Lofts are a touch weaker than that of the Apex Ai200 with a 30.5-degree 7-iron.

The black Diamond-Like Coating finish is paired with a Dynamic Gold Mid 115 steel shaft in a gunmetal finish. The Mitsubishi MMT is the stock graphite shaft. The Golf Pride Z is the stock grip.

The Callaway Apex Ti Fusion are priced at $300 per stick, $2,100 for a seven-piece set.

All three Callaway Apex AI models are available now.

For more information, visit Callawaygolf.com.

This article was written in partnership with Callaway

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