Apple has revealed iPhone Air, a thin and lightweight version of iPhone with a large screen and a rear camera. It’s the thinnest iPhone of all time, and the first brand new flagship iPhone model in three years.
IPhone Air was advertised next to the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max during Apple’s 9th September ‘AWE DROPPING’ event. It replaces the iPhone 16 Plus in the flagship lineup.
Although it is much thinner and lighter than the iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone -air packs a lot of hardware stream in its slim frame. It has the new A19 Pro chipset, a 6.5-inch screen with promotion and a 48MP rear camera with camera control capacitive shutter button.
Apple does not often release a new model of iPhone, so the unveiling of iPhone Air marks a pretty big moment for the tech giant – Continue reading for the most important things you need to know about iPhone Air.
Cut to the hunt
- 6.5 inch display
- 5.6 mm thick
- A19 Pro Chipset
- Single Behind 48MP Fusion Camera
- 18MP selfie -camera with middle scene
- “The whole day battery life” according to Apple
- Titanium frame
- Ceramic shield 2 on both the front and back glass
The thinnest iPhone ever
IPhone Air Sports A new design with a slim pill -shaped camera and a thinner and lighter building. It measures only 5.6 mm thick, thinner than any other iPhone, including the rival Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge.
In terms of appearance, it is somewhere between the old iPhone 16 Plus and the New iPhone 17 Pro Max that take signals from both design styles. It has the same volume, rocker, on / off button, action button and camera control as iPhone 17 with a single USB-C port.
IPhone Air has a titanium frame and uses ceramic shield 2 glasses on both the front and back panels. Apple said iPhone Air is its “most durable design yet”.
IPhone air is available in four colors: space black, cloud white, light gold and sky blue.
Price and accessibility
IPhone Air starts at $ 999 / £ 999 / A $ 1,799 for the model with 256 GB storage space, $ 1,199 / £ 1,199 / A $ 2,199 for the model with 512 GB storage and $ 1,399 / £ 1,399 / A $ 2,599 for the model with 1 TB storage.
Price wise it sits between iPhone 17 to $ 799 and iPhone 17 Pro for $ 1,099. That’s higher than $ 899 starting price for iPhone 16 Plus with 128 GB of storage, but the same as the iPhone 16 Plus with 256 GB of storage.
As for what you get for your money, iPhone Air has the faster, newer A19 Pro Chipset, a 6.5-inch screen and a titanium frame. The iPhone 16 Plus has an extra ultra-camera, a larger 6.7-inch screen and probably a larger battery.
Both phones have a 48MP main camera, camera control button, action button and support for Apple Intelligence.
IPhone Air, like the iPhone 17 Series, will be available for pre-order on September 12 and on store shelves on September 19.
A19 Pro Chipset
IPhone Air comes with the new A19 Pro chipset. The A18 Pro chipset was already one of the most powerful iPhone chipset in the recent memory, so we are happy to see what the A19 Pro can do in our test. Like the rest of the iPhone 17 lineup, iPhone Air Apple supports Intelligence. This means it has at least 8 GB of RAM.
IPhone Air also has the new N1 chip for Bluetooth and WiFi, as well as the C1 -cellular modem introduced with iPhone 16E.
6.5-inch promotion display
IPhone Air has a 6.5-inch screen that sits between the iPhone 17’s 6.3-inch screen and iPhone 17 Pro Max’s 6.9-inch panel. The display tops at 3000 nits brightness and is reinforced by Apple’s Ceramic Shield 2 technology.
Alongside the regular iPhone 17, iPhone Air has been equipped with a promotion display, allowing the display to adjust from 1-120Hz based on what’s on screen.
As a reference, update speed indicates how often a display draws the image on the screen. A higher update speed means movement and animations look smoother and more natural. Every other flagship phone on the market is already using 120Hz or higher, so it’s good to see Apple finally catch up.
A rear camera and an upgraded selfie -cam
The iPhone 17 air is equipped with a single rear camera, a 48MP wide camera with 2x ‘optical quality’ digital zoom.
In addition, the Selfie camera has been upgraded to an 18MP sensor with a square sensor and center stage, allowing for identical performance, whether the phone is held in landscape or vertical orientation.
The new handset also comes with a very slim version of Camera Control-Capacitive button introduced with the iPhone 16 Series, which gives users hardware-based control over the shutter, zoom and other settings.
This makes iPhone air the first iPhone flagship level that is being launched without a second rear camera since the iPhone XR released in 2018. Typically, one-camera-IPHONE’s midrange or budget-friendly settings such as iPhone 16E or now discontinated iPhone SE.
Apple clearly knocks on the thin and lightweight design of the iPhone 17 air, which is enough of a sale for consumers to waive another camera. It is very rare for modern flagship phones to be launched with a single rear camera.
only eSim
IPhone Air uses an ESIM-Kun design, which means it doesn’t use SIM cards. Instead, users can sign up for an carrier almost, making it easier to switch between carriers and activate travel -specific plans.
It looks like the SIM tray was sacrificed to give more space for iPhone Air’s battery. IPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are also ESIM-Kun.
“All day” battery life
Almost every iPhone Air rumor pointed to reduced battery life and while Apple did not admit this during its presentation, the odds do not look good.
Apple usually indicates the life of the battery on its phones for hours of continuous video playback, but for the iPhone air the only requirement was made for “All-Day Battery Life”.
We also saw a new Slim Magsafe charging package revealed, and with this attached Apple, iPhone Air claims 40 hours of video playback. It is neat, but useless in trying to find out how much battery life the phone gets on its own.
