The new iPhone Air is finally official. The Big Fruit Company debuted its slimmed-down device as part of its annual iPhone unveiling at Apple HQ.
The company has managed to get it down to just 5.6mm thick. It features a newly minted machined unibody made from 80% recycled Titanium and Apple’s improved Ceramic Shield 2 glass on the front (the back gets first-gen Ceramic Shield).
All this is supposed to usher in a new iPhone experience, but we can’t help but wonder if the difference will be that noticeable when you inevitably plonk the Air in a hideous cover to save you from having to explain the ugly scratches to your iFriends.
What will you do with all that pocket space?
It might be thin, but Apple says it’s every bit as powerful as their phones with ‘Pro’ in the name. To drive that point home, Apple has equipped the new iPhone Air with its new A19 Pro system-on-a-chip (SoC)… the new fastest chip in the world.
The six-core CPU and five-core GPU should blaze through everything you’re able to throw at them, slightly faster than the last one. Fast enough for you to tell the difference? We’ll see about that. Apple also says it’s made improvements on the neural front, but we’re less inclined to take that at face value when Apple Intelligence was more ot less another no-show save for the odd mention.
Along with the new 3nm A19 Pro, the iPhone Air also features Apple’s first wireless networking chip, the N1, for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Threads connectivity. It’s joined by an improved version of the C1 modem, the C1X, that debuted last year. Both are supposed to be more power-efficient and improve the performance of features you use without a second thought.
Adorning the front of the new device is a 6.5in Super Retina XDR display. It’s ProMotion-enabled (meaning it can refresh between 1 and 120 times a second, depending on what you’re doing on the screen) and boasts a peak brightness of 3,000 nits — brighter than all previous iPhones.
Since in-body volume was scarce, the iPhone Air only houses one ‘Fusion’ camera sensor that performs double duty as the main 48MP and 2x telephoto shooter. There’s also a new 18MP ‘Center Stage front camera’ for selfie takers that features a square front camera sensor. Apple says this means you won’t have to change the orientation of your device to switch between portrait and landscape shots.
Just a regular iPhone 17, please
Joining the iPhone Air is the new iPhone 17. If the Air is the ‘new and improved’, the iPhone 17 is ‘old reliable’. If you’ve ever had an iPhone before, you’ll know what to expect. This year, it ships with an improved A19 chip, the same Center Stage front camera system as the Air, and a brighter display (also up to 3,000 nits).
Like the Air, it’s also got the 48MP Main Fusion camera, but has space to include an extra 48MP Fusion Ultra Wide camera. The display is slightly smaller, however, at just 6.3in. It’ll do all the things the Air’s display can do, just a little smaller.
While it didn’t make a big fuss about it, we couldn’t help but perk up when we heard “faster charging”. Apple isn’t one to give out specifics, so we’ll have to wait for independent tests to see if the improvements are real, or just a result of better chip efficiency.
Either way, you won’t have to wait long. The new iPhone 17 and iPhone Air should be available next week Friday, 19 September, along with all of Apple’s other new toys. Local pricing should be confirmed before pre-orders open this Friday, 12 September.
