Apple CEO Tim Cook appeared to draw inspiration from his predecessor and genius Steve Jobs when he unveiled the iPhone Air on Tuesday, the company's thinnest phone to date. The move signaled the most significant transformation in eight years for a product line that many had considered stagnant.
Cook kicked off the company's annual product launch event at its Cupertino, California, headquarters with a Jobs quote: "For us, design goes beyond just how something looks or feels. Design is also how it works."
Inside its 5.6-millimeter (0.22-inch) slim frame, thinner than Samsung Electronics' S25 Edge at 5.8 millimeters, the iPhone Air's circuitry has been shrunk to the size of a few postage stamps, to deliver on Apple's claim of "all-day battery life."
Many analysts had predicted a ho-hum reception ahead of the event, but some said on Tuesday the four new iPhones – Air, 17, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max – were a lineup likely to appeal to customers with varied budgets.
Doubts still linger about whether the new smartphone will match its promised battery capacity and whether consumers will settle for one camera fewer.
It will incorporate Apple's best and newest A19 Pro processor chip, tuned for artificial intelligence tasks, and two new custom communications chips.
"I heard loud claps the moment it was announced," said Gaurav Chaudhary, a YouTuber with nearly 24 million followers, popularly known as "Technical Guruji."
He praised the Air's titanium frame and "ceramic shield" glass, which Apple said makes the device more durable.
Chaudhary said that despite hearing numerous leaks about the device ahead of time, he was still impressed after handling it in the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple headquarters, even if he still wants to see if Apple's battery life claims hold up.
Seventeen years ago, Jobs famously introduced the company's first MacBook Air by pulling the ultrathin laptop from an interoffice envelope to highlight how portable it was.
The iPhone Air, which borrows its name and design language from the laptop, may be what Apple fans have wanted for years: A device that is distinct from competitors, packed with feats of hardware engineering.
"I think in an era where we've seen a large degree of sameness, it's great to see Apple bring a new product to the market," said PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore. "It kind of reinvigorates the whole segment of iPhone."
On the downside, however, the iPhone Air has only one camera, compared with two separate cameras on the base iPhone 17 and three on the Pro models.
Ben Bajarin, CEO of technology consultancy Creative Strategies, said it will also be critical to confirm whether it can live up to Apple's battery life claims.
He said Apple's custom chips should help, as the company has spent more than a decade designing its own chips with a relentless focus on energy efficiency and size.
The launches brought no news, however, of artificial intelligence features to help Apple close the gap with the likes of Alphabet's Google, which showcases the capabilities of its Gemini AI technology in its latest flagship phones.
But analysts said the iPhone Air, especially, was likely to spur many upgrades, boosting Apple's sales in the crucial holiday shopping season.
It could also help Apple win back customers in China, where it has lost market share to the slimmer and cheaper smartphones of rivals, analysts said, though some cautioned about sales prospects there for the new iPhone Air.
"We don’t expect the iPhone Air to deliver a major sales boost, as Apple compromised on battery life, cameras, and audio to achieve the slimmer design, features crucial to consumers," said Will Wong, senior smartphone analyst at research firm IDC.
The iPhone Air is priced in the middle of the iPhone lineup and at $100 less than the debut price of Samsung's Galaxy S25 Edge, which hit markets this year and shipped 1 million units in the second quarter, IDC says.
The price should make it a strong seller, said Nabila Popal, senior research director with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker unit.
Popal predicted better sales for the iPhone Air, "not only because it's priced better, but because the (iPhone) Plus, which essentially the Air is replacing, already did between 5% and 7% of Apple's shipments.
"Apple's late, but when they do it, they do it bigger or louder or better than anyone," Popal said.
