iPhone Air: What does Apple's new ultra-thin iPhone offer and what is its value?

The iPhone Air was announced by Apple on Tuesday, September 9, 2025. CEO Tim Cook called it "the biggest leap ever for the iPhone."

So the iPhone Air wasn't just a rumor. During its back-to-school keynote this Tuesday, Apple unveiled its new ultra-slim iPhone, the thinnest smartphone the company has ever created. As the show opened around 7 p.m. French time, Apple CEO Tim Cook promised the "biggest leap ever made by the iPhone." Once unveiled, the iPhone Air confirmed its unprecedented silhouette, measuring 5.6 mm thick (compared to 7.8 for the latest models).

The new iPhone Air is made of titanium, making it Apple's most robust model ever and a direct response to Samsung's Galaxy S25 Edge. The device features a 6.5-inch Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion smoothness. For the first time, a ceramic back cover has been designed for increased protection. The titanium frame also ensures it is very light.

The iPhone Air features a single rear camera primarily designed for wide-angle and 2x zoom. Capable of shooting with four integrated focal lengths, it features a 48MP sensor, but with a default 24MP configuration, which still promises some nice shots. Available in black, white, gold, and blue in the coming days. This new version of the iPhone Air also features a brand-new chip entirely designed by Apple for better cellular or internet connections.

As for battery life, a crucial point given its thinness, the iPhone Air should be able to last a whole day, Apple promises, but this will obviously have to be tested.

Latest updates

[Published on September 9, 2025] While many Apple fans are focused on the iPhone 17, others have already spotted information from afar about a new upcoming version: the iPhone 17 Air. This new model is said to be designed as an ultra-thin iPhone with a completely new design.

The iPhone 17 Air doesn't exist by chance. This ultra-thin smartphone reflects Apple's desire to compete with Samsung with its Galaxy S25 Edge launched earlier this year. According to the latest information, the iPhone 17 Air's thinness could, however, hinder its performance in certain areas, particularly battery life.

If you've been wanting to know everything there is to know about the iPhone 17 Air, you've come to the right place. The phone 's specifications have been leaking online for weeks, and there's almost nothing left to learn during Apple's keynote this Tuesday, September 9th.

The very purpose of the iPhone 17 Air is to prove that Apple is capable of creating a new ultra-thin smartphone. This new version is said to be about 5.5 mm thick (compared to 7.8 mm for the iPhone 16). This thinness should also be reflected in the weight of the device, which is announced at 145 g (compared to 170 g for the iPhone 16).

The shocking detail in this alleged iPhone 17 design is obviously the camera module. While all the current buttons of the modern iPhone (volume, power, action, and camera control) are still present, the main feature is a new layout for the camera block. Based on these initial designs, some internet users have imagined what the next iPhone 17 would look like with a horizontally extended camera module.

This design will certainly be reminiscent of the current Google Pixel phones, which also have a camera block spread entirely over the edge of their casing.

The iPhone 17 Air, for its part, is equipped with only a single 48 MP "two-in-one" camera module which would be responsible for providing nice shots, like the iPhone 16e released a few months ago.

A chip exclusive to the iPhone 17 Air

According to the latest information available, the iPhone 17 Air would be equipped with an A19 chip entirely designed by Apple. The ultra-thin smartphone would even be the only one in the range to have this chip, since the company would choose to equip its base iPhone 17 with a processor already found on the iPhone 16 and 16e: the A18 chip.

But the A19 chip wouldn't be the only exclusive feature of the iPhone 17 Air. Indeed, the latter would benefit from a modem chip for communications entirely developed by Apple: the C1 chip. The latter was tested for the first time in the iPhone 16th with great success.

If our current smartphones all have, more or less, the same dimensions, this is mainly explained by the size of the components used. The battery is a component in particular that is quite difficult to manage since its size directly impacts its capacity and the autonomy of the phone.

As more and more manufacturers enter the ultra-thin smartphone market, one conclusion quickly becomes clear: it's very difficult to fit a sufficient battery into these phones. This observation was confirmed by Samsung in early 2025 with the release of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge. While it is indeed one of the thinnest smartphones in the world, most tests point to its battery life, due to a battery deemed far too small to withstand the demands of a high-end smartphone in such a small body.

The latest rumors about the iPhone 17 Air also point in this direction. The iPhone 17 Air is said to come with a small battery of around 3000 mAh. It will reportedly feature standard iPhone charging and support for wireless charging up to 25W.

What price will the iPhone 17 Air be?

Many consumers might expect the iPhone 17 Air to be less expensive than other smartphones in the range. After all, this ultra-thin iPhone isn't expected to deliver performance as good as other smartphones in the range, especially when it comes to battery life.

Unfortunately, miniaturizing components is generally more expensive than enlarging them. Therefore, it's a safe bet that the iPhone 17 Air will be more expensive than the base iPhone 17. There's a good chance that the iPhone 17 Air will start at €1,119 in France.