CUPERTINO, California, Sept 10: Apple CEO Tim Cook appeared to be drawing inspiration from the late predecessor and design mastermind Steve Jobs on Tuesday when he released the iPhone Air, the thinnest handset Apple has ever produced and the largest eight-year shake-up of a series fans and analysts viewed as stagnant.
Apple unveils thinner iPhone Air, new iPhone 17
Cook opened the company’s yearly 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.”
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Within its 5.6-mm (0.22-inch) -thin body, narrower than Samsung Electronics’ (005930.KS) S25 Edge at 5.8 mm, the iPhone Air’s circuitry has been miniaturized to a few postage stamps’ size, in order to achieve Apple’s promise of “all-day battery life.”.
Most analysts had forecasted a ho-hum welcome before the event, but some reported on Tuesday the four fresh iPhones – Air, 17, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max – were a lineup set to attract customers with diverse budgets.
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Its shares have flatlined, down 6.4% year-to-date in 2025, as other tech behemoths such as Microsoft and Nvidia have returned double-digit returns. Its $3.5 trillion market capitalization ranks it the third-most valuable firm on S&P 500 after those two firms.
iPhone Air could a design win for Apple 2025
There are still concerns about whether the new smartphone will deliver as advertised on battery life, and if customers will be content with one camera less.
It will feature Apple’s most and latest A19 Pro processor chip, optimized for artificial intelligence operations, and two new in-house communications chips.
“I heard thunderous claps the moment it was announced,” said Gaurav Chaudhary, a nearly 24 million-subscriber YouTuber, widely recognized as “Technical Guruji.”
He applauded the Air’s titanium frame and “ceramic shield” glass, which Apple described as making the device more resilient.
iPhone Air could a design win for Apple 2025
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 ultra-thin laptop from an interoffice envelope, to highlight how portable it was.
The iPhone Air, named and styled after the laptop, might be exactly what Apple enthusiasts have been craving for years: A product that was uniquely different from others filled with acts of hardware wizardry.
