Slim iPhone Air may be a design win for Apple

Apple CEO Tim Cook channelled his predecessor and design genius Steve Jobs when he unveiled the iPhone Air, the company's slimmest handset yet and the biggest change in eight years to a lineup fans and analysts complained was stagnating.

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-mm slim frame - thinner than Samsung Electronics' S25 Edge at 5.8 mm - 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 after the event that four new iPhones - Air, 17, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max - were a lineup likely to appeal to customers with varied budgets.

"We were more impressed with the look and capabilities of the Air than we expected to be and could see this being a device that helps to improve iPhone upgrade rates over the next 12 months," Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a note, though they added the device that features an eSIM was unlikely to sell well in China, where eSIMS were regulated.

Apple shares dropped more than three percent as the company held the line on price increases, worrying investors about a further hit to profits from the Trump administration's tariffs. Doubts lingered, too, about whether the new smartphone would match its promised battery capacity.

This week's launch event was also light on evidence of how Apple - a laggard in the AI race - aimed to close the gap with the likes of Google, which showcased the capabilities of its Gemini AI model in its latest flagship phones.

"Apple's not really innovating and ... they're still behind the eight ball on A.I. and the market is a little bit skeptical," said Thomas Hayes, chairman of Great Hill Capital, which does not hold Apple stock.

But fans and gadget experts at the event were enthused about the iPhone Air, which will incorporate Apple's 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.

Chaudhary praised the Air's titanium frame and ceramic shield glass, which Apple said makes the device more durable.

Despite numerous leaks before the launch, he said that he was still impressed with the device, although he wants to see if the battery life claim holds up.

Bigger, louder, better

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, which borrows its name and design language from the laptop, may be what Apple fans have wanted for years: a device distinct from competitors and 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.

But analysts said the iPhone Air, especially, was likely to spur many upgrades, boosting Apple's sales in the crucial holiday shopping season.

The iPhone Air is priced in the middle of the iPhone lineup, 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.

"Apple's late, but when they do it, they do it bigger or louder or better than anyone," Popal said.