Apple iPhone 17 Air.
Credit: Apple
Apple on Tuesday (September 9) launched the iPhone 17 series along with Watch Series 11, SE 3, Ultra 3 and AirPods Pro 3.
However, the star of Apple's fall hardware event was the iPhone Air, which comes with a super slim design. Besides the unique exterior structure, it houses several new features, we have never seen in an iPhone before.
iPhone Air: Key things you should know about Apple's latest mobile
Super slim design with sturdiest build quality: The iPhone 17 Air, which takes inspiration from the iconic super slim MacBook Air. It measures just 5.66 mm in thickness.
To maintain a slim design structure, Apple has incorporated a single camera sensor and LED flash.
Apple iPhone Air.
Credit: Apple
Given how slim the device is, Apple has used Ceramic Shield 2 series guard on the display. It is touted to be the sturdiest glass shield on a mobile phone in the industry. Also, it is said to be 3X sturdier than the predecessor. And, the iPhone Air features an aerospace-grade titanium-based frame, which is said to be super light in weight, but more durable than stainless steel in terms of superior strength-to-weight ratio. The device weighs just 165g. Unlike the iPhone 6 series, the iPhone Air is unlikely to face any bendgate. Fingers crossed.
Apple iPhone Air.
Credit: Apple
Anti-reflective display: The iPhone Air sports a 6.5‑inch Super Retina XDR display and supports 3,000 nits peak brightness and ProMotion technology, which enables the device to support up to 120Hz refresh rate. And Apple has incorporated anti‑reflection coating on the display, a first for an iPhone to date. Other iPhone 17 and 17 Pro models also come with this feature.
Apple iPhone Air.
Credit: Apple
Centre-stage front camera: With the all-new 18MP centre-centre stage front camera, the iPhone Air supports a wider field of view and higher resolution — up to 18MP for photos — to capture more detail. Users can also capture photos and videos in portrait or landscape while holding their iPhone vertically. For group selfies, Centre Stage for photos uses AI to automatically expand the field of view and can rotate from portrait to landscape to include everyone in the frame. The Centre Stage front camera also enables ultra-stabilised video in 4K HDR, and users can now record on the front and rear cameras simultaneously with Dual Capture mode.
Apple iPhone Air.
Credit: Apple
On the back, the iPhone 17 Air features a 48MP Fusion camera system and is capable of capturing 4K videos.
Apple iPhone Air series.
Credit: Apple
No physical SIM: Due to the design limitation, Apple has removed the physical SIM slot. Earlier, Apple was selling e-SIM-only iPhones in the US. Now, the iPhone Air with just the e-SIM will be available globally, including in India. If people want to own the iPhone Air, they have no choice but to switch to e-SIM. In India, Airtel and Reliance Jio offer e-SIM.
Apple iPhone Air.
Credit: Apple
The iPhone Air can support more than eight e-SIMs, but only two e-SIMs can be active at any time.
Apple A19 Pro silicon.
Apple
Powerful A19 Pro silicon: The new 3nm class Apple A19 Pro chipset comes with a 6-core CPU with 2 performance and 4 efficiency cores, a 6-core GPU with Neural Accelerators and a 16-core Neural Engine. It promises 10 per cent to 14 per cent improvements in terms of single-core and multi-core benchmarking scores compared to the predecessor.
Also, it can deliver up to 40 per cent improved CPU performance over A18 Pro. Also, the GPU can offer 3X enhanced performance, and the Neural Engine can deliver 4X improved performance in terms of AI compute against the predecessor.
An iPhone air hangs during Apple's event at the Steve Jobs Theater on its campus in Cupertino, California, US September 9, 2025.
Credit: Reuters
All-day battery: Given the limitations of thin design language, Apple has incorporated an advanced high-energy-density battery cell and ensure the device lasts a full day under normal usage. With a full charge, it can deliver 27 hours of video playback.
Also, it supports 20W charging. In 30 minutes, it can charge up to 50 per cent of the capacity.
A person holds an iPhone Air during Apple's event at the Steve Jobs Theater on its campus in Cupertino, California, US. September 9, 2025.
Credit: Reuters
New N1 chipset: The new iPhone Air features N1, a new Apple-designed wireless networking chip that enables Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread. In addition to the latest generation of wireless technologies, N1 improves the overall performance and reliability of features like Personal Hotspot and AirDrop.
An iPhone Air is displayed during Apple's event at the Steve Jobs Theater, in Cupertino, California, US. September 9, 2025.
Credit: Reuters
New C1X chipset: The iPhone Air features proprietary C1X, a new cellular modem designed by Apple. C1X is up to 2x faster than C1, and for the same cellular technologies, it is even faster than the modem in iPhone 16 Pro, while using 30 per cent less energy overall.
Special accessory for iPhone Air: Due to limitations of the battery capacity, Apple has introduced an all-new MagSafe wireless charger.
It costs Rs 11,900.
Apple iPhone Air powerbank.
Credit: Apple
The iPhone Air will be available in space black, cloud white, light gold, and sky blue, starting with 256GB storage, as well as 512GB and 1TB options— for Rs 1,19,900, Rs 1,39,900 and Rs 1,59,900, respectively. It will be available for pre-order on September 12 and is slated to hit stores on September 19.
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