The most important announcement popping out of the iPhone 17 collection’ launch occasion earlier this week wasn’t in regards to the strongest iPhone but — it was for the thinnest. At 5.6mm, or lower than 1 / 4 of an inch, the iPhone Air stole the present. And regardless that it was removed from the primary mainstream “skinny telephone,” it might simply kick off the pattern in a serious means within the years to return.
There is a long-running sentiment within the cell trade round Apple’s affect on telephone traits: As soon as the iPhone-maker makes a robust design selection, different firms comply with. That was true in 2007 when the corporate debuted the authentic iPhone (and others adopted the entrance glass touchscreen design), true when the iPad debuted to popularize the pill format and was sadly true when it removed the headphone jack.
So the large query is: Will the iPhone Air make skinny telephones mainstream? Most likely not, says CNET Senior Expertise Reporter Abrar Al-Heeti, who was on the bottom at Apple headquarters for the launch occasion and bought hands-on time with the brand new, skinny iPhone. However now, the skinny telephone area of interest is being strengthened by a model with a few of the most loyal followers.
“Apple is not essentially setting a pattern with the iPhone Air, since so many telephone producers have already developed skinny telephones,” Al-Heeti mentioned. “However it might have legitimized the shape issue amongst individuals who have wished a skinny telephone and sworn allegiance to Apple’s merchandise.”
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There are a pair causes Apple would make a skinny iPhone. The obvious: The corporate believes shoppers need one. It would not be alone in that considering, as Samsung debuted its Galaxy S25 Edge earlier this 12 months. We’re nonetheless ready for official gross sales tallies to see if patrons have been wanting to go for a 5.8mm telephone over its 7.2mm and thicker S25 collection siblings. Leaked data suggests gross sales have been underwhelming, based on The Elec, however Al-Heeti discovered that, “I’ve grown so used to its skinny, light-weight design that holding some other telephone seems like a drag.”
The iPhone Air is the largest redesign to the iPhone in a while, and judging by the X-ray cutaways of the brand new gadget through the launch occasion, Apple has carried out some technical wizardry in cramming almost all of the chips and {hardware} into the highest of the telephone to realize its 5.6mm profile. Aesthetically, it is a new web page within the firm’s product ebook, a means for Apple to enchantment to a different subsegment of consumers, mentioned Nabila Popal, senior director of the Worldwide Information Company’s information and analytics group.
“The iPhone Air is Apple’s thinnest telephone ever and its boldest design transfer because the iPhone X,” Popal mentioned. “It’ll attract customers who love leek aesthetics, whereas the Professional lineup takes the crown for majority of customers prioritizing battery and digicam efficiency.”
Analysts I spoke to agreed that the iPhone Air serves a number of functions, from changing the iPhone 16 Plus with a extra premium selection in Apple’s lineup to serving as a showcase gadget for the corporate’s rising applied sciences (like its in-house C1X modem and N1 connectivity chip). However in addition they pushed again on the concept the iPhone Air would open the floodgates for thinner telephones.
“I believe we knew skinny and light-weight telephones have been going to be coming no matter Apple’s launch,” mentioned Anshel Sag, principal analyst at Moor Insights and Technique.
What position does the iPhone Air play?
Up to now, the iPhone Air and Galaxy S25 Edge have each been slotted into the center of their lineups, providing an aesthetic selection that however had slight specs upgrades over their normal iPhone 17 and Galaxy S25 siblings, respectively. They’re the novelties in the course of more-of-the-same, and maybe arrive on the proper time amid not a lot different innovation.
This iPhone technology is much less about introducing breakthrough specs and extra about cleverly rearranging the worth bands and distinguishing the design variations at every tier, mentioned Counterpoint Analysis Affiliate Director David Naranjo.
“The iPhone Air is the wild card — if it resonates, Apple widens the premium center and lifts the margin combine without having a Professional-class digicam throughout the board,” Naranjo mentioned.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, one other extremely skinny telephone.
That single 48-megapixel digicam on the again of the iPhone Air is its greatest apparent deficiency. (We’ll watch for our full evaluation to see how different elements like its battery life and efficiency measure up.) At $999 to begin, it has an identical solo digicam setup because the $599 iPhone 16E. Even the Galaxy S25 Edge managed to retain an ultrawide rear digicam. Clearly, there is a value to pay for going skinny.
“I simply suppose that this primary technology of actually skinny telephones make numerous compromises, whether or not it is on battery capability or digicam configuration that I hope can be resolved with time,” Sag mentioned. “Very like we have seen on foldables.”
Sag is bullish that the Air will promote exceptionally nicely, and believes that its digicam and battery capabilities will enhance with time. In some methods, it nonetheless is a first-generation gadget, and later years’ Air units might handle to cram in additional cameras and battery capability.
Apple is working into the identical design constraints as different phone-makers who’ve tried to make skinny handsets previously, identified Avi Greengart, president and lead analyst at Techspontential. He pointed to the modular Motorola Moto Z that launched in 2016, which was 5.2mm thick by itself however wanted its magnetic battery accent clipped to the again that added bulk: “With out that accent, the Moto Z was too compromised, and it did not promote nicely,” Greengart mentioned.
Apple’s promoting a MagSafe battery accent for the iPhone Air.
Battery life has been the chief concern for skinny telephones. Dropping house inside a telephone means one thing has to present, and that is assumed to have been battery capability. Although they’ve the identical measurement display screen, the Galaxy S25 Plus has a 4,900 mAh battery whereas the skinny Galaxy S25 Edge’s is 3,900 mAh. For its half, Apple does not share specifics on capability. However through the iPhone 17 launch occasion, the corporate promised the iPhone Air would have all-day battery life… after which instantly launched a MagSafe charging pack. That bought fun out of the attending press within the viewers.
Whether or not or not the iPhone Air sells at mass volumes, it does open up alternatives for Apple — not only for a brand new buyer subset, however for no matter Apple could be engaged on. IDC’s Popal explicitly famous that the thinner telephone’s design paves “the street to a foldable iPhone presumably subsequent 12 months.” She’s not alone in considering so.
“I believe a number of these skinny telephones are way more an engineering train to allow higher foldables,” mentioned Sag.
Does the iPhone Air lay groundwork for the iPhone Flip?
Apple has reportedly been engaged on a foldable iPhone, typically known as the iPhone Flip, since doubtlessly earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. Whereas the primary foldable telephones debuted that 12 months from Samsung and Motorola, they have been in tough form, however subsequent iterations over time elevated their sturdiness and options. Whereas leaks and rumors recommend Apple has been working towards its personal folding gadget, a few of these early studies declare the shortcoming to cut back the on-screen crease, the place it folds, has delayed its launch.
The iPhone Air as seen from the facet. Be aware the enlarged digicam bump, the place many of the the telephone’s {hardware} is situated.
Display screen tech apart, the iPhone Air does seem to be a stepping stone to an iPhone Flip, which is rumored to be a clamshell foldable just like the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7. Relocating many of the {hardware} to the highest half of the brand new iPhone is one thing that seems to be the favored means for firms to put out the internals of their clamshell foldables — simply take a look at iFixit’s Z Flip 6 teardown, the place the underside half of the gadget is basically simply the bigger battery pack (a smaller one is paired with the chips and most {hardware} within the high half).
Getting the iPhone Air down to five.6mm thick can be necessary for ensuring a folded-up iPhone Flip is not too cumbersome. Current book-style foldables launched this 12 months have been thinner than ever: The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is barely 8.9mm when folded shut (or 4.2mm when unfolded), whereas the Oppo Discover N5 is roughly similar at 8.93mm thick when folded (or 4.21mm when unfolded flat). Even the Google Pixel 10 Professional Fold is not a lot thicker at 10.8mm when folded closed (or 5.2mm when unfolded).
Thus, Apple has good motive to trim away on the thickness of its iPhones, even when gross sales do not take off for this primary technology of the iPhone Air. However past making a marketable product out of R&D milestones, it is also an experiment, of kinds, to see if shoppers can be entranced sufficient by thinness alone.
“Apple is betting that superior supplies, eSIM, and extra environment friendly silicon now allow a smartphone expertise ok to permit shoppers’ emotional choice making to take over,” Techsponential’s Greengart mentioned. “Tremendous-thin, super-dense telephones just like the iPhone Air and Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge really feel extraordinarily good.”
