The rumors clamoring about Apple’s ambitions in making the iPhone Air the sleekest handset in its lineup were accompanied by waves of criticism, but the company has proven that, despite switching to an ultra-slim form factor, it is packing some incredible firepower and does not shy away from flaunting a premium build. Additionally, it is the first smartphone from the technology giant to ship with not one, but two in-house wireless chips, so let us talk about everything in detail.
Display
The iPhone Air’s chassis uses Grade 5 titanium, so it is not like Apple has completely transitioned to aluminum. Regardless, the company states that this model features the most durable design despite sporting a thickness of 5.6mm. The display measures 6.5 inches and supports ProMotion technology, just like the base iPhone 17. The package also includes an ‘Always On’ display, 3,000 nits of peak outdoor brightness, plus the Ceramic Shield 2 at the front. For the first time, Apple has incorporated Ceramic Shield 2 at the back, making it 4x more scratch-resistant. Thanks to the California-based firm’s environmental focus, the iPhone Air sports 80 percent recycled materials.
A19 Pro Chipset
Like the A19, the A19 Pro is mass produced on the latest 3nm process, and while Apple has retained the 6-core CPU configuration with two performance and four efficiency cores, the low-power cores now have 50 percent increased cache, making it more efficient than the A19. The GPU now has Apple’s second-generation Dynamic Cache and unified image compression. The A19 Pro die also accommodates dedicated Neural Accelerators with 3x the GPU compute of the A18 Pro, with Apple claiming that customers will get MacBook Pro-levels of compute in an iPhone, making it perfect for AI-related workloads.
C1X 5G Modem and N1 Wireless Chips
Apple did not waste any precious time introducing its second-generation C1X 5G modem, and says that the iPhone Air’s baseband chip delivers up to twice as much as speeds as the C1 found in the iPhone 16e. While the manufacturing process of this in-house silicon was not talked about in the keynote, Apple says that efficiency is a strong attribute of the C1X, and it uses up to 30 percent less power than the Snapdragon X75 running in the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
For the first time, Apple has introduced its N1 wireless chip for the iPhone Air, and it manages the Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, and Thread radios in the latest device. The company claims the wireless chip is designed to deliver better performance and efficiency in features like hotspot and AirDrop. With the N1’s inception, we should expect Apple to reduce reliance on Broadcom, as it could make this wireless chip a standard on future iPhone models.
Camera
The new iPhone Air features a single 48MP rear camera and supports 1x and 2x zoom capabilities. Apple has also added an 18MP front-facing shooter that features Center Stage, leveraging AI to automatically expand the FOV and rotate the camera for you based on how many people are in the viewfinder.
Battery
Again, the battery capacity has not been mentioned by Apple, but the company claims that the iPhone Air has an all-day battery life with 27 hours of video playback. With the MagSafe Battery accessory, you can take that video playback runtime to an impressive 40 hours.
Colors, Price & Availability
Apple has introduced the iPhone Air in four colors, with the base model featuring 256GB of storage. The price is set at $999, with Apple opening up pre-orders on September 12, and the official release is set for September 19.
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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