iPhone Air Is Apple's Thinnest And Most Durable Smartphone To Date

Apple today officially unveiled the highly-anticipated iPhone Air. True to its name, the iPhone Air — which boasts a 6.5-inch display — is Apple's thinnest iPhone to date, measuring in at a svelte 5.6mm. As a point of comparison, the second-thinnest iPhone is the iPhone 6, which measured in at 6.9mm thick.

Apple's new iPhone Air is incredibly thin, but that doesn't mean the device lacks power. On the contrary, the iPhone Air boasts an A19 Pro processor and will ship with 12GB of RAM, matching Apple's iPhone 17 Pro lineup. Apple didn't publicly disclose how much memory each iPhone model ships with, but this information typically becomes available in the days following Apple's iPhone event.

The iPhone Air also includes Apple's next-gen modem. The C1 modem originally debuted with the iPhone 16e and was lauded for its power efficiency. Just a few months later, Apple announced that the iPhone Air will feature its next-gen C1X modem. Apple boasts that the C1X is even faster than the modem in the iPhone 16 Pro. What's more, Apple claims that the iPhone Air, thanks to the C1X, is the most power-efficient iPhone ever made. It's worth noting that Apple using the C1X in the iPhone Air is significant to the extent that it represents Apple's ongoing effort to lessen its reliance on Qualcomm. As it stands now, Apple's modem deal with Qualcomm extends through March 2027. If the C1 and forthcoming C1X prove to be sufficient, Apple will presumably transition the entirety of its iPhone lineup to its own modem design.

Apple's iPhone Air is thin, but the camera performance is nothing to scoff at. The device boasts a 48-megapixel main camera along with a 2x telephoto lens. Apple claims that the iPhone Air can take breathtaking photos even in low light environments.

Apple's new iPhone also includes a new feature dubbed "Dual Capture." As the name implies, iPhone Air users can simultaneously record video using both the front and rear cameras. This will be a nice touch for users aiming to record their own reactions while also capturing concert footage, sporting events, or even home videos. Additionally, the iPhone Air incorporates a center stage front camera feature which, due to a redesigned sensor, can now take landscape photos even when oriented in portrait mode.

The iPhone Air also delivers impressive CPU performance. The device is powered by an A19 Pro processor, which Apple claims is the fastest CPU in any smartphone currently on the market. The iPhone Air also features 3x GPU performance relative to last year's A18 Pro processor. Altogether, the iPhone Air delivers incredible performance while maintaining all-day battery life. indeed, Apple said that the entire form factor of the device was engineered in such a way to maximize internal battery space. Finally, Apple noted that the iPhone Air includes an N1 chip to deliver improved Wi-Fi and Bluetooth performance. 

The iPhone Air starts at $999 and is available in four colors: space black, cloud white, light gold, and sky blue. Preorders for the thinnest iPhone ever kick off on September 12, with availability set to begin on September 19.