apple iPhone air debuts as thinnest, feather-light model yet

apple reveals next-gen iphones

At its ‘Awe-Dropping’ keynote today, September 9th, 2025, Apple unveiled the iPhone Air as the thinnest iPhone it has ever made. Just 5.6 millimeters thin (less than a quarter-inch), the phone is crafted with ‘spacecraft titanium,’ a material that feels feather-light and durable.

Despite shedding thickness, the phone is said to hold its ground against wear and daily handling with Ceramic Shield, its glass-ceramic material first introduced on the iPhone 12 lineup in 2020. Now, this material protects both the front and back surfaces. Meanwhile, the 6.5-inch display shows a peak outdoor brightness reaches 3000 nits, the highest on any iPhone to date.

Named Apple’s thinnest iPhone yet, it’s this record-setting profile which sets it apart from the rest of the iPhone lineup — including the new iPhone 17, which was unveiled today as well with a thickness of 8.25 mm and a 6.3-inch display.

iPhone Air is available in four colors with new polished titanium | images © Apple

the iphone air

The design of the Apple iPhone Air is centered on a slim, efficient internal architecture that creates space for a larger battery without adding weight. The plateaued back surface houses the cameras and speakers with precision milling, while the titanium frame ensures durability under daily use.

The new Ceramic Shield 2 glass is treated with an anti-reflection coating and delivers three times better scratch resistance than the previous generation. Combined with the titanium body, these updates make the iPhone Air the most durable iPhone to date.

The iPhone Air features a 48MP Fusion Main camera capable of multiple focal lengths, alongside an 18MP Center Stage front camera. The front camera can automatically switch between portrait and landscape orientation, and AI expands the field of view for group shots. Both systems capture video in 4K HDR, with options to record simultaneously on front and rear cameras.

Inside, the A19 Pro, N1, and C1X chips deliver higher performance with improved efficiency. This combination supports intensive applications while extending battery life, and the graphics system allows for advanced mobile gaming and AI tasks.

the ultra-thin and light design is more durable than any previous iPhone.

new iPhone 17 in comparison

Apple also introduced the iPhone 17, which features many of the same upgrades but with a more conventional form. It has a 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR display, all 48MP rear cameras, and the new Center Stage front camera. It is slightly thicker than the Air and uses the A19 chip rather than the more advanced A19 Pro found in the iPhone Air.

The iPhone 17 begins with 256GB of storage and is offered in five colors — black, lavender, mist blue, sage, and white. While it shares features like Ceramic Shield 2 and ProMotion, its design follows Apple’s existing line rather than pushing toward the slimmer form factor of the Air.

The key difference between the Apple iPhone Air and the iPhone 17 is the approach. Of course the Air emphasizes thinness and lightness, while the iPhone 17 continues the company’s established trajectory with performance and display improvements.

iPhone 17 features a Center Stage front camera and a bigger, brighter display

iPhone 17 pro and pro max

Apple also introduced the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, both built around a redesigned aluminum unibody with an integrated vapor chamber for improved thermal performance. These models use the A19 Pro chip, which powers advanced camera systems, intensive mobile gaming, and Apple Intelligence features while extending battery life.

Each device includes three 48MP Fusion cameras — Main, Ultra Wide, and a new Telephoto lens — delivering the equivalent of eight focal lengths, including an 8x optical-quality zoom. Video tools such as ProRes RAW, Apple Log 2, and genlock are designed for professional workflows, making the phones adaptable to a wide range of production environments. Ceramic Shield 2 now protects both the front and back surfaces, and the devices are available in deep blue, cosmic orange, and silver.

iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max will be available in deep blue, cosmic orange, and silver

AirPods Pro 3

Alongside the new phones, Apple introduced AirPods Pro 3, a major update to its in-ear headphones. This third generation brings improved Active Noise Cancellation, removing twice as much noise as the previous version and four times more than the original model. The fit has also been refined for greater comfort and stability during activities like running or yoga. For the first time, AirPods Pro 3 can measure heart rate and track more than fifty types of workouts.

Perhaps most notably, the earbuds support Live Translation, which allows wearers to have face-to-face conversations across English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish by bringing real-time interpretation directly through the headphones. Apple notes that by the end of the year, the feature will be available in four more languages: Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese (simplified).

If only one person in the conversation is wearing AirPods, the iPhone can be turned horizontally to display a live transcription of what’s being said. When they reply, their speech is translated back into the AirPods user’s language in real time.

When both people are wearing AirPods, the experience becomes more fluid. Active Noise Cancellation lowers the sound of the other person’s voice, making the translation easier to hear while the conversation can still to continue naturally.

AirPods Pro 3 brings the world’s best in-ear Active Noise Cancellation