Even if you are an Android user, you know very well what a standard iPhone is like. Sure, there are slight variations, but over the last few generations, Apple hasn’t done anything radical to the design of its phones, to the point that most people wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell if you have the latest version of its flagship or not.
But at Tuesday’s Apple Event, which brought us the iPhone 17 lineup along with the AirPods Pro 3 and Apple Watch 11, the company changed things up.
The long-rumored iPhone Air is real and is not only surprisingly thin, but also shiny, making it a real target for the magpies among us. I don’t know about you, but the first thing I thought when I saw the new device was, “I want to touch it.” I’ve been writing about iPhones for over a decade and I can’t remember the last time it was like this.
For most of its length, the Air is just 5.6mm thick. This tantalizingly slim profile is only further enhanced by the glossy mirror finish. If you’re among the first to get your hands on this phone, you can guarantee that it will attract the attention of everyone nearby, in a way that doesn’t often happen with technology in 2025.
It hasn’t always been like this. When I was a kid, I often couldn’t afford the most advanced or expensive phone, so I looked for the rare ones. Some favorites included the navy blue Sony Ericsson Z200, which had a small orange circular screen on the front, as well as the tiny Sagem MW 3020. These phones started conversations; often when I pulled them out of the inside pocket of my school jacket it was the first time people had seen them.
Unless you have a flip phone, that’s a rare thing these days. But I predict that the iPhone Air will probably steal the scene, at least at first. Keep in mind that people will want to hold it, touch it, and playfully pretend to bend it or drop it, so keep it in your pocket if you mind others getting their dirty paws on your technology. However, if you reveal it in front of your friends, you will probably be the envy of everyone.
“It’s been a few years since Apple had new iPhones that you could put on a coffee shop, meeting room or pub table, and people were asking, ‘Is that the new iPhone?'” says Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight. He adds that the iPhone Air “feels differentiated enough that people will consider visiting a store to see it in person.”
These pamperings will be great for Apple and other phone retailers, even if people don’t end up buying an Air, Wood says. Every time someone walks through the door of the Apple Store is an opportunity to sell them an accessory or upgrade, so the ripple effect of increased Air-inspired foot traffic can be felt throughout Apple’s portfolio. “This is very valuable at a time when people are holding on to their smartphones longer than ever,” he says.
The iPhone Air isn’t necessarily the new iPhone that will be at the top of everyone’s wish list, but it is perhaps the one that will likely have the most social prestige over the next year – until, of course, Apple unveils the long-awaited foldable iPhone, which will undoubtedly eclipse this year’s triumph of minimalist design and engineering.
Pre-orders for the iPhone 17 Air will officially begin at 5 a.m. PT on Friday, September 12.