There are two ways to assess the moment in time for the iPhone line-up, that is the iPhone Air. At 5.6 millimetres thick, this is the slimmest iPhone https://www.hindustantimes.com/business/apple-launches-iphone-lineup-introduces-an-ultra-slim-iphone-air-101757448129013.html you can buy now. Before the iPhone Air arrived, the iPhone 6 which measured 6.9mm was the thinnest iPhone, and nothing before or till now was that slim. It is a sign of the times, as Apple has to compete with the likes of Samsung’s Galaxy 25 Edge, which is 5.8mm thick. What you must ask are a series of questions. Is the iPhone Air a precursor to a foldable iPhone that’s expected next year? Is the iPhone Air a first look at the future of iPhones and not just as a separate ‘Air’ line? Is the Fusion Camera indeed a viable alternative to the versatility of a three-camera system that flagship phones have?
There was little surprise that almost everyone upon entering at Apple’s post keynote experience zone, made a beeline for where the iPhone Air https://www.hindustantimes.com/business/from-ultra-thin-iphone-air-to-airpods-pro-3-that-track-your-heart-all-you-need-to-know-101757451993831.html were placed. At just 5.6mm thick and 165 grams in weight, the newness is striking. Hold an iPhone 17 Pro in one hand and this in the other, and the difference is clear. Swap the iPhone 17 Pro for an iPhone 17 Pro Max, and you get an idea of the astonishing difference. At the core of that observation is a difference in approach with regard to the choice of chip, the camera system in play and the connectivity approach. The iPhone Air is e-sim only worldwide, which means you must swap your physical SIM card for an e-sim when upgrading. The idea lends itself to a product like the iPhone Air, opening up crucial space for more battery capacity. Expect some criticism that the USB-C port isn’t centre aligned, and is ever so slightly aligned closer to the lower spine, than the top.
Winds of change for future iPhones?
The fact that Apple has given the iPhone Air the latest generation A19 Pro chip as the beating heart, maintaining parity with the iPhone 17 Pro line, lends some weight to the argument that this sort of a slim form factor is indeed the future of the iPhone. That’s the direction smartphones are headed, after having spent years trying to add more in terms of camera capabilities, performance and larger batteries, all of which needed physical space. A pursuit in the reverse direction, is gathering pace. The fact that Apple and Samsung are leading this, means everyone else in the smartphone space will fall in line sooner rather than later.
There are many questions that will be answered when we test the iPhone Air in detail in the coming weeks, such as performance, how good the battery life is in the real-world, whether the thermals are kept well in check or is there a scenario where the phone gets warm or performance is throttled, and is that super sleek MagSafe battery pack that Apple gave us a glimpse of, an option or a mandatory accessory for hectic workdays. There is a sense of confidence at Apple, that the combination of the A19 Pro, N1, and C1X chips make it the most power-efficient iPhone ever made. The N1 is a new Apple-designed wireless networking chip that enables Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, while the C1X is essentially Apple’s own designed cellular modem, and since its a second evolution within the same year, is also 2x faster than C1 that was introduced in the iPhone 16e.
A first glimpse at half a foldable?
I’ll explain what this may mean. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge at 5.8mm almost gave us the hint at the Galaxy Z Fold 7 that arrived a couple of months later (this is 4.2mm thick when unfolded). The pathway becomes clear. Apple’s foldable iPhone is expected in a year or two, and an iPhone Air albeit with a few mm to give either way, may just be one half of that foldable of the future. Two iPhone Air melded, and that may well be your foldable iPhone. Albeit, the likelihood is of an iPhone 17 Pro camera island at the back, unless the Fusion Camera system really beats all laws of physics and photography.
The camera question, is more really better?
Apple calls the iPhone Air’s 48-megapixel camera, a Fusion Camera. Where have we heard this before? Yes, you’re right, the iPhone 16e. Yet, this is an iPhone that significantly higher up the price ladder, and there is more of a seriousness to how the 48-megapixel Fusion camera system is expected to respond. There are two optical zoom lengths (1x and 2x telephoto), and either shoot in 48-megapixel for extra details or 24-megapixel (this is the default) that balances detail with file size. Apple says the Fusion Camera system is “the equivalent of four lenses” with the 28mm and 35mm focal length options for framing. This has a 2.0µm (or microns) quad-pixel sensor with sensor-shift optical image stabilisation (OlS).
There is a new image processing pipeline built for iPhone Air, which means it may be possible for portraits with Focus Control to have the same level of depth and detailing as in the multi camera systems. This also means the iPhone Air’s Fusion Camera will have the depth information to allow users to transform standard photos into Portraits in the Photos app. Alongside, Photographic Styles, 4K videos at 60 frames per second, Dolby Vision, Spatial Audio and Audio Mix options when recording a video.
For almost all ‘Pro’ iPhone users, there will be an urge to switch to the ultra-slim iPhone Air, but the camera question may not be a simple answer. Detailed testing of the iPhone Air’s Fusion Camera system will give us a good idea of whether three cameras on a Pro iPhone indeed the way to go, at least for photography enthusiasts. It will be a lot of hard work for the solo 48-megapixel sensor to deliver across scenarios, but one that you wouldn’t put past a combination of the hardware and Apple’s image processing pipeline.
