Apple today unveiled the all-new iPhone Air, the thinnest iPhone ever made, with pro performance.
iPhone Air features a breakthrough titanium design that is elegant and light yet strong, with an innovative internal architecture that enables the latest iPhone experiences.
The back of iPhone Air is now protected with Ceramic Shield, and the front cover uses Ceramic Shield 2, delivering 3x better scratch resistance, making iPhone Air more durable than any previous iPhone.
iPhone Air also features a 6.5-inch Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion up to 120Hz. With the most Apple-designed chips in an iPhone — the powerhouse A19 Pro, N1, and C1X — iPhone Air is the most power-efficient iPhone ever made.
Paired with the redesigned internal architecture and software optimisations, iPhone Air has fantastic all-day battery life. A powerful 48MP Fusion Main camera enables the equivalent of four lenses with incredible image quality, and the innovative 18MP Centre Stage front camera takes selfies to the next level.
“The all-new iPhone Air is so powerful, yet impossibly thin and light, that you really have to hold it to believe it’s real. This huge leap in design and engineering is only made possible through Apple innovation, especially Apple silicon,” said John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering.
“iPhone Air is a brand-new member of the iPhone family that delivers advanced features our users will love, like pro performance, a versatile 48MP Fusion camera system, our innovative Centre Stage front camera, and great all-day battery life — all in a breakthrough design that feels like you’re holding the future.”
iPhone Air is the thinnest iPhone ever made at 5.6mm, and it is incredibly light, with a large, stunning display. The grade 5 titanium frame is strong, with an elegant high-gloss mirror finish, and a new plateau on the back that is precision-milled on both sides to house the cameras, speaker, and Apple silicon.
This maximises space for the battery to deliver remarkable all-day battery life. The thin design also features the Action button, so users can easily access a variety of functions with just a press, and Camera Control, to quickly launch the camera or enable visual intelligence.
The 6.5-inch Super Retina XDR display features ProMotion, with an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz for smooth scrolling and stunning graphics. The Always-On display shows important information at a glance, and when not in use, it efficiently adjusts down to 1Hz.
iPhone Air is easy to use outside with 3000 nits peak outdoor brightness — the highest ever on iPhone — and 2x better outdoor contrast.
iPhone Air also introduces the Ceramic Shield 2 front cover, which is tougher than any smartphone glass or glass-ceramic with a new Apple-designed coating, providing 3x better scratch resistance and improved anti-reflection to reduce glare.
For the very first time, Ceramic Shield now protects the back of iPhone, including the plateau, delivering 4x better resistance to cracks than the back glass on previous models.
And with the strong titanium frame, iPhone Air exceeds Apple’s stringent bend strength requirements. This design makes iPhone Air more durable than any previous iPhone.
Powerful Camera Systems
iPhone Air introduces an all-new Centre Stage front camera that advances the photo and video experience.
The Centre Stage front camera features the first square front camera sensor on iPhone, offering a wide field of view and capturing photos up to 18MP. Users no longer have to rotate their iPhone to take a landscape selfie — they can take photos and videos in portrait or landscape while holding their iPhone vertically.
For group shots, Centre Stage for photos uses AI to automatically expand the field of view and can rotate from portrait to landscape to include everyone in the frame.
The Centre Stage front camera enables ultra-stabilised video in 4K HDR, and users can record on the front and rear cameras simultaneously with Dual Capture — perfect for documenting themselves and the world around them.
During calls over FaceTime or third-party apps, Centre Stage for video calls keeps users stable and positioned in frame.
A versatile new 48MP Fusion camera system gives users the equivalent of four lenses in their pocket. The custom main lens enables the popular 28mm and 35mm focal lengths, so users have more options to frame their shot, and the large 2.0µm quad-pixel sensor with sensor-shift OlS excels in low light.
Users can also get closer to their subject with the optical-quality 2x Telephoto, which features an updated Photonic Engine that captures more lifelike details and colour.
A new image pipeline built for iPhone Air enables next-generation portraits with Focus Control at the same level as multicamera systems, automatically capturing depth information so users can turn photos into portraits later in the Photos app. iPhone Air also supports the latest generation of Photographic Styles, including a new Bright style that brightens skin tones and applies a pop of vibrance across the image.
iPhone Air captures stunning video, with the ability to record in 4K60 fps Dolby Vision, and supports Action mode. Video is captured with Spatial Audio for immersive listening; Audio Mix lets users adjust sound after capture to boost voices and reduce ambient noise; and wind noise reduction minimises unwanted noise.
Apple Silicon
The design of iPhone Air is only possible with Apple silicon. The high-performance A19 Pro, N1, and C1X chips make it the most power-efficient iPhone ever made.
The powerhouse A19 Pro features a new 6-core CPU that improves performance and efficiency for the tasks users do every day, delivering the fastest CPU in any smartphone.
The 5-core GPU has an upgraded architecture, delivering next-level mobile gaming, including AAA titles. Neural Accelerators are built into each GPU core, bringing up to 3x the peak GPU compute over the previous generation, excellent for powering generative AI models running on device.
iPhone Air features N1, a new Apple-designed wireless networking chip that enables Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread. In addition to powering the latest generation of wireless technologies, N1 improves the overall performance and reliability of features like Personal Hotspot and AirDrop. iPhone Air also features C1X, a new cellular modem designed by Apple.
C1X is up to 2x faster than C1, and for the same cellular technologies, it is even faster than the modem in iPhone 16 Pro, while using 30 percent less energy overall. This makes C1X the most power-efficient modem in an iPhone.
All-Day Battery Life
Featuring advanced Apple silicon, an internal architecture that maximises space for the battery, and software optimisations, iPhone Air delivers all-day battery life.
The new Adaptive Power Mode in iOS 26 also gets to know a user’s typical battery consumption and anticipates when they might run low, intelligently conserving power to help get them through the day.
eSIM
iPhone Air features an eSIM-only design that saves space internally, helping enable the unbelievably light and thin form factor.
eSIM offers greater flexibility, better security, and seamless connectivity compared to traditional physical SIM cards. An industry standard, eSIM is supported by over 500 carriers worldwide.
eSIM also makes staying connected while traveling even more convenient, allowing continued connectivity through affordable international roaming plans from users’ home carriers or local prepaid options available with more than 200 carriers.
For better security, eSIM cannot be physically removed if an iPhone is lost or stolen, and managing travel eSIMs is even easier with a new streamlined setup in iOS 26.
iOS 26
iOS 26 elevates the iPhone experience with a beautiful new design, powerful Apple Intelligence capabilities, and meaningful improvements to the apps users rely on every day.
The new design with Liquid Glass makes apps and system experiences more expressive and delightful, bringing greater focus to content while keeping iOS instantly familiar.
Apple Intelligence now translates text and audio on the go with Live Translation, helping users communicate across languages in Messages, FaceTime, and Phone.
Updates to visual intelligence allow users to capture a screenshot and easily search or take action on anything they are viewing on their iPhone screen.
The on-device foundation model at the core of Apple Intelligence is available to all developers, with apps already offering new intelligent, privacy-protected experiences that can even be used when offline.
New screening tools for calls and messages help eliminate distractions so users can focus on the conversations that matter most. iOS 26 also introduces new features in CarPlay, Apple Music, Maps, and Wallet, as well as Apple Games, a brand-new app that gives players a single destination for all their games.
iPhone Air Pricing and Availability
iPhone Air will be available in space black, cloud white, light gold, and sky blue, starting with 256GB storage, as well as 512GB and 1TB options. iPhone Air starts at £999 .
Customers in more than 63 countries and regions, including Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Türkiye, the UAE, the UK, the U.S., and Vietnam, will be able to pre-order iPhone Air beginning at 1 p.m. GMT this Friday, September 12, with availability beginning Friday, September 19. iPhone Air will be available in 22 other countries and regions beginning Friday, September 26.
Apple is extending free access to satellite features for an additional year for existing iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 users. The free trial will be extended for iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 users who have activated their device in a country that supports Apple’s satellite features prior to 12 a.m. PT on September 9, 2025.
Customers who purchase iPhone Air may receive three free months of Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, Apple Music, Apple News+, and Apple TV+ with a new subscription.
