Apple unveils iPhone 17 — including first Air model
Apple launched its iPhone 17 series and ultra-thin iPhone Air at its “Awe Dropping” event on Tuesday, 9 September 2025.
The Cupertino-based tech company said the new iPhone Air is Apple’s most durable smartphone design yet, while being “remarkably thin” and providing all-day battery life.
“This is the biggest leap ever for iPhone,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Apple said the Air model had a breakthrough design with pro performance, measuring in at just 5.6mm thick with a large, thin-bezel display.
“iPhone Air is the thinnest iPhone ever made. 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,” Apple said.
It features a “plateau” — what most would call the camera bump — which houses the cameras, speaker, and various in-house chips.
“This maximises space for the battery to deliver remarkable all-day battery life,” it added.
For the iPhone 17, Apple has increased the display size for its base model iPhone to 6.3 inches and added its 120Hz Pro Motion adaptive refresh rate technology previously reserved for its Pro models.
The new display also offers the highest peak brightness of any iPhone at up to 3,000 nits, and features Ceramic Shield 2 protection, which Apple said is more durable than any other smartphone glass.
Ceramic Shield 2 features a seven-layer anti-reflective coating, reducing glare and reflection to provide clear visuals while maintaining robust protection against drops and scratches.
The iPhone Air also features Ceramic Shield 2 and increases the display size to 6.5 inches while supporting Pro Motion. It is the first iPhone to feature Ceramic Shield on the front and back.
Powering the base iPhone 17 is Apple’s new A19 chip, which is built using advanced 3nm technology and features a six-core CPU and five-core GPU.
Apple has updated the display engine in the A19 chip to enable its Pro Motion technology and increased memory bandwidth to speed up various Apple Intelligence-powered tasks.
The new iPhone Air gets a more powerful A19 Pro chip, which also features a six-core CPU and five-core GPU with improved performance and efficiency cores.
Apple says the A19 Pro is the fastest chip in any smartphone, thanks to its increased memory bandwidth and second-generation dynamic caching architecture.
“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,” it said.
The A19 Pro in the Air model features one fewer GPU core than the one used in the iPhone 17 Pro, however.
The iPhone Air also boasts Apple’s in-house Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, the N1, which supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.
It also packs an in-house modem, the C1X, which Apple says is twice as fast as the C1 modem while using 30% less energy.
Regarding storage, Apple has bumped up the base iPhone 17’s internal memory to start at 256GB and offers a 512GB variation.
The iPhone Air comes with three possible storage configurations — 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.
Upgraded cameras
The base iPhone 17 features a 48MP dual-fusion rear camera setup, with one packing a 48MP primary camera and optical-quality telephoto sensor, and the other a 48MP ultrawide fusion camera.
“A 48MP Fusion Main camera shoots sharp detail, and with an integrated optical-quality two-times Telephoto — it is like having two cameras in one,” Apple said.
“A new 48MP Fusion Ultra Wide camera captures up to four times the resolution compared to the previous generation, so users get even more detail for uniquely framed, wider-angle shots or macro photography.”
The thinner iPhone Air features a single 48MP fusion camera, which Apple describes as being like having four cameras in one, thanks to its variable focal lengths.
“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,” Apple said.
“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.”
Apple said both devices can record video in up to 4K resolution at 60 frames per second with Dolby Vision and support Action mode.
Pricing and availability
The base iPhone 17 and iPhone Air are available for pre-order in the US starting Friday, 12 September 2025, with orders shipping from 19 September.
In the US, the iPhone 17 starts at $799 and is available in five colours: black, lavender, mist blue, sage, and white.
The iPhone Air starts at $999 and is available in four colour variations: space black, cloud white, light gold, and sky blue.
Local retailers have yet to confirm South African availability, launch dates, or pricing. Below are specifications and images of Apple’s new iPhone 17 and iPhone Air.
| iPhone 17 | |
|---|---|
| OS | iOS 26 |
| Display | 6.3-inch OLED with adaptive refresh rate up to 120Hz |
| Processor | Apple A19 |
| Storage | 256GB | 512GB |
| Rear camera | 48MP + 48MP |
| Front camera | 18MP |
| Ports | USB-C |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 |
| Biometrics | Face ID |
| Battery and charging | All-day battery life 50% charge in 20 minutes with fast charging |
iPhone 17
| iPhone Air | |
|---|---|
| OS | iOS 26 |
| Display | 6.5-inch OLED with adaptive refresh rate up to 120Hz |
| Processor | Apple A19 Pro |
| Storage | 256GB | 512GB | 1TB |
| Rear camera | 48MP |
| Front camera | 18MP |
| Ports | USB-C |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 |
| Biometrics | Face ID |
| Battery and charging | All-day battery life 50% charge in 20 minutes with fast charging |
iPhone Air
Loading ...