iPhone 17 Air: Everything New in Apple’s Ultra-Thin Phone
▼ Summary
– Apple has officially announced the iPhone 17 Air, which features a 6.5-inch screen and an ultra-thin 5.6 mm design with a titanium frame.
– It combines the CPU and GPU of an iPhone Pro with the camera system of a regular iPhone, targeting style-conscious and business users.
– The device includes a ProMotion display with a 120 Hz refresh rate, always-on functionality, 3,000 nits brightness, and Ceramic Shield 2 for durability.
– It is powered by the new A19 Pro chip, offering 20% better performance than the iPhone 16 Pro and featuring neural accelerators for 3x peak compute.
– Additional new chips include the N1 for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread, and the C1X cellular modem, which is twice as fast and 30% more energy-efficient.
Rumors of an ultra-thin iPhone model have finally materialized with the official introduction of the iPhone 17 Air. Apple confirmed the device during its latest keynote, putting an end to months of speculation and positioning it as a sleek, high-performance alternative within its smartphone lineup.
The iPhone 17 Air features a 6.5-inch display and measures a remarkably slim 5.6 mm, making it one of the thinnest smartphones Apple has ever released. Its chassis is crafted from a treated titanium frame, lending it both durability and a premium aesthetic aimed at style-focused and professional users. Under the hood, it combines the processing power of the Pro models with the camera capabilities of the standard iPhone series.
A standout feature is the ProMotion display, which supports a variable refresh rate of up to 120 Hz, previously exclusive to Pro devices. The screen also includes always-on functionality and reaches an impressive peak brightness of 3,000 nits. Both the front and back are protected by Apple’s new Ceramic Shield 2, designed to enhance durability and reduce glare.
Powering the device is the new A19 Pro chip, featuring a 6-core CPU with two performance and four efficiency cores. Apple emphasized significant efficiency gains during its presentation, claiming a 20 percent performance boost over last year’s iPhone 16 Pro. The chip also incorporates neural accelerators within each GPU core, delivering up to three times the peak compute performance of the A18 Pro.
Beyond the main processor, Apple has introduced new custom silicon to improve connectivity and energy usage. The N1 chip manages Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread, while the updated C1X cellular modem succeeds the earlier C1 model. Apple states the C1X offers double the speed and uses 30 percent less energy compared to the modem in the iPhone 16 Pro.
(Source: Ars Technica)
