Apple introduced the iPhone Air on Tuesday, 9 September, and at 5.6mm thick it is the thinnest iPhone the company has ever made. It is also the first iPhone that runs entirely on Apple-designed wireless and cellular chips, with pre-orders opening on 12 September and a starting price of $999.
Thin first, then everything else
The headline is the profile. Apple’s own framing puts thinness at the centre of the launch, and the numbers back it up: a 5.6mm body wrapped around a 6.5-inch Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion up to 120Hz. That display size puts the Air closer to a large phone than a compact one, which makes the thinness more striking in the hand.
The frame is grade 5 titanium. The front is covered by what Apple calls Ceramic Shield 2, which the company says is 3x more scratch resistant. A phone this thin invites questions about durability, and Apple is clearly trying to answer them before reviewers start bending units on camera.
What caught my attention, though, is not the side view. It is the chip list.
Three Apple chips, zero outside modems
Inside the Air there are three pieces of Apple silicon covering the processor, the wireless radio and the cellular modem. Until now, no iPhone ran entirely on Apple-designed wireless and cellular silicon:
- A19 Pro, the main processor, with a 6-core CPU and a 5-core GPU that includes Neural Accelerators for on-device AI work.
- N1, Apple’s own wireless chip, handling Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread.
- C1X, the cellular modem. Apple says it is 2x faster than the earlier C1 while using 30% less energy.
This is the part that matters for Apple’s long game. The modem and the wireless radio are some of the hardest components in a phone to design. They have to work on networks and standards all over the world. Bringing both in-house gives Apple tighter control over power use, over how the chips talk to each other, and over its own supply chain. The iPhone Air is where Apple chose to show that it can ship a phone with all of that under one roof.
In my view, that choice is not an accident. A very thin phone has very little room and very little battery volume to spare. Chips designed together, by one team, with efficiency as a target, are exactly what a design like this needs.
By the numbers
| Item | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Thickness | 5.6mm | Apple Newsroom |
| Display | 6.5-inch, ProMotion up to 120Hz | Apple Newsroom |
| C1X modem versus C1 | 2x faster, 30% less energy | Apple Newsroom |
| Rear camera | 48MP Fusion, 2x optical-quality telephoto | Apple Newsroom |
| Front camera | 18MP Center Stage, first square sensor on iPhone | Apple Newsroom |
| Starting price | $999 for 256GB | Apple Newsroom |
| Launch reach | More than 63 countries and regions | Apple Newsroom |
Cameras: one on the back, a new idea on the front
The Air has a single rear camera, a 48MP Fusion sensor that Apple says delivers a 2x optical-quality telephoto option. Buyers who want several lenses on the back will need to look at other models.
The front camera is more interesting. It is an 18MP Center Stage camera and, according to Apple, the first square sensor on an iPhone. My reading is that a square sensor gives more freedom in how the picture is framed, so selfies and video calls can adapt without the user turning the phone. It sounds like a small detail. For anyone who spends a good part of the day on video calls, it may be the feature they notice most.
Why it matters
For most buyers, the Air is a design choice: a large screen in a much thinner body, starting at $999. For the industry, it is a statement about vertical integration. Apple now designs the processor, the wireless chip and the modem in one of its phones.
For readers in the Arab world, the practical questions are availability and price. Apple says the phone goes on sale in more than 63 countries and regions, but local prices and the exact country list in the Gulf and the wider region were not part of the figures we have. Check Apple’s regional store before planning a purchase, and pay attention to local carrier support for the new modem once the phone is in customers’ hands.
What to watch
- Pre-orders on 12 September and general sale on 19 September.
- Independent reviews that will test what Apple did not stress: how a 5.6mm body handles heat, battery life and everyday bending.
- Real-world modem performance. Apple’s claims for the C1X are its own. Network tests from users in different countries will show how it performs outside the lab.
Sources
- Apple Newsroom, “Introducing iPhone Air, a powerful new iPhone with a breakthrough design”, 9 September 2025, https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/09/introducing-iphone-air-a-powerful-new-iphone-with-a-breakthrough-design/