Apple unveils iPhone 17 line-up, including new Air model and better cameras
Apple has released its thinnest phone yet, alongside ‘redesigned’ Pro versions and updated AirPods and Apple Watches, including an Ultra 3 with hypertension detection.
Apple has unveiled its thinnest phone, a new model – the iPhone 17 Air – as well as “completely redesigned” Pro versions, in a move chief executive Tim Cook as branded a “gamechanger”.
“This new iPhone line-up represents the biggest leap ever for iPhone. The products and innovations we introduce today, along with the power of app intelligence, will enrich people’s lives in so many ways,” Mr Cook said.
Apple showcased its new iPhone 17 line-up at its headquarters in Cupertino, California on Wednesday morning (Australian time). Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak attended the product launch at the Steve Jobs Theatre.
Apple also released new AirPods Pro 3 -which have improved active noise cancellation and support live translation for foreign languages – and updates to its watches, including a new Ultra 3 and the ability to detect hypertension, subject to regulatory approval.
As expected, it did not release a much-hyped update of its Siri voice assistant.
The iPhone 17 Air is 5.6mm thick and features a 6.5 inch display in a package Apple vice president of platform architecture Tim Millet did not compromise battery life. It also features the A19 Pro chip, the same in Apple’s high-end models.
“We innovated in both hardware and software to deliver great battery life for iPhone Air, powered by our most advanced Apple silicon, built for efficiency. The internal design has been completely rethought to maximise battery space,” Mr Millet said.
“In iOS 26, introduces new power stadium features, like adaptive power mode, which learns your usage patterns and anticipates when you might run low on battery, intelligently conserving power to help you make it through the day. Now despite being much thinner and lighter, iPhone air still gets amazing all day battery life.”
Apple has also released a new MagSafe battery for the Air, which when combined will deliver up to 40 hours of video playback. Without the external battery, video playback is up to 27 hours.
Improved cameras
The Air has a rear 48MP fusion camera with 26mm equivalent focal length and 1.6 aperture. It will take 24MP default photos. The higher resolution also allows it to capture 2x zoom.
All iPhone models. Including the standard range, feature a new 18MP front camera, which has a larger sensor that is square rather then being the more traditional rectangular type. This means people don’t need to rotate their phone to take landscape photos.
Apple said artificial intelligence can also expand the field of view on the front camera to achieve the best shot.
On the Pro models, all rear cameras have been upgraded to 48MP. This includes an 8x, 200m telephoto camera, which Apple said delivered its longest ever zoom.
Analysts were expecting the new thinner phone, particularly after Samsung launched its version, the S25 Edge in May.
JP Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee said: “While expectations for iPhone Air volumes have moderated in recent months with the feedback from the supply chain that Apple is largely planning for about 10-15 million units in the second half of the calendar year, but there remains room for surprises from better consumer reception”.
Pricing
Apple has largely maintained pricing, despite concerns that Donald Trump’s trade war would fuel a hike, given Apple still makes most of its products in China - the biggest target of the US President’s retaliatory tariffs.
The iPhone 17 is priced from $1399, the same as the iPhone 16’s initial price. The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max starts from $1,999 - but at 256GB storage instead of 128GB - and the Air is from $1799. All models can be pre-ordered from Friday with general availability from September 19.
Revamped AirPods Pro 3
For its AirPods Pro 3, Apple has improved active noise cancellation - removing up to 4x more noise than the original AirPods Pro. This also helps live translation, allowing people to better communicate with one another in foreign languages. The ANC lowers the volume of the person speaking so it’s easier to focus on the translation, which appears via the AirPods in real time.
The improved ANC is achieved physically by able incorporating foam and silicon in the eartips as well as enhancing its algorithms.
AirPods Pro 3 can also now measure a user’s heart rate while they are exercising – a similar feature that is available on Apple-owned Powerbeats Pro 2, which were was released earlier this year. They are priced from $429.
Wall Street reaction
Apple shares fell 1.5 per cent after its ‘Awe dropping’ presentation, which was mainly focused on hardware updates rather than software, including its artificial intelligence offering ‘Apple Intelligence’.
Carolina Milansi, a technology analyst with Creative Strategies expected little in AI updates, including Apple’s much-anticipated revamp of Siri after Mr Cook told investors earlier this year that the company needed more time to upgrade the voice assistant for the AI era.
But she said Apple was already delivering on “functional” whether that be in improved active noise cancellation in its AirPods Pro 3 or in computational photography, and the hardware improvements would help keep customers sticky and within Apple’s ecosystem.
“Personally, I wasn’t expecting anything around Siri. Two quarters ago at earnings Tim Cook said that the needed more time. He wouldn’t have said that if it was something just around the corner,” Ms Milansi said.
“What is important today is that they have shown that there is AI there where it matters. So whether that is the computational model they now have on the AirPods to give you better sound but also live translation, or the photography side of things. I think you see a lot of places where AI shows up...where AI is generally being useful, even if people aren’t aware of it.”
eToro analysts Josh Gilbert described the iPhone 17 Air as a “daring” move.
“Did Apple wow Wall Street with its new product release? Not really – but we did see four new iPhone models unveiled,” he said.
“Apple is not reinventing the wheel with the iPhone 17, but the new ‘Air’ model shows it can still set standards for the smartphone industry.
“At just 5.6mm thick and weighing only 165 grams, it is Apple’s most daring hardware move in years.”
Mr Gilbert also praised the new AirPods, which are already a $US20bn business on their own, “so even modest upgrades carry real financial weight”.
“Apple has always had a knack for turning incremental changes into must-have upgrades, and this release, while not groundbreaking, feels like the Apple genius of old. With more than 1.5 billion iPhones in use today, even a small percentage of users upgrading creates a wave of demand that could be huge for Apple over the next 12-18 months.”
But Mr Gilbert said Apple will need to reveal its AI strategy soon.
“Apple has proven time and again that it can weather storms and come out stronger, with its recent earnings suggesting it still has plenty of life left. With no updates around Apple Intelligence or significant news on AI integration, however, the longstanding question marks over its AI strategy continue to dampen the investment case. Its big tech rivals are sprinting ahead in AI, while Apple is barely out of the blocks, all reflected in share price performance in the last 12 months.
“Shares are trading at around 30x forward earnings, above the S&P500’s multiple of 23x and well above its own 10-year average of 20x. With a premium valuation already and an arguably underwhelming release, the valuation gap is becoming hard to justify without a stronger AI story.”
Pathway to foldable iPhone?
Ms Milansi said the arrival of the iPhone 17 Air could also pave the way for Apple to enter the foldable phone market, which Samsung dominates.
“Obviously there is the predecessor in the Samsung S25 Edge. But Samsung didn’t really put a lot of marketing behind the phone. I think Apple is very different. They are setting almost like a new era of what the phone is going to be like.
“And there’s part of me that is also thinking that maybe this is a way to get to a foldable that everybody’s talking about for 2027.
“We saw with Samsung, taking a lot of the learnings from the Galaxy Edge into the Fold 7. So I think that for Apple, that might be the pathway as well.
“In general, what today really shows is the power of integration. With the Air getting full day battery life because of the performance of the chipset, of the modem and then the re-engineered architecture and battery life. Then of course the software allows Apple to do thinks that other vendors cannot do.”
The author travelled to Cupertino as a guest of Apple.
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Originally published as Apple unveils iPhone 17 line-up, including new Air model and better cameras
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