iPhone 17 Air is real—here’s what’s new in Apple’s extra-thin handset

Apple has officially unveiled the much-anticipated iPhone 17 Air at its annual event, putting to rest speculation surrounding this new addition to its lineup. This latest model features a sleek 6.5-inch display, merging the powerful CPU and GPU from the Pro series with a standard iPhone camera system, all housed in an impressively thin chassis measuring just 5.6 mm. Crafted with a treated titanium frame, the iPhone 17 Air is designed to appeal to both style-savvy consumers and professionals alike. The device boasts a ProMotion display that supports a variable refresh rate of up to 120 Hz, a feature previously exclusive to the Pro models. Additionally, it includes an always-on display and claims to achieve an extraordinary peak brightness of 3,000 nits. Protection is key with the introduction of Apple's new Ceramic Shield 2 coating, which enhances durability and reduces glare on both the front and back of the device. At the heart of the iPhone 17 Air is the new A19 Pro chip, featuring a 6-core CPU that includes two performance cores and four efficiency cores. Apple has highlighted significant efficiency improvements, claiming a 20 percent boost in performance compared to the previous iPhone 16 Pro. One of the standout features of the A19 Pro chip is the introduction of neural accelerators in each GPU core, which reportedly delivers three times the peak computational capability compared to its predecessor, the A18 Pro. Beyond the core processing capabilities, Apple has also integrated a new chip, known as the N1, which facilitates Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread connectivity. Furthermore, the new C1X cellular modem promises double the speed of its predecessor while consuming 30 percent less energy than the iPhone 16 Pro.