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Competitively priced iPhone Air is Apple's ( AAPL ) thinnest design

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Uses advanced A19 Pro processor

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Challenges include single camera and battery life issues

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Sales expected to outperform Samsung's Galaxy S25 Edge

By Stephen Nellis and Aditya Soni

CUPERTINO, California, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Apple ( AAPL ) CEO Tim

Cook seemed to be channeling predecessor and design genius Steve

Jobs on Tuesday when he unveiled the iPhone Air, the company's

slimmest handset yet and the biggest change in eight years to a

lineup fans and analysts saw as stagnating.

Cook kicked off the company's annual product launch

event at its Cupertino, California, headquarters with a Jobs

quote: "For us, design goes beyond just how something looks or

feels. Design is also how it works."

Inside its 5.6-mm (0.22-inch) -slim frame, thinner than

Samsung Electronics' ( SSNLF ) S25 Edge at 5.8 mm, the iPhone

Air's circuitry has been shrunk to the size of a few postage

stamps, to deliver on Apple's ( AAPL ) claim of "all-day battery life".

Many analysts had predicted a ho-hum reception ahead of the

event, but some said on Tuesday the four new iPhones - Air, 17,

17 Pro and 17 Pro Max - were a lineup likely to appeal to

customers with varied budgets.

And doubts still linger about whether the new smartphone

will match its promised battery capacity, and whether consumers

will settle for one camera fewer.

It will incorporate Apple's ( AAPL ) best and newest A19 Pro

processor chip, tuned for artificial intelligence tasks, and two

new custom communications chips.

"I heard loud claps the moment it was announced," said

Gaurav Chaudhary, a YouTuber with nearly 24 million followers,

popularly known as "Technical Guruji."

He praised the Air's titanium frame and "ceramic shield"

glass, which Apple ( AAPL ) said make the device more durable.

Chaudhary said that despite hearing numerous leaks about the

device ahead of time, he was still impressed after handling it

in the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple ( AAPL ) headquarters, even if he

still wants to see if Apple's ( AAPL ) battery life claims hold up.

Seventeen years ago, Jobs famously introduced the company's

first MacBook Air by pulling the ultra-thin laptop from an

interoffice envelope, to highlight how portable it was.

The iPhone Air, which borrows its name and design language

from the laptop, may be what Apple ( AAPL ) fans have wanted for years: A

device that distinct from competitors packed with feats of

hardware engineering.

"I think in an era where we've seen a large degree of

sameness, it's great to see Apple ( AAPL ) bring a new product to the

market," said PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore. "It kind of

reinvigorates the whole segment of iPhone."

On the downside, however, the iPhone Air has only one

camera, compared with two separate cameras on the base iPhone 17

and three on the Pro models.

Ben Bajarin, CEO of technology consultancy Creative

Strategies, said it will also be critical to confirm whether it

can live up to Apple's ( AAPL ) battery life claims.

He said Apple's ( AAPL ) custom chips should help, as the company has

spent more than a decade designing its own chips with a

relentless focus on energy efficiency and size.

The launches brought no news, however, of artificial

intelligence features to help Apple ( AAPL ) close the gap with the likes

of Alphabet's Google, which showcases the capabilities

of its Gemini AI technology in its latest flagship phones.

But analysts said the iPhone Air, especially, was likely to

spur many upgrades, boosting Apple's ( AAPL ) sales in the crucial

holiday shopping season.

It could also help Apple ( AAPL ) win back customers in China, where

it has lost market share to the slimmer and cheaper smartphones

of rivals, analysts said, though some cautioned about sales

prospects there for the new iPhone Air.

"We don't expect the iPhone Air to deliver a major sales

boost, as Apple ( AAPL ) compromised on battery life, cameras, and audio

to achieve the slimmer design, features crucial to consumers,"

said Will Wong, senior smartphone analyst at research firm IDC.

The iPhone Air is priced in the middle of the iPhone lineup

and at $100 less than the debut price of Samsung's Galaxy S25

Edge, which hit markets this year and shipped 1 million units in

the second quarter, IDC says.

The price should make it a strong seller, said Nabila Popal,

senior research director with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile

Phone Tracker unit.

Popal predicted better sales for the iPhone Air, "not only

because it's priced better, but because the (iPhone) Plus -

which essentially the Air is replacing - already did between 5%

and 7% of Apple's ( AAPL ) shipments.

"Apple's ( AAPL ) late, but when they do it, they do it bigger or

louder or better than anyone," Popal said.