Past the Alphabet
Past the Alphabet is a weekly column that focuses on the tech world each inside and outside of the confines of Mountain View.
Over the course of rather less than an hour and a half, Apple launched its newest batch of flagship telephones, together with some main updates for different product classes. Arguably, the second-most placing of all of them was the introduction of the iPhone Air, seemingly Apple‘s response to the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge.
I am not one who actually cares, or has ever cared, about really-thin telephones, as they’re often accompanied by crappy battery life whereas lacking out on different options. I think the identical to be true of the iPhone Air, with the iPhone 17 Professional Max being extra of my type, particularly now that Apple has discovered a model new orange ink cartridge.
However because the Apple occasion rolled on, it dawned on me that the iPhone Air is not simply a means for Apple to compete with Samsung. It is also serving as a form of testing floor for what we have been anticipating for years: a foldable iPhone.
The writing is on the wall
There was one a part of the presentation that tipped me off to this, and it was when the design modifications have been being defined. In an effort to make a cellphone this skinny and nonetheless give Apple the power to promote it as having “all-day battery,” elements needed to be shifted round. So with a purpose to make this work, Apple shoved all the main elements into the digital camera “plateau.”
And I am not exaggerating. The iPhone Air’s total logic board now rests contained in the digital camera bar, whereas nonetheless accounting for each the selfie and rear cameras. The remainder of the chassis? It is just about a big, skinny battery and a USB-C port.
So why does that matter? Nicely, if Apple needs to launch a foldable iPhone that is not instantly laughed out of existence, it must be thinner than what earlier iPhone fashions have been — particularly contemplating how late Apple is with entering into the sport.
Many rumors level to Apple’s first foldable cellphone to be a book-style foldable, just like the Galaxy Z Fold 7, versus a flip cellphone, like the favored Razr 2025 collection. Given Apple’s propensity for being a crowd-pleaser, I initially thought the other was true — since flip telephones are typically extra widespread attributable to their nostalgic design and cheaper price ticket — however the iPhone Air just about solidifies the book-style rumors.
In an effort to launch a cellphone that is skinny, modern, and fashionable, with out making too many sacrifices, Apple needed to hit the design reset button. That is possible what spurred the choice to overtake the iPhone Professional lineup, whereas additionally introducing an all-new machine. It additionally would not harm that we have been overdue for a correct design change, because the earlier iterations have been already stale, even with the Titanium body.
With that stated, I am unable to assist however really feel just like the iPhone Air design is a precursor to an eventual foldable. In case you tape two iPhone Airs collectively, side-by-side, that is a reasonably good indication of what Apple’s first foldable may appear to be. In fact, that tape might be changed by some state-of-the-art hinge that “solely Apple may make.” Or at the very least that is what we’ll be informed.
Even when that is not the case, there isn’t any denying that seeing Apple with the ability to redesign principally each ingredient of the cellphone to suit right into a cellphone this skinny is solely extraordinary. The iPhone Air (5.64mm) is thinner than the Galaxy S25 Edge (5.8mm), however is not fairly almost as skinny because the upcoming Pixel 10 Professional Fold (5.2mm) or the Galaxy Z Fold 7 (4.2mm). However an iPhone foldable simply could possibly be.
The iPhone Air is a superb begin to one thing better
Nonetheless, seeing what Apple was in a position to do with the iPhone Air and the way it dedicated the sources to making a cellphone like this to start with leaves me feeling a lot better about Apple’s first foldable cellphone. Current stories recommend will probably be unveiled this time subsequent yr, arriving alongside the iPhone 18 lineup. Rumors additionally level to it being between 4.5mm and 4.8mm skinny, that means that Apple nonetheless has a bit of labor to do, however the iPhone Air is an effective begin.
Android Central contributor and resident thin-phone fanboy, Brady Snyder, most likely summed up the iPhone Air one of the simplest ways: “Your complete physique of the iPhone Air is simply the battery, and the digital camera bump really homes the complete logic board. That is insane.”
Insane, certainly.