Apple sells iPhone 17 Air from $999 in the US, with 5.6 mm body and iOS 26 By Luís Henrique Costa
3 min read
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Apple released the iPhone 17 Air on September 19, 2025, one of the new models it announced on September 9, 2025. At 5.6 mm, it is the thinnest iPhone the company has made, and it took the place of the iPhone 16 Plus in the lineup. In the United States the base model costs $999.
- Thickness: 5.6 mm
- Weight: 165 g
- Display: 6.5-inch OLED with ProMotion up to 120Hz
- Chip: A19 Pro
- Rear camera: single 48MP sensor
- Battery: 3,149 mAh
- Frame: titanium, with Ceramic Shield glass on the front and back
Sales have not matched the rest of the iPhone 17 family. Analysts at Morgan Stanley described demand for the Air as relatively weak in October 2025, a few weeks after launch. The research firm CIRP later found that the Air accounted for 5% of US iPhone sales in the January to March 2026 quarter, below the 9% that the iPhone 16 Plus had in the same period a year earlier.
Liquid Glass changes how the screen moves
The iPhone 17 Air runs iOS 26, which brings the Liquid Glass design language to the interface. Apple describes it as a fresh look for icons, lock screens and Messages, with smoother animations and rounded elements. The visual change is the biggest shift in the software since the Air arrived, and it applies to the whole iPhone 17 line, not only to this model.
How Apple fit the Air into 5.6 mm
Apple says it reached the thin profile by moving the core components into the camera bump, which the company calls the plateau. That choice left the rest of the body free to be thinner. The front and back are covered in Ceramic Shield glass, and the frame is made of titanium.
Battery and camera trade-offs
The Air has a single rear camera, while the iPhone 17 Pro models carry more lenses. Reviewers also pointed to a shorter battery life than the other iPhone 17 models, which is one of the main complaints from buyers. The phone’s 20W fast charging is part of the same trade-off between thickness and capacity.
See also: MacBook Pro touchscreen OLED, M6 iMac and iPad mini headline Apple October 28 event in Los Angeles
A19 Pro and Apple Intelligence on the Air
The Air uses the A19 Pro chip and has Apple Intelligence built into iOS 26. Apple says the chip is its most efficient iPhone processor so far. The Air’s battery is smaller than the one in the Pro models, which is why the company’s tuning of the chip matters for daily use.
Sales figures and price cuts in 2026
Counterpoint estimated that the Air represented 3% of iPhone 17 series sales, a figure the research firm gave without a fixed date in the sources reviewed. In January 2026, Amazon UK cut the unlocked price from £999 to £849, and the Chinese retailer JD.com offered the 256GB model at ¥5,099 with a coupon and a trade-in. The price drops appeared in several markets at the same time, which shows that retailers are responding to slow demand for the Air.
Check out: iPhone Handoff lets Apple users pair the Duo with an iPhone 18 Pro
In the same CIRP quarter, the low-priced iPhone 17e held 4% of US iPhone sales, close to the Air’s share. The five current iPhone 17 models together accounted for 82% of US iPhone sales from January to March 2026.
