TMTPOST -- Apple Inc. shares   closed nearly 1.5%   lower   on Tuesday even though the consumer electronics   giant unveiled its flagship product   for the year   with an already expected breakthrough design.

Credit：Apple

Apple at its annual event dubbed "Awe Dropping"   introduced iPhone 17 lineup and   iPhone   Air, the thinnest and lightest iPhone   ever made.   iPhone Air   is just   5.6 millimters ( mm )   thick   and weighs 165 grams. It brings   iPhone's   biggest   changes   since iPhone X   was   rolled out   in 2017.  

The device features an impossibly thin and light   design   that is more durable than all   the   previous models,   with innovative camera experiences and   remarkable all day battery life, said Apple.

With a   strong   grade 5 titanium frame, iPhone Air packs at   a 6.5-inch   display. It has a   high-gloss mirror finish   and a new plateau on the back that is precision-milled on both sides to house the cameras, speaker, and Apple silicon. This maximizes space for the battery to deliver remarkable all-day battery life. The thin design also features the Action button, so users can easily access a variety of functions with just a press, and Camera Control, to quickly launch the camera or enable visual intelligence.

Apple uses its Ceramic Shield   protection   around iPhone Air. On the   front, the device   introduces the Ceramic Shield 2 cover, which is tougher than previous iPhone   glass or glass-ceramic with a new Apple-designed coating, providing 3   times   better scratch resistance and improved anti-reflection to reduce glare.   On the iPhone Air，Ceramic Shield   for   the first time protects the back of iPhone, including the plateau, delivering 4x better resistance to cracks than the back glass on previous models.

Just   as the   iPhone 17   series,   iPhone Air also introduces an all-new Center Stage front camera that advances the photo and video experience. The Center Stage front camera features the first square front camera sensor on iPhone, offering a wide field of view and capturing photos up to 18   megapixel   ( MP ) .   Center   Stage   allows users to capture landscape and portrait   photos   without rotating   their camera. The Center Stage front camera   enables ultra-stabilized video in 4K HDR, and users can record on the front and rear cameras simultaneously with Dual Capture.

Apple   said the new   48MP Fusion camera system   offers   iPhone Air users the equivalent of four lenses in their pocket.Center Stage front camera.   The custom main lens enables the popular 28mm and 35mm focal lengths, so users have more options to frame their shot, and the large 2.0 µ m quad-pixel sensor with sensor-shift OlS excels in low light. Users can also get closer to their subject with the optical-quality 2   times   Telephoto, which features an updated Photonic Engine that captures more lifelike details and color.  

Inside, the iPhone Air boasts   the design that   is only possible with   Apple silicon. It is powered   by A19   Pro,   just like the premium iPhone 17   Pro and Pro   Max, as well as N1 and C1X   chips, making it   the most power-efficient iPhone   ever.  

A19 Pro,   the most powerful   chip   for iPhone yet,   features a new 6-core CPU that improves performance and efficiency for the tasks users do every day, delivering the fastest CPU in any smartphone. The 5-core GPU has an upgraded architecture, delivering next-level mobile gaming, including AAA titles. Neural Accelerators are built into each GPU core, bringing up to 3-time   the peak GPU compute over the previous generation, excellent for powering generative AI models running on device.

N1, a new Apple-designed wireless networking chip that enables Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread. C1X, a new cellular modem designed by Apple,is up to 2   times   faster than C1, and for the same cellular technologies, it is even faster than the modem in iPhone 16 Pro, while using 30 percent less energy overall.

IPhone Air delivers "remarkable   all-day battery life",    thanks to advanced Apple silicon, an internal architecture that maximizes space for the battery, and software optimizations. The new Adaptive Power Mode in iOS 26 also gets to know a user ’ s typical battery consumption and anticipates when they might run low, intelligently conserving power to help get them through the day.

IPhone Air features an eSIM-only design that saves space internally, helping enable the unbelievably light and thin form factor.   It   starts at $999, the same as former starting   price of the Pro line.   The device will be available in space black, cloud white, light gold, and sky blue.   Customers in more than 36 countries and regions including the U.S., China,   Japan, India   will be allowed to pre-order beginning at this   Friday, September 12, with all availability   beginning a week later, or   September 19.  

Apple delivered a   rare price hike for   its new   iPhone lineup.   iPhone 17 Pro will start at $1,099, a $100 price bump from last year ’ s model.   That marks the first   price raise in the Pro model since 2017.   "The big pop comes from a redesigned 'Air' iPhone aesthetic that will likely spur interest in a group that ’ s been reluctant to upgrade their old models for the lack of a differentiated option," Forrester ’ s VP Principal Analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee wrote on Tuesday.