It’s no secret that the iPhone Air isn’t selling as well as Apple hoped (one October report suggested there was “virtually no consumer demand” for the device), but there might still be some life left in Apple’s super slim iPhone project.
According to a recent Weibo post from Chinese leaker Fixed Focus Digital, Apple still plans to release an iPhone Air 2 “no matter how badly it sells,” adding that the company “will grit its teeth and push through with at least two generations.”
There are several very big reasons to doubt this claim — I’ll walk you through them below — but I, for one, am all in favor of a sequel to what is undeniably Apple’s most exciting iPhone in years.
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But let’s start with the skepticism. First, our translation of the Weibo post may have lost some of the original’s nuance. It begins by saying “the Air 2 will continue to be iterated as usual,” but “iterated” in this instance may not mean “released”, and “iterated” may not even be the exact translation of the original Chinese (MacRumors, for instance, translated part of the post as “no matter how abysmal the sales turn out to be”, which is slightly different to our translation of the same line). If you speak fluent Chinese, please correct us in the comments.
Secondly, all (most) signs point towards Apple releasing an iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and a foldable iPhone Ultra in September. The big leakers haven’t mentioned the iPhone Air 2 by name as yet, and Apple’s March 2027 event will likely focus on its next non-Pro models, namely the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e.
The iPhone Air 2 would be a bona fide premium iPhone, and so it’s not suitable for launch alongside those two more affordable models, and it seems unlikely that Apple would stuff its next September event with four new and very different iPhones (the aforementioned Weibo post doesn’t actually specify September as the iPhone Air 2’s release month, but we can infer as much from the phrase “iterated as usual”).
Thirdly, Apple is not a company that typically “grits its teeth” to bring an unprofitable product to market. I recently penned an op-ed on Tim Cook’s methodical and self-confessed ‘ruthless’ approach to running the company, and if indeed the iPhone Air is selling poorly, a Hail Mary-style release of the iPhone Air 2 would totally jar with the predictability (and subsequent profitability) we’ve come to associate with Apple.
So, unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll be seeing a sequel to the iPhone Air any time soon, unless more tipsters come forward to corroborate this report. However, that doesn’t mean I, personally, think Apple should give up on its super-slim iPhone project.
Don’t give up, Apple
Last month, I wrote that the iPhone Air is Apple’s most beautiful, most frustrating iPhone, and while I’m not entirely surprised that it hasn’t sold as well as hoped, I do think Apple can boost its appeal with just a few tweaks.
In my anecdotal experience, I’ve never had more people approach me to ask about what phone I’m using than I have with the iPhone Air. It’s unique, it’s beautiful, and it makes me (and, clearly, others) feel excited in a way that old Apple products used to. That’s reason enough for Apple to release a second model — consumers didn’t know they wanted an iPhone Air the first time around. Now, perhaps, they’ve tried one for themselves and been sold on the idea of a super slim phone.
But aesthetics aside, the iPhone Air 2 needs a telephoto camera to justify its inevitably high price. The iPhone Air costs $999 / £999 / AU$1,799, but it’s saddled with the same rear camera hardware as the iPhone 17e, which costs $599 / £599 / AU$999 — almost half the price. iPhone 17 Pro users aren’t going to look twice at a device with only one camera.
Then there’s the battery life issue. The iPhone Air’s “all-day” battery life isn’t bad by industry standards, but it’s definitely worse than the iPhone 17 Pro’s, iPhone 17’s, and maybe even the iPhone 17e’s. That’s another tough pill to swallow.
Of course, the iPhone Air is only as thin and beautiful as it is because it doesn’t have a telephoto camera and because it doesn’t have a large battery. But that’s Apple’s problem to solve. Perhaps it can look to Honor for inspiration; the Chinese brand sacrificed a few millimeters on its Honor Magic 8 Pro Air to ensure that the phone boasts flagship-level battery life and a three-lens rear camera array.
Anyway, I’m probably screaming into the void here. As much as I’m hoping for one, I don’t think an iPhone Air 2 is on the cards any time soon. But I also don’t think we should treat Apple’s original model as a failed product. It’s a truly beautiful piece of technology that, unfortunately, sacrifices too much for the Pro-inclined iPhone user. Here’s hoping the even-thinner iPhone Ultra can scratch the same design itch.
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axel.metz@futurenet.com (Axel Metz)
