Apple Inc. announced its new iPhone 17 series on September 9th, with the release date set for September 19th. The ultra-thin iPhone Air joins the lineup alongside the 17 series. This marks the first time in several years that a new model has been released with a completely redesigned design, aiming to boost demand.
Apple unveiled the 6.3-inch iPhone 17, the 6.5-inch iPhone Air, and the high-end 6.3-inch iPhone 17 Pro and 6.9-inch iPhone 17 Pro Max. Pre-orders will begin on September 12th, with releases on the 19th.
The Air, the first iPhone to join the lineup, is 5.6mm thick, making it the thinnest iPhone ever. It is approximately two-thirds the thickness of the iPhone 17 Pro. It features an in-house designed communication semiconductor modem chip for improved power efficiency. The rear camera has a single lens.
The Air only supports eSIM, which rewrites device contract information over the internet; it cannot use physical SIM cards. The remaining three models vary by country and region, and only support eSIM in Japan.
All four models are embedded with Apple Intelligence, Apple’s proprietary generative AI (artificial intelligence). The high-end model and the Air utilize the latest in-house semiconductor, the A19 Pro, for enhanced data processing performance. The slimmer design makes them easier to carry and photograph.
The price in Japan has increased by 5,000 yen due to the depreciation of the yen.
Data storage capacity for all four models starts at 256GB. The Air starts at $999 in the US (159,800 yen in Japan).
The 17 series starts at $799 (129,800 yen in Japan). While the lowest-priced model offered 128GB of data on the previous generation 16, the 17 has increased to 256GB, while the US price remains the same.
The top-end 17 Pro Max model costs $1,199 in the US for 256GB storage (starting at ¥194,800 in Japan), the same as the 16 Pro Max’s 256GB storage. The Japanese prices of both the 17 and 17 Pro Max have increased by ¥5,000 due to the depreciation of the yen.
The high-end 17 Pro starts at $1,099 (¥179,800 in Japan), exceeding $1,000. Compared to the previous generation’s lowest storage capacity, the 128GB model, this represents increases of $100 in the US and ¥20,000 in Japan. Compared to the previous generation’s 256GB model, the US price remains unchanged, while the Japanese price increases by ¥5,000.
Apple manufactures iPhones sold in the US in China and India. Due to the Trump administration’s tariffs on China, costs are expected to increase by $800 million from April to June 2025 and by $1.1 billion from July to September. Some analysts believe this is a strategy to absorb these costs by adjusting the product lineup to raise the lowest price.
At the press conference on the 9th, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook emphasized: “We have thought carefully about every detail. Design is our foundation.”