Slim iPhone may be a breath of fresh air for ageing product line: Analysts

DESIGN EVOLUTION

- Reuters

Apple CEO Tim Cook seemed to be channelling predecessor and design genius Steve Jobs on Tuesday when he unveiled the iPhone Air, the company's slimmest handset yet and the biggest change in eight years to a lineup fans and analysts saw as stagnating.

Cook kicked off the company's annual product launch event at its Cupertino, California, headquarters with a Jobs quote: “For us, design goes beyond just how something looks or feels. Design is also how it works.”

Inside its 5.6-mm (0.22-inch)-slim frame, thinner than Samsung Electronics’ S25 Edge at 5.8 mm, the iPhone Air's circuitry has been shrunk to the size of a few postage stamps, to deliver on Apple's claim of “all-day battery life". Many analysts had predicted a ho-hum reception ahead of the event, but some said on Tuesday the four new iPhones Air, 17, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max were a lineup likely to appeal to customers with varied budgets.