Beyond the Alphabet
Beyond the Alphabet is a weekly column that focuses on the tech world both inside and out of the confines of Mountain View.
Over the course of a little less than an hour and a half, Apple introduced its latest batch of flagship phones, along with some major updates for other product categories. Arguably, the second-most striking of them all was the introduction of the iPhone Air, seemingly Apple‘s response to the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge.
I’m not one who really cares, or has ever cared, about really-thin phones, as they’re usually accompanied by crappy battery life while missing out on other features. I suspect the same to be true of the iPhone Air, with the iPhone 17 Pro Max being more of my style, especially now that Apple has found a brand new orange ink cartridge.
But as the Apple event rolled on, it dawned on me that the iPhone Air isn’t just a way for Apple to compete with Samsung. It’s also serving as a sort of testing ground for what we’ve been expecting for years: a foldable iPhone.
The writing is on the wall
There was one part of the presentation that tipped me off to this, and it was when the design changes were being explained. In order to make a phone this thin and still give Apple the ability to market it as having “all-day battery,” components had to be shifted around. So in order to make this work, Apple shoved all of the major components into the camera “plateau.”
And I’m not exaggerating. The iPhone Air’s entire logic board now rests inside the camera bar, while still accounting for both the selfie and rear cameras. The rest of the chassis? It’s pretty much a large, thin battery and a USB-C port.
So why does that matter? Well, if Apple wants to release a foldable iPhone that isn’t immediately laughed out of existence, it needs to be thinner than what previous iPhone models were — especially considering how late Apple is with getting into the game.
Many rumors point to Apple’s first foldable phone to be a book-style foldable, like the Galaxy Z Fold 7, as opposed to a flip phone, like the popular Razr 2025 series. Given Apple’s propensity for being a crowd-pleaser, I initially thought the opposite was true — since flip phones tend to be more popular due to their nostalgic design and cheaper price tag — but the iPhone Air pretty much solidifies the book-style rumors.
In order to release a phone that’s thin, sleek, and modern, without making too many sacrifices, Apple had to hit the design reset button. This is likely what spurred the decision to overhaul the iPhone Pro lineup, while also introducing an all-new device. It also doesn’t hurt that we were overdue for a proper design change, as the previous iterations were already stale, even with the Titanium frame.
With that said, I can’t help but feel like the iPhone Air design is a precursor to an eventual foldable. If you tape two iPhone Airs together, side-by-side, that’s a pretty good indication of what Apple’s first foldable could look like. Of course, that tape will be replaced by some state-of-the-art hinge that “only Apple could make.” Or at least that’s what we’ll be told.
Even if that isn’t the case, there’s no denying that seeing Apple being able to redesign basically every element of the phone to fit into a phone this thin is simply extraordinary. The iPhone Air (5.64mm) is thinner than the Galaxy S25 Edge (5.8mm), but isn’t quite nearly as thin as the upcoming Pixel 10 Pro Fold (5.2mm) or the Galaxy Z Fold 7 (4.2mm). But an iPhone foldable easily could be.
The iPhone Air is a great start to something greater
Nevertheless, seeing what Apple was able to do with the iPhone Air and how it committed the resources to creating a phone like this to begin with leaves me feeling much better about Apple’s first foldable phone. Recent reports suggest it will be unveiled this time next year, arriving alongside the iPhone 18 lineup. Rumors also point to it being between 4.5mm and 4.8mm thin, meaning that Apple still has a bit of work to do, but the iPhone Air is a good start.
Android Central contributor and resident thin-phone fanboy, Brady Snyder, probably summed up the iPhone Air the best way: “The entire body of the iPhone Air is just the battery, and the camera bump actually houses the entire logic board. That’s insane.”
Insane, indeed.
