On November 10, 2025, The Information reported, citing multiple sources, that Apple had removed the iPhone Air from its 2026 lineup. Now, the publication has spoken to additional sources who say the delay has nothing to do with sales. Instead, it’s to allow time for a redesign that would add a second rear camera to the next iPhone Air — a feature that has been rumored before.
William Gallagher and Mike Wuerthele for AppleInsider:
Apple engineers hope to get a second generation iPhone Air out by spring 2027.
The original report included alongside claims that manufacturer Foxconn was scrapping its production line for the current iPhone Air because of weak demand. Luxshare, another iPhone Air assembler, allegedly ceased production in October.
All of this was possible, and while there are easy reasons to dispute stories of poor sales for the iPhone Air, there have been many such reports. Except The Information‘s timeline didn’t seem quite right, and then its detailed leaks were clearly wrong.
MacDailyNews Take: iPhone Air’s two biggest concerns are battery life and the single camera, so we’re happy to see Apple working to improve the Air’s camera system. Battery life is actually not that much of an issue depending on usage (if you’re a heavy iPhone user who cannot add some charging during the day, you want a Pro Max anyway) and will only get better with each successive generation of Apple Silicon, so adding a second camera will make the iPhone Air appeal to a significantly larger pool of customers!
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[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
It’s probably also every two years, which is why the name doesn’t have a number. Planned, not a “delay.” My long-shot hope is for a smaller iPhone Air that only has one camera, while the current larger size gets a second camera. And the 16e is a once-and-done model, like 5C and XR.
Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it – Edmund Burke…
Cube: A Pro Price w/Consumer sexy looks and consumer expansion (meaning none)
The Cub sat in a world of “Who is this for?” And “What problem does it solve?” It created more problems that it ever solved. Quiet? Yes. Expandable for Pro’s? No. Expensive for Pro’s yes?
It was a complete mix and match and thus a total mis-match. The displays made it utterly useless for the consumer as the displays were massively expensive…
Enter the iPhone Air. $999 entry-level Pro/high-end phone price. 16e-level camera capabilities… Sexy consumer design, Pro chip.
Who is this for?…
Apple just created another Cube of their own design and pricing problems on their very own, as if the kids working in marketing today never saw the Cube, or any other cluster screw of how to target market products for the right customers… Ugh…
What Went Wrong?
The mistake Apple made was wanting that $999 price point for the value of an amazingly thin phone that is just so sexy people will buy it. Um, no. That thinking is out-of-touch with people that value $999 and don’t make $250k+ a year (I’m speaking to you Apple employees….).
To justify the $999 beyond design, Apple marketeers figured throwing in the Pro chip would add value to get people to justify… Nope. If Apple has done any research, they’d discover that about 2% of anyone can tell you the benefits to the Pro vs non-Pro A-series processors…
Thus, these two things, sexy thin, and A-Pro power would cause people to overlook the one camera. Nope. The killer app is – and always will be – camera capabilities. Period. Apple ended up distracting itself to get to a price point and ended up building a Cube. Pro price with an entry-level camera…
This CAN be fixed!
Keep the Price Point at $999.
Add the wide-angle lens.
Pro or non-Pro A-series doesn’t matter. Improved battery life.
Transfer USB-C speeds, front and back video recording at the same time, any pro stuff, only high-end users look at that stuff and they’ll only be buying a Pro iPhone anyway, nothing else.
This is about choice, slick consumer design and providing same camera capabilities as the base iPhone. Apple does that and makes the battery a near-wash to a base iPhone, and they will upsell a lot of people.
The iPhone air is not like the Cube (speaking about the Cube, in my opinion it’s biggest issue was timing just as the internet bubble bursted — if that had not happened they would have sold a lot more, but back to the topic) it’s like the titanium (earlier steel) Apple Watch: same performance, but a lot higher price only because of premium materials.
That’s not selling a lot either but it’s still around because there are enough high-end consumers who care more about fashion than tech. (Not us, but there are — at least for the watch. Let’s see how it goes for iPhone air in long term. It’s still early days).
Air doesn’t have to sell a lot to be a successful product. It has many other advantages.
First, if you compare it to what it replaced, the plus (and mini before that) didn’t sell either. But unlike those predecessors (especially after the new internal architecture has trickled down to the base model) it has about the same manufacturing costs but almost twice the profit per device. It for sure generates more profit than mini or plus and probably more than se/16e ever too. It doesn’t have to be the most profitable model to be a great addition to the lineup.
Second, actually air doesn’t have to generate profits at all! Because it functions as a decoy (or “medium sized popcorn”). I.e. it makes both the pro and the base model look like a bargain. Nobody needs to buy the decoy and it can still generate a lot of additional profit by just being in the lineup as it boosts the sales of the other models.
Third, it makes the pro a better product. Before 17 pro, pro had dual role of being both the luxury model and the (actual) pro model. That made it worse for both roles (too brittle, heavy and hot as pro due glass and steel/titanium, too thick and heavy for a luxury model due “extra” hardware and battery). But now, like titanium vs ultra for watch, air is more luxurious in fashion sense than pro ever was, and pro is more pro (being more rugged with better thermals etc.) and both are lighter than a single device would have been. This alone was good enough reason to create the air now even though that lead to a bit compromised first gen device.
So we got a du story for once from the Misinformation?
Way too early to make sweeping sum-ups about the iPhone Air. And its not going to perform the same in every market. So, chill and avoid the fake news all the time.