iPhone Air 2 not expected to arrive until 2027
It was fun while it lasted.
Yesterday, Nikkei Asia released a report detailing the latest on the current state of the iPhone Air 2. While some articles and reports expected the iPhone Air 2 to arrive this year with the iPhone 18 Pro, it is now, according to the article, looking less and less likely of this happening. iPhone Air sales are abysmally low, and it's clear that, while the iPhone Air is good in concept, in practice, it just does not seem to work.
In an age of smartphones being our only computers, why sacrifice the battery of this necessary tool for some extra portability? This new era of Apple is similar to the one around a decade ago, specifically with the iPad. In the first five years of the iPad's life cycle, we saw the iPad, iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro all get released and often revised multiple times. In fact, there were 11 different models in that five year period. Apple was trying things and it was interesting to see them work and revise in real time. However, now, with the current stagnation of progress, many people are wishing for Apple to move back into this era of new and improved.
And so, now, with the iPhone Air, Apple is genuinely trying something new and testing the waters. Apple most likely knew it wasn't going to be a hit, because they know a hit and they know pretty well how to predict one. But it is interesting to not only see them try new things, like even with the 2010s in general and the amount of products that were released and updated, but also give more options to their users.
One of the biggest arguments that people use against iOS and for Android is the amount of options that you can choose from on Android. And while Apple is never going to be able to offer the amount of options on thousands of phones from hundreds of companies, the fact that they are trying to offer more variety is an admirable one.
So, even though the iPhone Air may not have been the right choice to start with, it was a new choice, signaling the return of the era of trying to make new products. This is all but confirmed with the inevitable release of the iPhone Fold. This new product category could now be the idea that finally capitalizes further on the phone market and give Apple a product to add long-term to their product list.
The iPhone Air 2, then, is slated for a release at least in 2027. This update is poised to add a second camera, a vapor chamber cooling system, along with a 2nm chip design, while being even lighter. But, just like with the current iPhone Air, is it needed? It seems as though Apple may be conflicted, and so pushing the release off may be their best bet.
The iPhone Air 2 could be a breakthrough device that solidifies the iPhone Air and revitalizes its sales, or it could fumble further than the original. We will have to wait and see what Apple does soon.
