Apple Event 2025 Recap, Part 1: iPhone 17 Series, And The All-New iPhone Air

It’s September, and that means new iPhones – in fact, Apple brought an all-new iPhone this time around alongside the standard release that is the iPhone 17 series. These models will run on the latest iOS 26 operating system, which you can read more here.

iPhone 17, 17 Pro & 17 Pro Max

The iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro (Max) have very different looks this time around, with the former mostly being a facelift of preceding model, while the latter now features a gigantic hump on the back, which Apple referred to as “plateau”. Internally, all models received a new Fusion camera setup on the rear, along with the Mac-style Center Stage front facing camera with a significantly bigger sensor for wider shots.

In Apple speak, “Fusion” cameras essentially have double duties: the 48MP main camera works as a standard wide or 2x “optical-quality” telephoto (it’s just 12MP sensor crop), while the 48MP ultrawide camera deals with ultrawide and macro shots. For the Pro and Pro Max, there is a third 48MP telephoto with tetraprism design that provides up to 8x optical zoom.

On the subject of Pro models: Apple has designed a unibody 7000-series aluminum chassis giving it plenty of surface area to cool the A19 Pro chip (we’ll get to this in a bit), resulting in a distinct two-box design on the rear that features the plateau hump on the top, with the bottom MagSafe attachment area now covered by a piece of first-generation Ceramic Shield glass. Up front is the new Ceramic Shield 2 with better scratch resistance and glare reduction, protecting the 120Hz OLED display with 3,000 nits of peak brightness (this applies to the non-Pro model as well).

The lineup is paired with the new A19 family of chips, with the standard iPhone 17 using the regular A19 (2P+4E CPU, 5-core GPU), while the Pro line gets the A19 Pro (2P+4E CPU, 6-core GPU). Apple has also finally figured out its networking chip after years of reliance on Qualcomm with the new C1X modem and N1 chip responsible for 5G, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread (an IPv6-based networking protocol utilized by a small number of IoT devices today).

Charging also gets a big upgrade: all iPhone 17 models go from 0-50% in 20 minutes via its new-but-separately-sold “40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max” USB-C adapter that apparently has a boost mode of sorts which provides 60W of power. The only reason this odd charging configuration exist, we think, has to do with its relatively compact size – and for whatever reason, Apple seems to be intentionally vague about the exact figure for its wired charging capability, so it’s hard to say if the “60W Max” bit meant these phones can support more than 40W, which the specs allege.

If you own third-party Qi2-based wireless chargers, all iPhone 17 models can now utilize full 25W of wireless charging just like the MagSafe models do, which means 0-50% in 30 minutes. Fun fact: models with only dual-eSIMs get 5% more battery capacity thanks to extra free space generated from the deleted Nano SIM slot, but this only applies to US-sold models.

iPhone Air

And then there’s the all new iPhone model without number 17 attached to it: the iPhone Air. This separate model shaves thickness down to just 5.6mm if you ignore that rather thick ‘plateau’, which Apple says houses most of the components while leaving everything below for battery and not much else. It’s also very light by modern smartphone standards, at just 165 grams, while the grade 5 titanium is extensively used to ensure it survives bending forces.

Surprisingly, the iPhone Air packs the A19 Pro chip (2P+4E CPU, 5-core GPU), and even more surprisingly, there’s only a single 48MP camera onboard. (When was the last time you saw a high-end smartphone that runs just one camera?) That aside, it shares the same display specs as iPhone 17, albeit a smidge larger. Charging-wise, it still works with MagSafe and Qi2, though it only supports 20W; wired charging is also slower than the standard modes with a claimed 30-minute 0-50% run.

Availability

The iPhone 17 will be available in 256GB and 512GB options starting at RM3,999; iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max starts at RM5,499 and RM5,999 respectively, with the former offering a 1TB storage option, while the latter comes with an exclusive 2TB storage option on top of that. The iPhone Air starts from RM4,999, with 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB options. All models are open to pre-orders beginning 12 September at 8PM MYT, with general availability starting 19 September.

Pokdepinion: Those gigantic camera bumps…