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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
An ‘iPhone Air,’ price hikes and AI: What to watch at Apple’s
biggest event of the year
By Lisa Eadicicco, CNN
Updated:
9:31 AM EDT, Mon September 8, 2025
Source: CNN
The iPhone needs a shakeup. It could get one as soon as September 9,
when an all-new slimmer model of the iPhone, potentially called the
“iPhone Air,” alongside the iPhone 17 and new Apple Watch models at
its marquee annual event.
That kind of overhaul would be the first dramatic redesign of Apple’s
signature product since 2017, when Apple released the iPhone X, the
first model without the familiar home button and with Apple’s
now-ubiquitous Face ID technology. That shift set the stage for iPhone
generations to come.
But the iPhone Air, which will be announced at this year’s event, may
play a different role. Rather than setting the stage for the iPhone’s
future, an iPhone Air could add more variety to the iPhone lineup for
customers who want something different, analysts say.
Apple needs the help. While iPhone sales have been strong, as indicated
in July, consumers are only upgrading when they feel new features are
worth it — and that’s happening less often now, according to market
research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.
And unlike Android rivals Samsung and Google, which have leaned into
artificial intelligence on their smartphone software, Apple
Intelligence is expected to take a back seat during Tuesday’s event,
even as perceptions continue that the company lags in AI.
Apple could also set to rest questions of whether tariffs will raise
iPhone prices.
But there’s a bigger question looming over all of this: Can Apple’s
blockbuster, 18-year-old product still excite consumers?
Apple did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
AI versus core functions
When Google unveiled the Pixel 10 lineup in August, pre-empting
Apple’s iPhone announcement, its Gemini assistant was front and
center. Rick Osterloh, Google’s senior vice president of platforms
and devices, kicked off the launch event with an overview of the
company’s vision for Gemini, claiming the digital helper can
“unlock so much helpfulness on your phone.”
One of the Pixel 10’s hallmark new features is which uses AI to
analyze what you’re doing on your phone and suggest the next action.
Samsung similarly touted the AI capabilities on the Galaxy S25 — its
flagship phone that competes with the iPhone — as a major selling
point when it unveiled the device in January. One such feature allows
users to do a multi-step task, such as looking up the schedule of a
sports team and adding it to their calendar, with one voice command.
But analysts say Apple is too behind in AI to take that approach.
Instead, it’s expected to focus more on hardware advancements than
AI.
Ted Mortonson, a technology strategist at Baird, said Apple’s AI
advancements likely aren’t ready yet, adding that the company is
under pressure to impress when it does deliver new AI tools or else it
could risk losing customers to Samsung and Google.
Earlier this year, Apple delayed a high-profile update that would have
enabled Siri to act across apps and answer questions about content on
your phone’s screen. The feature would have brought Siri up to speed
with more sophisticated AI agents like Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s
ChatGPT.
Apple said it needed more time to bring the technology up to the
company’s “high quality bar.”
“Taking a step back, we see AI as one of the most profound
technologies of our lifetime,” CEO Tim Cook said in his opening
remarks during Apple’s July earnings call. “We are embedding it
across our devices and platforms and across the company. We are also
significantly growing our investments.”
Still, AI isn’t “compelling users to walk into stores to
upgrade,” Nabila Popal, a senior director with the International Data
Corporation’s (IDC) data and analytics team, previously told CNN via
email. And between an indicating that 95% of organizations are getting
no return on their AI investments and muted earnings from Nvidia, the
chipmaker at the center of the AI boom, there’s growing sentiment
that the AI gold rush may be overhyped.
But the iPhone is still one of the world’s most ubiquitous
smartphones, accounting for 15.7% of the global smartphone share —
just behind market leader Samsung, according to the .
Apple will likely lean into that advantage, choosing to focus on
improvements to the iPhone’s core functionality like battery life,
camera quality and design. And price will be top of mind; both Wall
Street and consumers will be watching to see whether tariffs have
impacted the new iPhone’s price.
Analysts from Morgan Stanley and Loop Capital believe price hikes could
be in store. The company could eliminate one of the lower storage
options for the iPhone 17 Pro to drive consumers to the pricier models,
a group of Morgan Stanley analysts led by Erik Woodring wrote in a
September 4 research note. This could help Apple offset the prices of
higher component costs, the report noted.
“Normally, it’s not a good sign for a launch event when the price
is the big focus, because then the product itself might not be as much
of a highlight compared to the previous generations,” said Runar
Bjørhovde, a research analyst for market research firm Canalys.
But President Donald Trump’s tariffs make this launch an exception,
since many will be watching to see whether Apple changes its pricing in
the United States and other markets. “How does Apple decide to play
that game?” Bjørhovde said. “Apple doesn’t like to change the
prices over time, so whatever is set from Day 1 is normally a key
indicator on what we will see for the next year.”
Apple’s struggles with iPhone models in different years
Apple has struggled in recent years to find a fourth iPhone model that
resonates as strongly as the standard, Pro and Pro Max. It removed the
iPhone Mini from its lineup after just two generations starting with
the iPhone 14, and now the company is expected to replace the Plus
model with this new Air.
But that may entail compromises like just one camera instead of the two
on the standard iPhone 16, according to .
The phone could be a tough sell for other reasons, too. Consumers and
are holding onto their smartphones , so a thin design may not be enough
to attract new buyers. Plus, Samsung has already gotten ahead of Apple
with a slimmer new phone called the Galaxy S25 Edge.
Still, Apple does have one advantage.
“The Air version of the MacBook has stuck. The Air version of the
iPad has stuck,” said Dipanjan Chatterjee, vice president and
principal analyst for market research firm Forrester. “So, there’s
good reason to believe that the Air version — a slimmer, thinner
iPhone — will.”
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