Summary created by Smart Answers AI
In summary:
- Macworld reports on Jon Prosser’s extensive leaks about the iPhone Air 2, expected to launch in spring alongside iPhone 18 models with improved battery performance and camera upgrades.
- The device may feature a new lavender-shifted Sky Blue color option and add a second 48MP ultrawide camera lens while retaining its titanium design.
- Apple appears to be considering rebranding the Air line to simply “iPhone” and implementing a $50 price increase, potentially starting at $1,049.
With all eyes on this fall’s iPhone launches, the notorious leaker Jon Prosser has released a video purporting to reveal numerous details about the biggest Apple product of next spring: the iPhone Air 2.
In just over eight minutes (which includes a minute-long sponsor message), Prosser spills the beans on the next Air’s release timing, design, strategic changes, technical upgrades, and color options. He even claims to know how Apple will alter the Air’s name across the next couple of years… but we’ll come to that in a moment.
Before we get to the details, a disclaimer. There’s still around seven or eight months to go until Apple reveals this product, which means things can change. Prosser himself acknowledges that the design of the Air 2 “won’t be finalised for a few more months,” so the rather nice rendered images in his video may be inaccurate.
It’s also worth mentioning that he doesn’t give a source for any of his assertions, coyly prefacing his reveals with the phrase “I can’t say how I know, but…” Some of the claims, it must be said, are likely just recycled from other leakers’ predictions. But Prosser does seem to have sources inside Apple or its supplier partners (to the extent that Apple filed a lawsuit against him), and while he has made some notable errors in the past, he is generally worth listening to.
To return to the iPhone Air 2, Prosser says it’ll launch in spring, alongside the baseline iPhone 18 and the iPhone 18e. It will therefore be the premium model of that half-yearly batch of phones, much as the Ultra will be the premium model of this fall’s set. That’s not a new theory, but it’s always nice to have corroboration.
On design, he predicts a device that’s similar to the first-gen Air, referring to it as “slightly refreshed, slightly repositioned.” It will still be made of titanium.
The main externally visible change is the addition of a second camera lens (a 48MP ultrawide) on the rear, in addition to the single 48MP main lens that its predecessor relies on. Only having one rear lens was one of the biggest complaints that device faced: our reviewer lamented, “Not a day went by that I didn’t miss having a second (or third) camera.” So that’s nice.
This upgrade was a technical challenge, Prosser says, because the plateau was already crammed with components and Apple didn’t want to make the chassis any thicker. It’s only become possible to squeeze in the ultrawide lens because Apple has redesigned the Face ID apparatus to take up less space, a change we’re expecting to debut in the iPhone 18 Pro.
Another qualm customers and reviewers raised about the iPhone Air was its battery performance, which wasn’t terrible but offered “considerably less battery life than the basic iPhone 17.” Prosser says the Air 2 will do better in this area. “Nothing dramatic,” he says, “but definitely noticeable.”
What will certainly be noticeable is the new color finish which Prosser thinks Apple will offer for the Air 2. We’ll still get the Space Black, Cloud White, and Light Gold options, he says, but Sky Blue will be replaced by something “shifted closer to lavender.”
Regarding the processor, Prosser appears to imply that the Air 2 will get a standard A20 chip (like the iPhone 18) rather than a 2nm A20 Pro chip (like the iPhone 18 Pro). That would be something of a downgrade, as the current Air uses a slimmed-down version of the A19 Pro chip, but his speculations in this area are a little confusing.
“Inside, Apple was planning on having this phone sport a 2nm chip, which would be a significant jump in all the areas that make a phone, a phone,” he says. But then he discusses price pressures, and concludes that “for iPhone Air, the user base likely wouldn’t even care to know the difference between a 2nm chip and, say, a standard A20 chip.” Make of that what you will.
Speaking of pricing, Prosser doesn’t offer a specific number, but he speculates that Apple’s recent price hikes in the Mac and iPad ranges are likely to translate to $50 increases on its iPhones. Given that the iPhone Air starts at $999, that hints at a possible price tag of $1,049, but it’s impossible to confidently predict the direction of the RAM market over the next six months.
Finally, we get a hint at how Apple is going to change the Air’s positioning and branding over the next few years. Prosser thinks this will become the standard model, switching from the Air branding to just “iPhone.” Ultimately, he thinks, we’ll wind up with three brands: iPhone (based on the Air chassis), iPhone Pro, and iPhone Ultra.
