The big picture: Apple is working on a new version of the iPhone Air due out early next year. Sources familiar with the matter say the new phone will address two complaints that consumers had with the first model: a single rear-facing camera and lackluster battery life.
The next Air will reportedly ship with an ultrawide rear camera alongside the primary unit, boosting its appeal to photo bugs that may have skipped the first-gen device due to its single-camera configuration. In an era where multiple cameras are the norm on most mainstream and premium models, the single-camera Air no doubt felt like a major compromise to some.
Sources tell Bloomberg that Apple is also going to improve the Air's battery life, although it's unclear exactly how that will be achieved. The obvious answer would be to simply stuff a higher-capacity pack into the phone but doing so would be counterintuitive to the Air's thin nature.
Gains could also be made through software tweaks and the use of more efficient hardware like the processor. Speaking of, the second-gen Air will be powered by a version of Apple's A20 Pro SoC, which will debut in new iPhones due out this fall.
The first-gen iPhone Air launched in the latter half of 2025 with a 6.5-inch display and a slim 5.6mm profile. Initial reports suggested a lackluster response from consumers although later analysis refuted those claims. Moving forward with a new model indicates, at the very least, that Apple isn't ready to give up on the idea just yet.
Apple is expected to launch the second-gen Air in the spring of 2027 alongside the standard iPhone 18. The latter would normally arrive with Pro-grade handsets in the fall but Apple is expected to shake things up this year with the arrival of its first foldable iPhone in addition to the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max. A special edition iPhone is being planned for the fall of 2027 to celebrate the iPhone's 20th anniversary, we're told.
Apple's iPhone Air 2 is getting a second camera and better battery life, coming next year
