Although I recently said that the iPhone Air isn’t enough for me and my sample is back in its box, that doesn’t mean that I’m not excited about a second version.
And it’s not to say the original is a bad phone, because as I said in my review last year, there is much to love. But there are a couple of crucial deficiencies, notably the single camera as well as the poor battery life. And Apple has to fix those things next time around to make a second-gen device.
The iPhone Air only has a single 48 megapixel Fusion Camera, partially due to its ultra thin design and the space consumed by the battery, restricting the opportunity to add more sensors.
Will there really be an iPhone Air 2?
There is a debate as to whether there will be a second Air at all, since reports suggest that sales have been slow and that Apple has cut production for the original device by as much as 80 percent. Indeed, others But the Air surely shows a way in which the iPhone lineup can develop in future as an option for those who don’t want a foldable.
Yet the disappointing sales of the iPhone Air have seemingly influenced others, including upcoming Xiaomi and Vivo devices that have reportedly now been canned. Samsung – although not influenced by the iPhone Air – seems to have cancelled the Galaxy S26 Edge after the Galaxy S25 Edge didn’t shift well. Again, battery life was a big issue.
When will it launch?
The rumor mill is split as to whether the second-generation iPhone Air will be released in 2026 or if Apple might wait until early 2027. However, due to the iPhone Fold, Apple is rumored to be splitting the iPhone lineup into two releases – the Fold and iPhone 18 Pro phones at its September event, with the standard iPhone 18 and 18e lineup debuting in March 2027. Could the Air 2 be in March, too?
According to Fixed Focus Digital posting on Weibo in late 2025, Apple is pressing ahead with plans to succeed the iPhone Air with an announcement set for its usual autumn launch event, alongside a prospective iPhone 18 range.
What about the camera and battery life?
According to the Weibo-based account Digital Chat Station, which has predicted iPhone information regularly in the past, Apple will add a 48 megapixel ultra wide lens – that certainly seems like the most likely additon to me. In order to accommodate a second camera Apple may need to need to reconfigure the internals and make some advancements in battery technology in order to keep the Air air-like. This report first surfaced last November.
The battery life of the original iPhone Air is pretty poor and if you use your phone for work or play for several hours you’re going to be in the red. Rumors suggest that the second-gen phone could have an increased battery density. But the more likely innovation is in the chip – probably the upcoming A20 Pro, based on even better 2nm technology. That means power saving and so a longer life.
What could the display be like?
A new report from The Elec in January suggested Apple could use a display innovation designed for the forthcoming iPhone Fold to boost the iPhone Air 2. According to the report, the iPhone Fold will use a Samsung OLED technology called CoE (Color Filter on Encapsulation) and could also deploy the technology in order to make the iPhone Air 2 display thinner a year later.
This technology works by removing the customary polariser from the OLED panel and applying the colour filter to a protective encapsulation layer. The end result could be a thinner display stack overall, while there’s less loss of brightness and less power consumed in the process.
While this could save on the Air 2’s thickness, that’s unlikely as the iPhone Air is already pretty thin. Instead, it could create a little more room within the chassis to install the aforementioned larger capacity battery. There is also the issue of strength; an even-thinner design would surely be more prone to bending.
The Elec’s report quotes an industry official as saying (translated from Korean): “Samsung Display can already digest the CoE process, but we are reviewing the expansion of Apple’s foldable product lineup after this year and complementary investments in preparation for the possibility of CoE application such as iPhone Air in 2027.”
According to the report, Samsung plans to debut the COE technology within this year’s Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy Z Flip 8 phones.
What to expect from iPhone Air 2
So in summary, I’m expecting the iPhone Air 2 to have these features:
- Similar ultra-thin body (possibly even thinner than 5.6mm)
- Again a lightweight but strong titanium frame
- 6.5imn OLED display
- High-end 2nm Pro-class chip, probably the Apple A20 Pro
- A second 48 megapixel camera (so an ultrawide as well as the main 48 megapixel camera)
- Longer-battery life thanks to improved efficiency from a 2nm chip. Some reports suggest an increase in battery density
- Stereo speakers – the original had mono audio
