A couple of days ago, Apple took the wraps off its most ambitious iPhone to date: the iPhone Air. We call it an ambitious project because at 5.6mm thick, it is Apple’s thinnest iPhone to date. It is also currently the thinnest smartphone in 2025. But what was the thought process behind it? During a series of interviews with the Wall Street Journal, Apple CEO Tim Cook and various team members shared their thoughts on the iPhone Air.
Choosing “vibe” over function
Perhaps the most telling part of the interview was how Apple seemingly decided to make the decision of buying the iPhone Air more of a “vibe”, rather than picking it simply because it was the best functionally.
According to Molly Anderson, Apple’s vice president of industrial design, “It’s something that we dreamed about for a long time to make just an incredibly, shockingly thin iPhone.” Apple CEO Tim Cook also spoke on the thinness of the iPhone Air, saying, “It does seem like it’s going to fly away when you’re holding it.”
This design choice seems to have worked among some potential customers. Lev Tanju, the co-founder of the London skate brand Palace, said he was instantly attracted to the iPhone Air when it was first announced. However, it was a conflict given his job where he is involved in skateboarding, fashion, and image-making. But it seems that he’s willing to compromise. “I do zoom in a lot, so I like the Max. It just means I’ll have to walk a bit closer.”
Tanju is not alone in his unexplained attraction to the phone either. Stylist Gabriella Karefa-Johnson told the publication, “I was surprised to find that ‘thin is in,’ as it were, has made its way to the tech market from the fashion space. It might be the only time that I subscribe to that mantra, because as handbags [have gotten] smaller and my phone got bigger, organizationally it posed some problems. Even though there’s nothing functionally wrong with my current phone, I probably will get the Air.”
A hint at the future?
Another interesting tidbit in the interview might have also hinted at Apple’s plan for the future. When talking about the iPhone Air, Alan Dye, Apple’s vice president of human interface design, said that the phone represents another step “towards that singular piece of glass that Steve Jobs talked about back in the day.”
There have been rumors suggesting that Apple could revamp the iPhone’s design for its 20th anniversary in 2027. Last we heard, it could result in an iPhone made mostly out of glass. Dye’s comments and the iPhone Air itself seem to hint at that future.
Bloomberg analyst Mark Gurman also suggested that iOS 26 is also a hint at a future iPhone. In any case, what do you think? Are you planning on picking up the iPhone Air?
The post Apple CEO and Executives Explains the Design Philosophy Behind iPhone Air appeared first on Android Headlines.
