All of it gave the impression to be getting so neat. Earlier this yr the iPhone SE was retired, nominally changed (at a significantly larger worth level!) by the iPhone 16e, which left all the vary helpfully categorised by era: the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus, and the iPhone 16, 16e, 16 Plus, 16 Professional, and 16 Professional Max. You solely had to take a look at the identify of the product to inform which cycle it was a part of, and it was apparent that something with a 16 within the identify was newer than something with a 15, and so forth.
However that handy state of affairs lasted all of six and a half months, and now we’re worse off than earlier than. There are 4 new handsets for late 2025: the iPhone 17, the iPhone 17 Professional, the iPhone 17 Professional Max, and… the iPhone Air. So why did Apple decide that identify, and never the extra apparent, logical, and beforehand rumored iPhone 17 Air?
The super-special new product concept
The primary concept is that Apple needs to deal with the iPhone Air as a wholly new product line, and that its “model numbers” subsequently want to start from 1, not 17. In a lot the identical method that the primary iPad Air, which got here out in 2013 after 4 earlier generations of iPad, was merely referred to as iPad Air. And when Apple launched one other mannequin the next yr, it was referred to as iPad Air 2, not iPad 6 Air.
The iPad Air was the primary non-generic iPad that Apple had launched, so there wasn’t a precedent for the way such issues ought to work. (What’s extra, iPad branding was a multitude earlier than the iPad Air got here out. Bear in mind “The New iPad” or “iPad with Retina Show”?) Whereas the iPhone has existed as a number of manufacturers/strains because the iPhone 6 Plus got here out alongside the iPhone 6 in 2014, and within the overwhelming majority of circumstances, the coverage has been to maintain the era quantity in there and simply tack Plus, mini, Professional, Professional Max, or “e” on the tip.

Apple
The exception to that system, and the apparent precedent for the iPhone Air’s naming conference, is the iPhone SE. The SE had its personal era numbers, with “(2nd era)” and “(third era)” incessantly used to distinguish the 2020 and 2022 fashions on official supplies. However that system solely utilized to Apple’s funds telephones, and made a type of sense since they got here out within the spring and existed outdoors the yearly fall cycle that the opposite telephones adopted. And it was ditched anyway when the iPhone 16e got here out this spring.
Advertising and marketing the iPhone Air as its personal factor, slightly than merely one variant of the most recent iPhone era, does take pleasure in making it really feel extra particular. In spite of everything, Apple is proposing to cost $999 for a telephone that has shorter battery life than the $799 iPhone 17 and half the variety of rear digital camera lenses: clearly labelling them as separate strains makes direct comparisons much less probably. After all, you’re paying extra for the iPhone Air; it’s a totally new product. Please cease trying on the battery life estimates.
The one-off concept
One other provocative concept, proposed on Macworld’s Slack channel yesterday by contributor Mahmoud Itani, is that Apple has gone for the non-numeric Air branding as a result of it’s meant to be a one-off product.
He means that there won’t be an iPhone Air 2 or iPhone 18 Air: except gross sales are overwhelmingly and unexpectedly excessive, the gadget may merely be a midpoint on the street to the primary iPhone Fold. (A tool on which, by the way, that ultra-slim chassis might be needed, slightly than a pleasing aesthetic bonus.) Whether or not that might be referred to as iPhone Fold or iPhone 18 Fold stays to be seen.
Even when the iPhone Air will get a 2nd-gen replace, holding the quantity off provides Apple some flexibility with when it’s up to date. Perhaps it will get a worth reduce subsequent yr when the iPhone 18 arrives and sticks round for an additional yr. With out a “17” within the identify, it received’t really feel such as you’re utilizing an outdated telephone subsequent to the iPhone 18 lineup.

Considered one of this stuff isn’t like the opposite.
Apple
The chaos concept
Finally, nonetheless, these are all simply theories. It’s by no means simple to make sure why Apple makes the branding selections it does. Partly as a result of the corporate is so secretive, however primarily as a result of its branding insurance policies are all over.
The iPhone has (principally) adopted an overarching model quantity system, with sub-brands tagged on the tip; the iPad and Apple Watch, conversely, record sub-brands first, with their very own impartial model numbers tagged on the tip of that. Macs are at present labelled by processor however was labelled by yr… and that was the yr they got here out, whereas working techniques at the moment are labelled by the yr they got here out plus one. And infrequently you’ll come throughout a product on Apple’s web site (such because the HomePod 2) with no label in any respect indicating which model you’re about to purchase.
So maybe we’re crediting Apple with just a little an excessive amount of sense. Maybe we’re overthinking issues. And as a substitute of asking why Apple referred to as it the iPhone Air slightly than the iPhone 17 Air, we ought to be asking why on earth we ever thought Apple would apply logic to the branding of a brand new product.
For complete evaluation of Apple’s newest spherical of product bulletins, Macworld is the place to return. Take a look at our September Occasion hub, and our record of all the pieces Apple introduced.