Apple has unveiled its newest iPhone line-up, featuring major upgrades to hardware and software, plus a new slimmer version, while largely maintaining its prices amid tariff pressure.
The California-based company introduced the iPhone 17 series comprising the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, and the iPhone Air at its annual launch event on Tuesday.
The iPhone Air, with a thickness of 5.6mm, formalises a new battlefront in the smartphone wars, especially after Samsung Electronics launched the 5.8mm Galaxy S25 Edge in June.
The "Air" branding was first used by Apple in the first MacBook Air in 2008 – just months after the original iPhone was launched – and adapted by the iPad in 2013. The company has since used it as its signature to show how compact its devices are.
And Apple repeated a familiar tagline on Tuesday, declaring the slimmer iPhone Air to be "impossibly thin".
"We've continued to push boundaries ... it is unlike anything we've ever created," Apple chief executive Tim Cook said.
Apple said that, despite its thinness, the iPhone Air, clad with Grade 5 spacecraft titanium, is its most durable smartphone and features its newest A19 Pro chip, which has been reconfigured to bring "MacBook-level" power.
The company has been producing its own silicon-based processors that allow it to configure features to its standards and fuse all components into a single board. Apple attributed this ability to be one of the reasons for the creation of the iPhone Air.
The device has a single 48MP rear lens and a front camera that uses Centre Stage, a feature first introduced on the latest generation of iMacs that detects subjects in the frame and automatically adjusts to capture all of them.
The front camera also features a self-rotating viewfinder that eliminates the need to switch from portrait to landscape modes.
The iPhone Air is a "piece of the future, powerful yet so light it seems to disappear in your hands", Apple said.
While there are no clearly defined metrics to show what constitutes a slim smartphone, Apple is banking on the iPhone Air, with its lower price compared to the Pro models and stand-out design, to prop up sales in an increasingly competitive environment.
The iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max, meanwhile, feature Apple's first use of a unibody chassis and the biggest battery by far in the iPhone range. The Pro Max now also has a 2TB option.
Apple said the overhaul includes a "completely new" thermal system that "dissipates heat rapidly" and a performance boost of up to 40 per cent.
Apple also launched the entry-level iPhone 17, now with a bigger 16cm display and a "more durable design" powered by the A19 chip. It also features Centre Stage.
The company has also said improvements have been made to Apple Intelligence, underpinned by iOS 16 that features a refreshed interface called Liquid Glass, which gives a translucent effect and adds fluidity.
Apple has also largely maintained its pricing, bucking rumours of an across-the-board price increase. The iPhone 17's base price remains at $799 (Dh3,399), while the iPhone Air starts at $999, although that is for the 256GB version, which is now the lowest storage option after Apple removed the 128GB version in previous Plus models.
The iPhone 17 Pro starts at $1,099 – $100 more than its predecessor, but now also at a base storage of 256GB – while the iPhone 17 Pro Max stays put at $1,199.
It is unclear if the tariffs have, even indirectly, affected Apple's operations. However, the company has made moves to counter any potential hits: it has announced plans to move the majority of iPhone manufacturing to India amid the US-China trade war and pledged $600 billion into US manufacturing.
Apple has also refreshed its accessories line-up with the release of the AirPods Pro 3, Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch SE 3 and Apple Watch Ultra 3.
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.5-litre supercharged V6
Power: 416hp at 7,000rpm
Torque: 410Nm at 3,500rpm
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Fuel consumption: 10.2 l/100km
Price: Dh375,000
On sale: now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Essentials
The flights
Emirates flies direct from Dubai to Seattle from Dh6,755 return in economy and Dh24,775 in business class.
The cruise
UnCruise Adventures offers a variety of small-ship cruises in Alaska and around the world. A 14-day Alaska’s Inside Passage and San Juans Cruise from Seattle to Juneau or reverse costs from $4,695 (Dh17,246), including accommodation, food and most activities. Trips in 2019 start in April and run until September.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The five types of long-term residential visas
Obed Suhail of ServiceMarket, an online home services marketplace, outlines the five types of long-term residential visas:
Investors:
A 10-year residency visa can be obtained by investors who invest Dh10 million, out of which 60 per cent should not be in real estate. It can be a public investment through a deposit or in a business. Those who invest Dh5 million or more in property are eligible for a five-year residency visa. The invested amount should be completely owned by the investors, not loaned, and retained for at least three years.
Entrepreneurs:
A five-year multiple entry visa is available to entrepreneurs with a previous project worth Dh0.5m or those with the approval of an accredited business incubator in the UAE.
Specialists
Expats with specialised talents, including doctors, specialists, scientists, inventors, and creative individuals working in the field of culture and art are eligible for a 10-year visa, given that they have a valid employment contract in one of these fields in the country.
Outstanding students:
A five-year visa will be granted to outstanding students who have a grade of 95 per cent or higher in a secondary school, or those who graduate with a GPA of 3.75 from a university.
Retirees:
Expats who are at least 55 years old can obtain a five-year retirement visa if they invest Dh2m in property, have savings of Dh1m or more, or have a monthly income of at least Dh20,000.
Previous men's records
- 2:01:39: Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) on 16/9/19 in Berlin
- 2:02:57: Dennis Kimetto (KEN) on 28/09/2014 in Berlin
- 2:03:23: Wilson Kipsang (KEN) on 29/09/2013 in Berlin
- 2:03:38: Patrick Makau (KEN) on 25/09/2011 in Berlin
- 2:03:59: Haile Gebreselassie (ETH) on 28/09/2008 in Berlin
- 2:04:26: Haile Gebreselassie (ETH) on 30/09/2007 in Berlin
- 2:04:55: Paul Tergat (KEN) on 28/09/2003 in Berlin
- 2:05:38: Khalid Khannouchi (USA) 14/04/2002 in London
- 2:05:42: Khalid Khannouchi (USA) 24/10/1999 in Chicago
- 2:06:05: Ronaldo da Costa (BRA) 20/09/1998 in Berlin
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Expert input
If you had all the money in the world, what’s the one sneaker you would buy or create?
“There are a few shoes that have ‘grail’ status for me. But the one I have always wanted is the Nike x Patta x Parra Air Max 1 - Cherrywood. To get a pair in my size brand new is would cost me between Dh8,000 and Dh 10,000.” Jack Brett
“If I had all the money, I would approach Nike and ask them to do my own Air Force 1, that’s one of my dreams.” Yaseen Benchouche
“There’s nothing out there yet that I’d pay an insane amount for, but I’d love to create my own shoe with Tinker Hatfield and Jordan.” Joshua Cox
“I think I’d buy a defunct footwear brand; I’d like the challenge of reinterpreting a brand’s history and changing options.” Kris Balerite
“I’d stir up a creative collaboration with designers Martin Margiela of the mixed patchwork sneakers, and Yohji Yamamoto.” Hussain Moloobhoy
“If I had all the money in the world, I’d live somewhere where I’d never have to wear shoes again.” Raj Malhotra
The five pillars of Islam
Things Heard & Seen
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton
2/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
TICKETS
Tickets start at Dh100 for adults, while children can enter free on the opening day. For more information, visit www.mubadalawtc.com.
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The years Ramadan fell in May
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
US tops drug cost charts
The study of 13 essential drugs showed costs in the United States were about 300 per cent higher than the global average, followed by Germany at 126 per cent and 122 per cent in the UAE.
Thailand, Kenya and Malaysia were rated as nations with the lowest costs, about 90 per cent cheaper.
In the case of insulin, diabetic patients in the US paid five and a half times the global average, while in the UAE the costs are about 50 per cent higher than the median price of branded and generic drugs.
Some of the costliest drugs worldwide include Lipitor for high cholesterol.
The study’s price index placed the US at an exorbitant 2,170 per cent higher for Lipitor than the average global price and the UAE at the eighth spot globally with costs 252 per cent higher.
High blood pressure medication Zestril was also more than 2,680 per cent higher in the US and the UAE price was 187 per cent higher than the global price.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
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Breast cancer in men: the facts
1) Breast cancer is men is rare but can develop rapidly. It usually occurs in those over the ages of 60, but can occasionally affect younger men.
2) Symptoms can include a lump, discharge, swollen glands or a rash.
3) People with a history of cancer in the family can be more susceptible.
4) Treatments include surgery and chemotherapy but early diagnosis is the key.
5) Anyone concerned is urged to contact their doctor
The years Ramadan fell in May
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
More on Quran memorisation:
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Bio
Age: 25
Town: Al Diqdaqah – Ras Al Khaimah
Education: Bachelors degree in mechanical engineering
Favourite colour: White
Favourite place in the UAE: Downtown Dubai
Favourite book: A Life in Administration by Ghazi Al Gosaibi.
First owned baking book: How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
The years Ramadan fell in May
