The iPhone Air Seems to be Like a Wild Preview for Apple AR Glasses

Apple had a lot of announcements this week, however arguably none was larger (and paradoxically thinner) than the iPhone Air. For one, there’s the truth that that is Apple’s first-ever cellphone with “Air” branding, marking a uncommon new class of iPhone, each current and future. Then, there’s the truth that the iPhone Air is very slim—5.64mm to be actual. Gizmodo’s Senior Editor, Shopper Tech, Raymond Wong, bought some hands-on time with the iPhone Air, and he says it feels as skinny because it appears to be like—even thinner than Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge, to be actual. Suppose Ozempic, however for iPhones.

However as thrilling as all of that’s, it’s not the novelty and even the thinness that turned my head—it’s what the iPhone Air says in regards to the future. And to see that, it’s a must to have a look at what’s happening inside.

That is HIGH sign of the longer term to come back.

For context, all the laptop. Modems, Antennas, all the pieces wanted to compute on the iPhone Air suits contained in the digicam bump.

The remainder of the cellphone is display and battery.

My ideas.

Ever since Apple made the primary watch, they… pic.twitter.com/UfjAVNA52p

— Linus Ekenstam (@LinusEkenstam) September 10, 2025

If you happen to’ve been taking note of X, you’ll have seen this image in your feed. That’s the within of the iPhone Air you’re taking a look at, and it’s vital for one purpose. You see all of that stuff on the prime? That’s principally the entire cellphone—or all the computing energy, no less than. Apple managed to stuff principally all the pieces that makes its iPhone an iPhone (digicam and compute) into one tiny part on the prime of the chassis. The remainder of the cellphone? One large and really skinny battery. It’s a feat of engineering, actually, however past that, additionally a template for what Apple may do subsequent.

There are plenty of implications of having the ability to cram a robust laptop in an area that small, however the one which intrigues me probably the most is a pair of AR glasses. Why AR glasses, particularly? Effectively, they’re an ideal case of miniaturization getting in the way in which of a vivid new future. It’s not that we don’t have the tech (in concept) to make AR glasses work—we will put screens in a glasses show, we’ve got apps and UI, and digicam sensors are smaller than ever—nevertheless it’s doing all of that in a kind issue that individuals are prepared and prepared to put on on their faces that throws a wrench in issues. We have to make issues smaller if we’re going to suppose larger. Write that down, Apple advertising.

It simply so occurs that’s precisely what the iPhone Air does. It crams a robust laptop into an area that previously felt too confining. And what makes me much more excited in regards to the miniaturization contained in the iPhone Air is the truth that Apple has lengthy been rumored to be creating a pair of AR glasses.

In February, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman revised earlier claims that Apple stopped creating AR glasses, reporting as a substitute that it killed a “stopgap product” that will have competed with Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses. To me, that claims Apple isn’t disinterested in AR, solely that it’s ready till it has a product that truly strikes the needle—maybe a pair of AR glasses that resemble common glasses in dimension and weight however can nonetheless run apps and act as secondary screens for messaging, calls, and navigation. You understand, the perfect pair of smart glasses. With the miniaturization of iPhones and the pc inside them, it feels prefer it’s one step nearer to that objective, although there are different issues with making a gadget of that caliber that the iPhone Air doesn’t essentially deal with.

A type of hurdles is the battery. Apple did a very good job of (no less than on paper) making the iPhone Air battery appropriate for most individuals, claiming that it lasts “all day,” which on this case means about 27 hours of offline video playback and 22 hours of streaming playback. That being mentioned, it nonetheless bothered to launch the iPhone Air alongside a MagSafe Battery pack that extends the cellphone’s battery. Perhaps I’m studying into that an excessive amount of, nevertheless it appears to me that Apple could possibly be getting out forward of one thing. That very same difficulty may prolong to a pair of AR glasses, too.

Even when Apple may cram a complete laptop inside a pair of light-weight glasses, working all the pieces would nonetheless must be very environment friendly, particularly if there’s a display inside with excessive brightness, audio capabilities, and the flexibility to run apps. All of that stuff eats up battery—and quick. That’s all to say that shrinking down a pc is big, however powering the rattling factor is equally essential. Even with that piece of the puzzle probably unsolved, it’s arduous to not consider that Apple may make it work… finally.

Just some years in the past, we might have seemed on the concept of an iPhone Air and mentioned, “No manner.” It’s not sturdy sufficient; there’s not sufficient battery; Moore’s Regulation is lifeless; yadda, yadda. However right here it’s. An iPhone that’s skinny and light-weight and even has Apple’s strongest A19 Professional chip. If I have been a betting man, I’d wager that Apple is already taking a look at methods to up that ante, enhancing battery life, cameras, and making its Air simply as succesful as its base mannequin iPhone. And who am I to wager in opposition to them at this level? Name me loopy, but when the iPhone Air is any indication, my cash is on a pair of Apple AR glasses that do all of it—and possibly earlier than you suppose.