Abstract: The thinnest iPhone has arrived, Apple has learned this wave
Phoenix Technology Produced
Author | Jiang Fan
Editor｜Dong Yuqing
It's the annual Apple autumn press conference again, the nearly two-hour "Technology Spring Festival Gala" on September 10, 2025, although there is no Vision A stunning new species like Pro has quietly rewritten the narrative in every product line: the iPhone has shifted from performance competition to a balance between lightness and battery life, and the Apple Watch has added hypertension monitoring for the first time, while AirPods are no longer just headphones, but a personal assistant who knows translation and can calculate calories.
Some people say that Apple squeezed toothpaste this time, and Cook finally listened to his advice, but it might not be that simple to convince Apple fans.
Does Apple really understand users?
iPhone 17
The standard version of the iPhone 17 has finally arrived. This time Apple did not play "small moves", and the standard version also kept up with the high refresh of the screen. Let’s talk about the colors first. There are five colors this year: lavender purple, blue mist blue, black, white and sage green. In terms of screen, I really invested a lot this time. The entire series supports ProMotion adaptive refresh rate, up to 120Hz. The brightness of the outdoors is directly pulled to 3,000 nits, and you don’t have to worry about not being able to see clearly under the sun. The screen has three times scratch resistance, and seven layers of anti-reflective coatings are added, which is basically "sunlight + scratch full protection".
In terms of performance, this time the iPhone 17 is equipped with the A19 chip, adopts TSMC 3nm process, and has a larger memory bandwidth. Simply put, it is 20% faster than the previous generation A18 and 80% faster than the A16, and it is almost twice the speed of the quad-core A15.
Taking photos is also a highlight of the iPhone 17. The rear main camera has 48 million pixels, and the ultra-wide angle is also 48 million, with richer details. The default 24 million mode is suitable for daily casual shooting, which saves space and is clear enough. The upgrade of the front camera is even more exaggerated, with a 18-megapixel square sensor, which allows you to take selfies without rotating the phone, and the AI will automatically expand the view range and rotate the composition, allowing the characters to be centered forever. The selfie party and the video call party are blessed, and you no longer have to worry about poorly tailoring the picture or the characters being sideways.
This time, the standard version of the iPhone 17 is really "completely upgraded". The screen, performance, battery life, and photography are all full. It is no longer a "shrinkable flagship". Its price is 5999, and the main focus is on one to increase the volume but not increase the price. For most consumers, the iPhone 17 is already an option without shortcomings. It is not radical, but it is requalified as a "true fragrance machine".
iPhone Air
The real surprise came from the iPhone Air without a number name. The original iPhone 17 Air has changed its name this time.
It is the thinnest phone in Apple's history, with a thickness of only 5.6 mm, and even thinner than a pencil. The moment you hold it in your hand, you will wonder if this is a model machine.
Apple paid a huge price for this: completely canceling the physical SIM slot, using titanium alloy midframe, and replacing the back panel with super magnetic crystal glass, all structures give way to lightness and thinness.
Some people will question: Is the light and thinness obtained by sacrificing battery capacity worth it? Apple's answer is "the future". It equipped the Air with the A19 Pro chip and self-developed baseband, and the performance and signal have not been reduced.
In terms of screen, this time the iPhone Air is equipped with a 6.5-inch Super Retina XDR screen, which supports ProMotion Adaptive refresh rate, up to 120Hz, and the refresh rate will drop to 1Hz when idle or static content is displayed. The peak brightness of the screen is also full, up to 3,000 nits, and you can easily see it in the outdoor sun. The ultra-ceramic crystal panel 2 is combined with seven layers of anti-reflective coating, which not only improves scratch resistance by three times, but also reduces glare and interference, making it more secure in daily use.
It is worth mentioning that the iPhone Air has a new N1 wireless chip built-in and is upgraded to the C1X baseband, bringing lower power consumption performance, and the baseband energy consumption drops by up to 30%. Therefore, it is also known as the most energy-efficient iPhone in Apple's history.
In terms of image, the iPhone Air continues its thin and light body while not compromising on shooting capabilities. It is equipped with a 48-megapixel fusion main camera, which supports double lossless cropping output of 12-megapixel photos. Combined with the upgraded optical image engine and machine learning algorithm, it can delicately present hair texture and clothing colors in portrait mode. The front-facing camera is also fully upgraded, and supports simultaneous recording of front and rear for the first time to meet vlog and live broadcast needs. Thanks to the large-size sensor and Apple's self-developed sensor technology, the performance of iPhone Air has been significantly improved in low-light environments, and it also supports double telephoto and 4K video recording, making the shooting experience more flexible.
The most special thing is that it supports eSIM activation on the official website. It is highly likely that China Unicom will be connected. In Cook's words, the iPhone Air is a completely disruptive innovation, which may belong to the future iPhone.
iPhone 17 Pro
iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max represent Apple's highest standards on flagships this year. The starting prices of the two models are 8999 yuan and 9999 yuan respectively. The starting storage capacity is also increased to 256GB, and the Pro Max is the highest option of 2TB. In terms of appearance, Apple uses a new laser welding integrated aluminum alloy midframe, which is made of titanium metal, taking into account both strength and lightness. At the same time, it introduces Vapor Chamber steam chamber heat dissipation for the first time, making the performance release more stable. In terms of screen, Pro is 6.3 inches and Pro Max is 6.9 inches, both supporting ProMotion adaptive refresh rate, up to 120Hz.
The battery performance has also ushered in a significant upgrade. The iPhone 17 Pro can last up to 37 hours in video playback scenarios, while the iPhone 17 Pro Max eSIM version has a larger battery and can play videos up to 39 hours.
Image system is still the biggest highlight of the Pro series. In the past few years, the obvious watershed between Pro and the Standard Edition has been in high-brush and professional images. But with the standard version of iPhone 17 also using ProMotion, what other reasons are there for high-end models to be willing to spend more money? Obviously it won't be just that bigger camera module. First of all, the material is one of the differences. The iPhone 17 Pro uses an integrated aluminum alloy body, which brings stronger impact resistance and higher heat dissipation efficiency. Apple even emphasized at the press conference that with the A19 Pro chip with better energy efficiency, the heat dissipation efficiency of the new Pro is 20 times higher than the previous generation of titanium version.
Is the Apple iPhone 17 Pro really a professional lens? The front camera is still a 18-megapixel Center Stage, but the difference is that the Pro series supports ProRes video recording and can achieve up to 4K 60fps through external storage, leaving enough space for post-production. The rear triple cameras are also all upgraded to 48-megapixel fusion lenses, including main camera, ultra-wide angle and telephoto, which can achieve up to 8x optical zoom. The lens selection is much richer than the standard version (0.5x, 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x). In addition, the ProRAW and ProRes formats exclusive to the Pro series also make it a creative tool that professional photographers and video workers can rely on.
To prove this, Apple even handed all the images of this press conference to the iPhone 17 Pro for shooting, which was equivalent to a complete practical proof: this is not mobile photography, but a video tool that can face professional cameras head-on. Pro's positioning has completely evolved from a "high-end iPhone" to a "creator's productivity machine".
What has Apple Watch been upgraded?
Apple Watch focuses on health, connection and energy efficiency this time. Let's talk about the most friendly Watch SE 3, starting at 1999, maintaining the affinity of the previous SE series, but with richer features. It now finally supports Always-On display, equipped with a new S10 chip to make the interface respond faster, supports double-click and wave gesture operations, and also adds fast charging, which can provide 8 hours of battery life in 15 minutes and has an overall battery life of 18 hours. The health function has also been upgraded, supporting sleep scores, back-reflective ovulation estimation, sleep apnea prompts and wrist temperature sensing.
The next is the main model of this year, the Series 11, not only the thinnest Apple Watch in history (thickness is close to sensorless), but also has a 5G connection for the first time, and is equipped with a harder Ion-X glass, scratch resistant up to twice the improvement. It focuses on health monitoring: new hypertension reminder function (the algorithm background calculation, and if it finds that the blood pressure is too high, it will prompt you to measure it), and combined with the newly launched sleep scoring system, the quality is evaluated from multiple dimensions such as sleep duration, stage, and wake up frequency. The battery life is just right for 24 hours, you can go to bed from morning to night, and you can play another 8 hours in 15 minutes of fast charging.
Finally, the hardest-core Ultra 3 continues the gene designed by the Ultra series for outdoor adventures. This time, it is equipped with the largest screen on the Apple Watch to date, using LTPO3 + wide angle OLED technology makes the screen-to-body ratio higher, the visual range wider, and the power saving. It supports two-way satellite communication for the first time, and in the wilderness without cellular or Wi-Fi, it can also send emergency text messages and share locations, making it more secure to rescue. And this is the first time that Ultra supports 5G, with faster download speeds and more stable signals. The battery life is equally strong: 42 hours of daily use, up to 72 hours in energy-saving mode.
SE 3 is an upgraded cost-effective choice, suitable for daily users and those with limited budgets. Series 11 has comprehensively improved screen, health detection and connectivity. Ultra 3 is the first choice for outdoor players and professional users, and has practical functions in extreme environments such as durability, long battery life, and satellite communications.
No major AI update, but AirPods headphones can also be translated in real time
Apple has brought a major upgrade to the world's most popular wireless headphone series without any suspense in 2025 - the AirPods Pro 3 is officially unveiled, with a starting price of 1,899 yuan.
AirPods upgrades are often not valued, but this year is different. The biggest highlight of the AirPods Pro 3 is not the noise reduction, but the heart rate sensor. Let the wearer check his heart rate and calories in real time during exercise without having to wear an Apple Watch. In addition, it is equipped with active noise reduction (ANC) technology called "the strongest in the world" by Apple - combined with newly developed foam earbuds and optimized for 3D scanning of more than 10,000 ear canals. It is not only more stable and more secure, but also twice as high as the previous generation of noise reduction.
This time, AirPods Pro 3 also added a real-time translation function, which can be paired through AirPods whether you listen to conversations or communicate quickly iPhone real-time translation and instant understanding of what people who are not able to speak are very suitable for business trips, travel or cross-language communication scenarios.
The battery life is also more resistant. With the noise reduction on, a single charge can play music continuously for up to 8 hours, an increase of about 33% over the previous generation. With the charging box, the total battery life can reach 30 hours.
Apple is using AirPods to make up for the last link of the entire ecosystem: hand the eyes to Vision Pro, wrists to Apple Watch, and ears to AirPods.
