While this year’s iPhone 17 Air boasts the Apple A19 Pro chip and an impressively slim 5.6 mm profile, it still has some notable drawbacks, including a relatively small battery and a single rear camera. However, the next-generation iPhone Air is reportedly already in development, and it may address at least one of these concerns.
According to Chinese leaker Digital Chat Station (数码闲聊站) on Weibo, Apple is reportedly planning to equip the iPhone 18 Air with two rear cameras, bringing its features closer to the standard iPhone model. If this change goes through, the dual-camera setup could include a 48MP Fusion main camera alongside a 48MP Fusion ultra-wide camera.
The leaker also claims that Apple will retain the horizontal camera layout on the iPhone 18 Air, meaning the two camera sensors will be positioned side by side. This approach could help further distinguish the Air model from the base iPhone variant, which features a vertical camera arrangement.
But there’s a challenge. The camera plateau on the iPhone Air doesn’t just hold the camera sensors and LED flash, it also accommodates part of the phone’s logic board. Apple placed it there to free up more internal space for the battery. Adding an additional camera sensor to this layout could require Apple to make some internal design adjustments for the iPhone 18 Air.
The next-generation iPhone Air is expected to launch in September 2026, alongside the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and potentially Apple’s first foldable iPhone. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has previously suggested that Apple may launch the standard iPhone 18 sometime in the first half of 2027.
While recent reports suggest that the iPhone 17 Air is not performing strongly outside of China and that Apple may scale back production, the company is unlikely to remove it from next year’s lineup. That’s because the iPhone Air’s design is believed to form the foundation for the next generation of iPhones.