Apple just future-proofed the iPhone Air in a way that only the iPhone 17 Pro can match

Date:
Thu, 18 Jun 2026 14:52:20 +0000

Description:
At WWDC 2026, Apple gave us one more reason to buy the iPhone Air and its
got nothing to do with design or price.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Im sorry to keep banging on about the iPhone Air , but WWDC 2026 provided an unexpected boost to the appeal of Apple s super slim iPhone.

Now, irrespective of what Im about to explain, $999 / 999 / AU$1,799 is still a lot of money to spend on a device that has only one camera and so-so
battery life. But the iPhone Air s combination of an A19 Pro chipset and 12GB of RAM has suddenly become more significant than most people realize. You
see, at WWDC 2026, Apple announced its all-singing, all-dancing Siri AI assistant, which will soon be available on all Apple Intelligence-compatible iPhones as part of iOS 27. But only three iPhones will get the very best version of Siri AI and the iPhone Air is among that number. Latest Videos From Watch full video here:

Specifically, only the iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air will get Siri voice customization and more advanced systemwide dictation, because only these phones run on Apples AFM Core Advanced model and 12GB of RAM. The device requirements of AFM Core Advanced (Image credit: Apple) Admittedly, these two features alone arent reason enough to buy a top-end iPhone the former gives you the ability to customize the expressiveness and pace of
Siris voice, while the latter makes Siri more effective at converting speech into accurate text but I would bet my (non-existent) house that Apple locks several additional, more significant features behind this AFM Core Advanced paywall in future versions of iOS. You may like iPhone 17 Pro vs iPhone Air: which should you buy? iPhone 17 vs iPhone Air: which should you buy? Only 3 iPhones are getting the best version of Siri AI here's which features are locked to certain models

Indeed, weve already seen this segmentation start to happen with the move
from Apple Intelligence in its original form to Apple Intelligence as it exists in iOS 27. Anyone who bought an iPhone built for Apple Intelligence
can access all of the AI features revealed at the softwares announcement in 2024 Apple has covered its back, legally speaking but the iOS 27 version of Apple Intelligence (lets call it Apple Intelligence 2.0) contains a handful
of features that only iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air users can access. I THOUGHT THE IPHONE 16 WAS BUILT FROM THE GROUND UP FOR AI?Apple not supporting everything on their less than 2 year old AI devices is insane. https://t.co/uUz3pFYtZ7 June 8, 2026 At the moment, these features are
limited to those two relatively minor tools mentioned above but whos to say what hardware-specific features Apple will introduce with Apple Intelligence 3.0 and iOS 28? I noted as much in a separate feature explaining the significance of Apples AFM Core Advanced model : Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

In classic marketing fashion, Apples small print on the matter leaves the door ajar for more features to be made exclusive to the AFM Core Advanced model: Apples most powerful on-device model and the features it enables, like expressive voices and more advanced dictation, are available on, reads the companys Siri AI press release . Like is the operative word there more hardware-exclusive features are surely coming down the line, ones which require more compute power than Apples base AFM Core model can provide.

In other words, like the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, the iPhone Air will soon support more software features than any other iPhone and the gap between model capabilities will only grow wider as more hardware-exclusive features are announced.

Maybe, for you, the promise of upcoming features still isnt enough to justify the Airs sizable price tag and lack of hardware in other areas but finally, Apple's super slim iPhone boasts more than just looks. Today's best iPhone
Air deals Contract Deals Sim Free Apple iPhone Air 36 months Unlimited mins Unlimited texts 1GB data 50 upfront 40.50 /mth View at Vodafone Ltd See all prices We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
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