When a phone becomes a collectible: Is the iPhone Air Apple's dry run before the launch of a foldable phone?

Around 2016, India’s smartphone market started taking a leaf out of an earlier era when Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and BlackBerry ruled the industry. They started trying to innovate on designs, albeit within the confines of smartphone factories trying to eke out every penny of efficiency out of industrial standardization.

That craze to create outlandish designs in smartphones died quickly, and what followed were years of a race to cram the most amount of silicon power and high-resolution displays into everyday devices. Something, however, changed in 2025, when both Apple and Samsung, which account for two of every five phones sold worldwide, launched ultra-thin flagships.

These 5mm phones, somehow, didn’t result in an instant craze. Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge went almost under the radar, as Samsung swiftly moved its ultra-thin form factor to its foldables.

The iPhone Air by Apple, however, is a different story.

Folding rumours

For years, industry insiders have shared rumours about Apple testing internal engineering sketches of a foldable smartphone. This, to be sure, has not materialized yet, but such rumours are not without precedent.

For instance, in September 2016, Apple launched for the first time a smartphone with two cameras on it—the iPhone 7 Plus. Back then, the smartphone market was rife with speculation around how Apple was behind the curve—almost every phone-maker had released phones with multiple cameras already.

Yet, when Apple finally brought in the two-camera iPhone 7 Plus, it standardized the now-ubiquitous ‘portrait mode’ photography across the industry. Most Apple watchers agreed at the time that the company does not rush into introducing new features, but when it does so, Apple often produces a better product better than its competitors.

The iPhone Air, however, is not quite the same. It isn’t trying to bring slim phones back in vogue, and users carrying it as their everyday driver agree that Apple seems fully self-aware of the constraints of a single-camera smartphone photography system in the modern world.

What it is instead, is a smartphone that comes as a stopgap measure before Apple steps into the foldable smartphone world. On Monday, a report from supply chain analysts in China circulated widely. It stated that Apple’s much-awaited iPhone Fold has moved into the final production stage, ahead of a potential launch in September this year.

“There is a strong chance that the iPhone Air is not a new product line by itself, but a proof of what Apple is capable of, before the company releases its iPhone Fold later this year,” said Navkendar Singh, associate vice-president at market research and consultancy firm, International Data Corporation.

Others have noted this too. Between October and February, Japan’s Mizhuo Securities and Nikkei both reported in brokerage notes to investors that the iPhone Air’s production targets have been slashed. The reports also claimed that a second run for the lineup, for now, looks delayed at least.

What, therefore, could the iPhone Air really stand for, given that it might not enjoy a long run into the future?

The joys of a limited-run device

It is this very factor of limited volumes that could make the iPhone Air the underrated collector’s edition device with which Apple may have unintentionally marked its 50th anniversary.

Over time, Apple’s product philosophy has been largely driven by the seamlessness of design. Notable products that evolved into collectibles include the click-wheel on iPod Classic, and the first iPhone that standardized the touchscreen. In both cases, each product gave birth to entire industries.

The iPhone Air has the hallmarks of such a device. It measures a hair over 5mm in thickness, and packs in pretty much every feature of any other flagship iPhone, but comes with the added edge of its limited supplies and sales.

In the long run, if the iPhone Air is shown the door after a one-year run, it will almost certainly be marked as a 50th anniversary special: A device that showcased Apple’s design prowess, didn’t fight the specifications war, had unique quirks and flaws that collectibles are often dotted with, and in future, could emerge as a device that will be cool to be spotted with.

To begin with, the iPhone Air’s real-world battery life shortcomings means that one has to also invest in an external power bank. Then there are the constraints with the iPhone Air’s portrait mode; and the telephoto zoom—even with Apple’s algorithm-driven software—is not among the best.

Yet, the iPhone Air doesn’t try to be the best in terms of specifications. Instead, it provides a glimpse of what modern smartphones can be, and the extent of miniaturization and precision engineering that the world’s smartphone supply chain is capable of pulling off. Multiple durability tests hailed how the iPhone Air has perhaps the strongest chassis of the entire 2025 iPhone lineup by Apple. The internal motherboard assembly, as teardown and dissection reports have shown, leaned into ease of repairability.

What Apple therefore showcased with the iPhone Air is how it is readying itself for a world where foldable smartphones could be durable, and pack in every feature without making a compromise.

The long-term picture

Even seven months since its release, spotting an iPhone Air out in the open prompts a second glance. It still sparks curiosity, although understandably, buying an iPhone 17 makes for sound consumer preference. In such a market, those who own the iPhone Air could well end up owning a device that, in the long run, becomes a rarity.

As smartphones move to large screens, bulky cameras and folding designs, the iPhone Air could well mark the last of an era before mixed reality and holographs also merge with modern-day smartphone design. At the same time, the Air will have done so not by being a relic, but as a clear and evident bridge between the past and future of smartphone design.

For the past, the iPhone Air harks back to a rear glass panel and a single camera that was expected to do everything for on-the-go quick snaps. For the future, the 5mm body of the iPhone Air provides proof of concept that engineering has evolved enough to pack AI-ready computing power into a tin body.

If things indeed go the way brokerage firms highlight, the iPhone Air will become a 50th-year collectible, an engineering feat that proved what smartphones were meant to be: simple.