Apple's iPhone 17 line-up includes a new ultra-thin model and $100 price
hike for Pro model
[September 10, 2025] By
MICHAEL LIEDTKE
CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — Apple on Tuesday rolled out its next generation
iPhones, which include a new ultra-thin model and a slight price hike
for one of its high-end models, while the company feels the squeeze of a
global trade war.
The iPhone 17 line-up includes a new slimmed-down model that will adopt
the “Air” name that Apple already uses for its sleekest iPads and Mac
computers. In what has become an annual rite for Apple, all four new
iPhone 17 models will feature better cameras and longer-lasting
batteries than last year’s lineup. The iPhone 17 will all boast at least
256 gigabytes of storage, doubling the minimum amount from the last
generation.
“We are raising the bar again,” Apple CEO Tim Cook boasted in front of a
crowd gathered in an auditorium named after the company's late
co-founder, Steve Jobs, located on its campus in Cupertino, California.
Grappling with tariffs
The new iPhones are the first to be released since President Donald
Trump returned to the White House and unleashed a barrage of tariffs, in
what his administration says is an attempt to bring overseas
manufacturing back to the U.S. — a crusade that has thrust Cook into the
hot seat.
All the iPhone 17 models are still expected to be made in Apple’s
manufacturing hubs in China and India, exposing them to some of Trump's
tariffs.
Analysts believe the additional fees on iPhones coming into the U.S.
increase the pressure on Apple to raise prices to help protect its
profit margins on its most marquee product.
Without giving a specific reason, Apple will charge $1,100 for the
iPhone 17 Pro, an increase of $100, or 10%, from previous versions of
that model. The iPhone Air will start at $1,000 — the price of last
year's iPhone 16 Pro.
Apple is sticking with the same starting price for the basic iPhone 17
at $800 and the iPhone 17 Pro Max at $1,200.
All four models will be in stores Sept. 19.
Apple's shares closed down 1.5% Tuesday amid gains in the broader stock
market, an indication that investors might be worried the company didn't
do enough to prop up its profits amid the trade war.
A breath of fresh iPhone Air
The release of the iPhone 17 Air created the biggest buzz of the day as
Apple found a way to pack in most of the punch of its Pro models while
coming up with a fetching design that Forrester Research analyst
Dipanjan Chatterjee will prod more trend-conscious consumers to splurge
on the latest fashion in tech devices. The Air model is just 5.6
millimeters wide compared to 8 to 9 millimeters for the other iPhone 17
choices.
“There were plenty of crackles and one big pop,” Chatterjee said of
Tuesday's event.
One of the crackles came with the introduction of new features aimed at
the selfie culture. The iPhone 17 models include a front camera with
more megapixels for crisper photos, along with an “Center Stage” option
that will take advantage of a wider field of view and a new sensor that
will enable users to take landscape photos without having to rotate the
iPhone.
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An attendee takes a closer look at the iPhone Air during an
announcement of new products at Apple Park on Tuesday, Sept. 9,
2025, in Cupertino, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
 Although most of the upgrades to the
iPhone 17 are similar to the incremental improvements of recent
years, Apple appears to have done enough to “bring a sense of
newness to the iPhone, which has remained the same for too long,”
said PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore.
Apple also unveiled its latest smartwatches, including a health tool
that is supposed to help detect potential hypertension, and its next
generation wireless AirPod headphones.
Looking for a sales accelerator
Apple has been trying to accelerate its growth after several years
of lackluster sales growth that has still been enough to maintain
its status as a moneymaking machine while raising questions about
its ability to innovate. Those doubts, combined with the
uncertainties swirling around tariffs, are, one of the reasons the
company's market value has dropped by 6% so far this year while the
tech-driven Nasdaq composite index has gained 13%.
While the iPhone 16, released last year, fared reasonably well, the
models didn’t sell quite as well as analysts had anticipated because
Apple failed to deliver all of the artificial intelligence features
it had promised, including a smarter and more versatile Siri
assistant. The Siri improvements have been pushed back until next
year.
“To truly differentiate and outperform its competition, Apple will
have to crack AI as a new contextual user-interface,” predicted
Thomas Hussan, another analyst for Forrester Research.
The global trade war has compounded Apple's challenges.
Both Trump and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have
repeatedly insisted that iPhones be made in the U.S. instead of
overseas. It's an unrealistic demand that analysts say would take
years to pull off and would result in a doubling, or even a
tripling, of the iPhone's current average price of about $1,000.
Cook tried to placate Trump by initially pledging that Apple would
invest $500 billion i n the U.S. over the next four years, and then
upped the ante last month by adding another $100 billion to the
commitment. He also gifted Trump a statue featuring a 24-karat gold
base.
That kind of diplomacy has helped insulate Apple from Trump's most
severe tariffs. However, with the iPhones being brought into the
U.S. still facing duties of about 25%, some analysts speculated the
company would raise prices to help preserve its hefty profit
margins. But for the most part, Apple and other major smartphone
makers such as Samsung and Google are sticking with the same prices
as last year.
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