In an interview this week with The Wall Street Journal's Sam Schube, Apple's software design chief Alan Dye said the iPhone Air represents another step "towards that singular piece of glass that Steve Jobs talked about back in the day."
Apple's former design chief Jony Ive and Jobs both dreamed of an all-glass iPhone with a seamless, low-profile design. Apple has made progress towards this goal over the years, with the iPhone X doing away with thick bezels in favor of a notch in 2017, the iPhone 14 Pro models introducing a smaller Dynamic Island cutout in the screen in 2022, and now the iPhone Air topping the iPhone 6 as the thinnest iPhone ever.
Rumors suggest that Apple might finally achieve its long-sought vision for the iPhone in two years from now. Earlier this year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was planning a 20th-anniversary iPhone for 2027 with "curved glass edges," "extraordinarily slim bezels," and "no cutout section in the screen." Inside Apple, he said the device was known as the "Glasswing," in reference to a type of butterfly that has transparent wings.
The rest of the interview contains typical marketing speak from Apple executives, including Apple CEO Tim Cook saying he will decide when to use the iPhone Air or another model based on "whether I want to float through the air."
iPhone Air can be pre-ordered starting this Friday, and it launches September 19.
