Apple unveiled a budget iPhone with boosted artificial intelligence (AI) computing performance and an iPad Air equipped with the latest M4 chip. By putting hardware performance up front, the company said it expanded the operation of its in-house AI platform "Apple Intelligence" and improved the cellular modem and charging standards to enhance perceived usability. The strategy is seen as raising On-device AI processing capabilities in the midrange lineup to narrow the gap with higher-end models. In Korea, despite exchange rate fluctuations, iPhone prices were cut while iPad prices held at previous levels.
◇ Budget new product "iPhone 17e" priced 150,000 won lower than its predecessor
Apple on the 2nd (local time) unveiled the iPhone 17e, the budget model in the iPhone 17 series. The iPhone 17e features the latest A19 chip built on a 3-nanometer process. Apple said it upgraded the central processing unit (CPU), graphics processing unit (GPU) and Neural Engine to boost processing performance for AI models, including Apple Intelligence.
The cellular modem is the C1X, an improved version of Apple's in-house designed C1. Apple said the C1X is up to twice as fast as the modem in the previous iPhone 16e and cuts power consumption by 30% compared with the modem used in the iPhone 16 Pro. The idea is to raise both connectivity and power efficiency to extend perceived battery life.
The camera adopts a 48-megapixel "Fusion" rear camera that supports 2x optical zoom. The 6.1-inch display uses "Ceramic Shield 2," which offers scratch resistance three times better than the previous model. Unlike its predecessor, it supports MagSafe, a magnet-based wireless charging system, and upgrades the wireless charging standard to Qi2 for up to 15W fast charging.
Colors come in three options: white, black and pink (soft pink). Storage comes in two options, 256GB and 512GB. Unlike the previous model, which was split into 128GB, 256GB and 512GB, the 128GB option has been dropped and the base capacity raised. The domestic price for the 256GB model is 990,000 won, down 150,000 won from the previous iPhone 16e (256GB, 1.14 million won). The 512GB model is also priced 150,000 won lower than the previous model (1.44 million won) at 1.29 million won.
◇ iPad Air with M4 chip... domestic prices frozen
Apple also introduced the iPad Air with the M4 chip on the same day. It said computation speed is 30% faster than the previous model with the M3 chip, and, considering AI performance needs, system memory was expanded to 12GB, 50% more than the previous generation. The cellular model uses the same C1X modem as the iPhone 17e.
The iPad Air comes in two sizes, 11 inches and 13 inches, and in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB capacities. Colors are blue, purple, starlight (white) and space gray (gray). The 11-inch model starts at 949,000 won, the same as the previous model, and the 13-inch model starts at 1,249,000 won.
Preorders for the iPhone 17e and the new iPad Air begin on the 4th, with official sales starting on the 11th.