What to Expect from Apple in 2025: Ultra-Thin iPhone Air and Powerful Macs

Reliable Apple insider Mark Gurman laid out Apple’s plans for 2025, including a new ultra-thin iPhone and a bunch of new Macs.

What to Expect for iPhone in 2025

In a new Bloomberg newsletter, Gurman explains that Apple is working on a “loaded 2025.” Looking first at his iPhone insights, which often prove so accurate they barely count as rumors, Gurman predicts the languishing iPhone SE line will be refreshed.

The current iPhone SE, Apple’s budget iPhone model, was last updated in March 2022. The third-gen model launched at $429 and packed a new camera. The SE line typically includes hand-me-down features at a sub-$500 price point, and Gurman expects the same for the impending fourth-gen version, although he says he would not be surprised if the launch price is higher than the $429 cost of the current model.

The current iPhone SE was released in March 2022 and has a similar design to the iPhone 8. The next iPhone SE is expected to look more like an iPhone 14, which means the end of the home button in Apple’s iPhone lineup. | Credit: Apple

“The updated iPhone SE will be a highlight. This down-market model will finally lose the home button and move to a modern design with Face ID. It will also support Apple Intelligence,” Gurman says.

In a report last October, Gurman said the new iPhone SE would look a lot like the iPhone 14. If it shares the same camera system as these phones from 2022, that’d be a big step up from the current iPhone SE.

As for the higher-end models in Apple’s iPhone lineup, which should arrive this fall, Gurman expects updated designs for the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Details are scarce here, but iPhone fans should expect the usual mix of refinements and all-new features. Gurman is not expecting a revolutionary update to any “normal” iPhone 17 models.

However, he is expecting a brand-new model to join the family, which “could be called” the iPhone 17 Air. As Gurman notes, Apple has had a lot of success with ultra-thin “Air” models of its products over the years, including the extremely popular MacBook Air laptop and the iPad Air tablet. Apple called the MacBook Air the “world’s best-selling laptop” in 2022, and there’s no reason to believe its popularity has tapered since. Apple is undoubtedly hopeful that the iPhone 17 Air will achieve similar success.

Gurman says the iPhone 17 Air will be Apple’s thinnest smartphone ever, perhaps as much as two millimeters thinner than existing iPhone models. While that doesn’t sound like much, PetaPixel has seen first-hand what even a slightly thinner design can do for the feel of a device with the latest iPad Pro. Further, miniaturization requires a lot of incredible engineering work. Gurman believes the iPhone 17 Air will mark the debut of Apple’s first in-house modem and a revised single-lens camera system.

The iPhone Air may also act as a “testing ground for future technologies,” Gurman adds, including oft-rumored foldable devices. As other foldable smartphones have demonstrated, both “halves” of a folding phone must be exceptionally thin.

Expected Mac Updates in 2025

While the iPhone is huge for Apple, so are the company’s Macs. The move to Apple Silicon has been a boon for Apple, and many Mac models are due for an update.

Apple introduced the M4 series of chips last year in the iPad Pro, which then made its way to new MacBook Pro models, a fantastic redesigned Mac mini, and updated iMacs. Gurman expects the M5 to arrive late this year in the next MacBook Pro refresh.

However, before that, new versions of Apple’s 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air notebooks are expected. Gurman says they will arrive “relatively soon” and sport M4 chips.

The current MacBook Air, available in 13- and 15-inch sizes, sports an M3 chip. Expect the next one to move to M4 while maintaining the same super-thin design. | Credit: Apple

The analyst says the Mac Studio will be refreshed next. This is excellent news, as the current M2 series model arrived in mid-2023 — no love for the Mac Studio in 2024.

“The Mac mini recently got an M4 Pro chip that bests the Mac Studio’s M2 Ultra processor in some scenarios and benchmarks. So Apple needs to get the higher-end Studio model back on track with the speedier M4 Max and M4 Ultra chips,” Gurman explains.

He absolutely hits the nail on the head, as right now, the Mac mini is a beast in Apple’s desktop lineup. The tiny and relatively affordable Mac makes the current Mac Studio a fairly tough sell for many users, even those working with high-resolution video.

The Mac Studio (left) and Mac Pro (right) were revealed at WWDC 2023. Professional users should expect revised versions of each in 2025. | Credit: Apple

As for the Mac Pro, which was updated alongside the Mac Studio in June 2023, a new one is reportedly in development. Although the timing remains murky, the computer “will feature a high-end Hidra chip” and arrive sometime before the updated MacBook Pro.

Apple has many other products in its lineup, including headphones, the Apple TV, and Vision Pro, to name just a few, and Gurman also details these in his latest newsletter. There’s little doubt that 2025 will be an interesting one for Apple as the company continues to try to make an impact in the AI space with Apple Intelligence, which has not blown users away yet.

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