There is something almost mythic about the “fourth iPhone curse.” Every few years, Apple tries to fill that mysterious gap between the base model and the Pro. And every time, the story ends the same way. The iPhone mini came and went. The Plus tried and failed. Now the iPhone Air is following the same pattern. Three generations of trial and error, and Apple still hasn’t figured out what people actually want from that fourth slot.
On paper, the idea makes perfect sense. Apple’s top-tier iPhones, the Pro and Pro Max, satisfy users who want performance and prestige. The base model covers everyone who just wants a reliable iPhone at a lower price. The “fourth iPhone” is supposed to bridge that gap – to offer something lighter, different, or more affordable while still feeling special. Yet every version of it has struggled to justify its existence.
The iPhone mini was the first casualty. It arrived as a nostalgic nod to smaller phones, promising power in a compact frame. But the world had moved on. Big screens had become the norm, and battery life was king. The mini’s charm could not make up for its limitations. Sales lagged, and Apple quietly retired it. Then came the iPhone Plus, which was essentially a larger version of the base iPhone without the perks of the Pro. It offered size without substance, and users noticed. The Plus didn’t sell poorly, but it never stood out either. It was simply… there.
The iPhone Air was supposed to be the fix. A premium, ultra-thin iPhone designed to look futuristic while being lighter than ever. It is Apple’s most beautiful iPhone yet, but also one of its most confusing. At $999, it costs nearly the same as the iPhone 17 Pro but lacks the features that make a Pro worth its price. The Air has only one rear camera, weaker speakers, and shorter battery life. It looks stunning on the outside but feels incomplete once you use it.
Now, the iPhone Air 2 has been delayed until 2027 as Apple scrambles to redesign it with a second camera and a larger battery. Production of the first-generation Air has already slowed down, with Foxconn and Luxshare reportedly ending assembly earlier this fall. This redesign is Apple’s attempt to give the Air a real reason to exist – but it also highlights how uncertain the company still is about what this model should represent.
The pattern is clear. Every time Apple experiments with a fourth iPhone, it ends up trapped between two extremes: too compromised to attract Pro buyers, and too expensive for the base model crowd. The middle ground it’s chasing does not seem to exist in the real world. Consumers either want the best iPhone Apple makes, or they want the one that feels like a smart deal. Everything in between gets lost.
It doesn’t help that the iPhone lineup is now more stratified than ever. With the Pro models offering cutting-edge chips, new sensors, and titanium designs, there’s little space left for a phone that’s “almost premium.” The Air is not a bad device by any means, but it is hard to justify next to the Pro models that only cost a little more but deliver much more value.
Apple’s challenge with this fourth model is not just about specs or pricing. It is about identity. Each attempt has lacked a clear reason to exist beyond filling a chart slot. The mini tried to sell nostalgia, the Plus tried to sell size, and the Air tried to sell thinness. None managed to sell meaning.
To make the fourth iPhone work, Apple needs to stop thinking in terms of segmentation and start thinking in terms of purpose. What does the Air stand for that no other iPhone can? What problem does it solve that the Pro and the base models cannot? Until Apple can answer that, the fourth iPhone will remain an experiment – a placeholder that never finds its audience.
Still, there is something undeniably Apple about the persistence. The company rarely gives up on an idea it believes in. The iPhone Air 2’s redesign shows that Apple is still trying to make the concept work. A thinner, lighter iPhone with dual cameras and improved cooling could finally strike the balance that previous models missed. Or it could become another chapter in Apple’s long-running struggle to make its fourth iPhone matter.
