iPhone Air Sells “a Piece of the Future”

In the new iPhone ad campaign, Apple illustrates persuasive communication and sells style. Students can analyze a metaphor and logos, ethos, pathos strategies.

In what Financial Times calls “the biggest change to the look of its flagship product in years,” Apple lauched iPhone Air, a mere 5.6 mm, or .22 inches, wide. Despite increased tariffs, the price is steady to encourage upgrades and continue contributions to about 50% of the company’s revenues. iPhone 17 prices will be higher, but as one analyst said, “They are sending a strong signal to their consumers that they understand the pressures they are facing.”

The ad starts with video of what looks like a pen balancing on a finger and a metaphor:

Our intention was to make an iPhone that feels like a piece of the future. Powerful, yet so thin and light, it seems to disappear in your hands.

None of these ideas resonate nor appeal to me. First, the future feels anything but “thin and light,” so the metaphor doesn’t quite work. Second, I’ve dropped enough iPhones that I’d like to be able to hold onto the next one. CEO Tim Cook said, “It does seem like it’s going to fly away when you’re holding it.” Why would anyone want that?

The ad might reach technie and younger audiences. While the video shows the phone and other objects floating, the narrator describes how the product is made. Do people need to know that “a high temperature process creates nanocrystals”? Students might care most about the camera updates, which comprise 23 seconds of the 2:23 video. Only one mention of “Apple Intelligence” confirms the FT writer’s conclusion about the company’s “slow progress on AI,” including delayed Siri voice assistant updates. When we get to the part where the iPhone falls, I can relate and perk up. Durability, scratch resistance—these are important features.

Students can identify examples of logical arguments (e.g., the manufacturing process, making the “impossibly thin profile), credibility (e.g., “iconic plateau,” “custom-made chips”), and emotional appeals (e.g., “evoke lightness,” “the power of Pro inside”). A worthwhile class discussion is what’s missing from the ad, for example, less power/lower battery life, reduced camera zoom range—and perhaps the biggest competitive gap, the inability to fold in half.