Apple unveils iPhone 17 with 6.3-inch display, A19 chip & AI features

Washington: Apple has unveiled its new iPhone 17 lineup, along with updates to its digital watches and AirPod products at its annual September product launch.

The new iPhones are the first to be released since President Donald Trump returned to the White House and unleashed a barrage of tariffs, in what his administration says is an attempt to bring overseas manufacturing back to the US — a crusade that has thrust Apple CEO Tim Cook into the hot seat.

The new devices come with a larger, 6.3-inch display and is powered by a new A19 chip to help power Apple’s AI features. The iPhone 17’s front camera has also been upgraded to have a wider field of view and new sensor, allowing you to take landscape photos without having to rotate your phone.

The new devices are still expected to be made in Apple’s manufacturing hubs in China and India, much to the Trump administration’s consternation.

Both Trump and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have repeatedly insisted that iPhones be made in the US instead of overseas. It’s an unrealistic demand that analysts say would take years to pull off and would result in a doubling, or even a tripling, of the iPhone’s current average price of about USD 1,000.

Cook tried to placate Trump by initially pledging that Apple would invest USD 500 billion in the US over the next four years, and then upped the ante last month by adding another USD 100 billion to the commitment. He also gifted Trump a statue featuring a 24-karat gold base.

That kind of diplomacy has helped insulate Apple from Trump’s most severe tariffs. However, the iPhones being brought into the US still face duties of about 25 per cent, stoking speculation that the company will reveal its first across-the-board price increase in five years in an effort to preserve its hefty profit margins.

Since 2020, Apple has charged USD 800 for its basic iPhone and USD 1,200 for its top offering, but analysts now believe the company may raise prices by USD 50 to USD 100 on some of the new models. If Apple does announce price increases, it will come just weeks after Google held steady on prices for its new Pixel smartphones.

Although Apple’s stock price is still down by 4 per cent so far this year, the shares have been bouncing back in recent months amid signs it won’t be as hard hit by the tariffs as once feared, and a highly anticipated court ruling cleared the way for the company to continue receiving USD 20 billion annually to lock in Google’s search engine as the default option on iPhones.