Apple unveiled its latest lineup of products on Tuesday, including the new iPhone Air, its thinnest smartphone to date, at the annual launch event at its Cupertino, California, headquarters.

The iPhone Air, at just 5.6 millimeters thick, comes with a high-density battery and a brand new processor, and will be priced starting at $999.

The model was the star of the company's annual product launch event, with CEO Tim Cook saying "we're taking the biggest leap ever for iPhone." 

It features a dual-camera system and eliminates the physical SIM card slot, allowing for more internal space and better battery capacity. It promises an all-day battery life with up to 40 hours of video playback.

Apple called iPhone Air the most durable iPhone yet. It will use the A19 Pro, a processor chip that it said it had tweaked for better energy efficiency and performance to match the device's thinner battery.

"This new device will bring a sense of newness to the iPhone, which has remained the same for too long," said PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore. 

Alongside the iPhone Air, the company also introduced the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro, the latest upgrade to its flagship smartphone.

Available in 6.3-inch (16 cm) and 6.9-inch sizes respectively, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max deliver Apple's best-ever performance and a significant leap in battery life, the company said.

The base iPhone 17 will start at $799 and the iPhone 17 Pro at $1,099 with 256GB of storage.

In addition to the iPhone lineup, Apple introduced a new version of its AirPods Pro wireless headphones and a blood pressure monitor in its latest Apple Watch.

With enhanced noise cancellation, the AirPods Pro 3 also features live translation of languages. Apple said that if both people in a conversation are wearing the new AirPods Pro 3, the earbuds will translate conversations in near real time.

The Apple Watch Series 11 includes 5G connectivity, extended battery life and a blood pressure monitor feature pending regulatory approval.

No major announcements on AI capabilities

While all new devices incorporate generative AI technology, Apple made no major announcements about expanding its AI capabilities beyond updates to existing features in its "Apple Intelligence" suite.

The company's AI push has struggled to gain traction since it launched "Apple Intelligence" late last year. Users have been particularly disappointed with improvements to Siri, which remains surprisingly basic despite years of promises.

Apple reportedly plans to integrate AI into online search next year and overhaul Siri, though the company hasn't confirmed these reports.

The tech giant is also said to be partnering with Google to tap into its search and AI expertise.

"To truly differentiate and smoke the competition, Apple will have to crack AI as a new contextual user-interface" on its devices, Forrester analyst Thomas Husson said in a note.

"Executing such an ambitious AI strategy will take time. It won't happen at best until next year, if not for the iPhone's 20th anniversary" in 2027, he added.

(With input from agencies)