A new leak claims that Apple is evaluating whether to add a second camera to a 2026 iPhone Air.
Right from the earliest rumors, the iPhone 17 Air — as it was expected to be called — was known to have just one camera. Now a new leak claims that the iPhone 18 Air may change that.
Writing on Chinese social media site Weibo, regular leaker Digital Chat Station claims that the iPhone Air for 2026 is being evaluated. Saying that this is normal at this point in the process, the claim is that the camera could be the only significant difference.
"The 6.5-inch high-brush medium screen... and horizontal runway design remains unchanged," writes the leaker (in translation). "[Apple is considering] adding a new lens and [evaluating the 48Mp main camera + 48Mp ultra-wide angle (if the new telephoto is good)."
It's also claimed that this potential second camera will be added to the horizontal camera bar, the plateau. That seems inevitable, though, as the plateau is a key reason that the iPhone Air can be so slim.
As well as the current single camera, the plateau houses most of the iPhone's major components. That leaves the majority of the chassis for the battery.
So a design that removed the plateau or altered the positioning of the lenses, would require a substantial redesign.
Although by the same token, the plateau would need significant alterations to fit in a second camera. That work may already be happening, though, as the iPhone Fold is expected to be thin, but also to have dual cameras.
Note that "Digital Chat Station" has tended to be fairly accurate in the past. However, he or she does tend to issue very many leaks so perhaps only the correct ones get remembered.
