Apple hosted its annual hardware event Tuesday afternoon, featuring a refreshed iPhone lineup led by the slimmed-down iPhone Air. It didn’t answer the biggest question on investors’ minds, but it still provided reasons to stay invested in the stock. For investors plugged into the Apple rumor mill, there were no major surprises. Longer battery life and better camera technology are the bare minimum requirements for Apple’s iPhone product cycle — and thankfully, both boxes were checked on Tuesday. The price hikes for certain models also came through as expected, and we got fresh versions of the Apple Watch and AirPods Pro accessories with some interesting health features on both products. Ultimately, Apple still needs to deliver on its Apple Intelligence offering if we are going to see any dramatic acceleration in the upgrade cycle for its most important product: the iPhone. The good news is that Tuesday’s updates certainly keep the Apple product line fresh and attractive, providing the time needed to nail down that AI strategy. Shares of Apple dropped 1.5% on Tuesday. Entering the session, though, the stock had been up more than 15% since Aug. 5, buoyed by its investments in U.S. manufacturing to the White House’s delight and a favorable ruling in the Google antitrust case that protected a key revenue stream. The new base model of the iPhone and the high-end Pro and Pro Max versions are best described as evolutionary rather than revolutionary. They have improved Apple-designed processors, sharper cameras and next-generation “ceramic shield technology” to improve scratch resistance, among other features detailed by our CNBC colleagues . The iPhone Air, on the other hand, has a bit more dazzle to it and represents the first major new design for Apple’s flagship product since the iPhone X in 2017 . Jim Cramer thinks the Air is exciting enough to get some people in older model phones to buy a new device. The thinnest iPhone ever comes with a 6.5 inch display, which is a little bit bigger than the base iPhone 17 model. Within the iPhone lineup, the Air sits in the middle of the base version and the Pro family. It effectively replaces what used to be called the iPhone Plus. The new ceramic shield technology will also be featured on the back of the Air model to ensure enhanced durability despite the thinner profile — indeed, Apple says this model is tougher than any previous iPhone. The Air will also come with an A19 Pro chipset, providing a step-up in performance versus the base model’s A19 chipset. The enhanced graphics processors, or GPUs, in the A19 Pro will also provide for more advanced AI features that rely heavily on GPU compute power. It also features an upgraded version of Apple’s modem rather than one designed by Qualcomm — the latest step in Apple’s march to bring more and more in-house technology into its products. The iPhone 16e, unveiled earlier this year, was the first phone to feature its C1 cellular modem. The Air has the C1X, which is two times faster than its predecessor, according to the company. Apple said the Air also has “all-day” battery life, though it’s unclear how that is defined. Regarding the camera, Apple is bringing new features to the Air including the ability to use both the front and rear cameras at the same time — perfect for those looking to tape an event, along with their reactions to it. Though the rear of the phone appears to have only one lens, it leverages Apple’s new “fusion” system, which the company says provides “the equivalent of four lenses” in your pocket. Across the entire iPhone 17 lineup, investors are taking note of the company’s pricing strategy. The entry level iPhone 17 starts at the same $799 that we saw for the iPhone 16, albeit with double the memory at 256 GB. But as we go up the hierarchy, starting prices bump up a bit — and that could help keep some on the Street in Apple’s camp until we get more on the generative AI front. The iPhone Air starts at $999, which is $100 more than the midrange device in last year’s lineup, the iPhone 16 Plus. However, we’d note that the Air uses the same chip as the Pro models whereas the iPhone 16 Plus used the same one as the entry-level device. That helps boost the Air’s value proposition despite the higher starting price. The Pro lineup will begin at $1,099 this time around, which is $100 more than the starting price for the iPhone 16 Pro. But there’s some nuance: The Pro line does not come with a 128GB storage option this year. It starts with 256GB and goes up from there. Last year’s iPhone 16 Pro with 256GB also was $1,099. In other words, those looking to get the Pro will have to opt for the 256GB package. In effect, Apple is raising the average selling price of the Pro lineup by forcing buyers to go for a higher-margin memory configuration, even as the price is unchanged when comparing like-for-like memory configurations. The Pro Max continues to start at $1,199. For the first time, there will be a 2TB storage option for the Pro Max that starts at $1,999. Previously, 1TB was the highest storage offering. Overall, Apple’s pricing strategy should serve to increase the average selling price of the iPhone family, and we don’t think it’s so aggressive that anyone who wanted an iPhone will opt for something else — plus, the mobile carriers may absorb some of the added costs anyways. Put simply, the new pricing strategy should at the very least serve to offset tariff costs and provide the basis for further earnings growth in the year ahead. Bottom line We certainly heard enough Tuesday enough to stick with Apple’s stock, as we think the event largely met investor expectations. However, we continue to believe a more robust Apple Intelligence offering — particularly as it relates to a smarter, more capable Siri — remains the key to new all-time highs. The good news is that given what we see in the iPhone 17 lineup, the hardware should certainly support the on-device AI models needed to get us there. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long AAPL. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. 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