What you need to know: The successors to 2021’s Apex, Apex Pro, and Apex DCB irons are the just-announced Callaway Apex Ai200 and Ai300 irons. Callaway is adjusting the structure of this portion of its Apex lineup and giving the models a back-to-the-drawing-board upgrade in the process. Ai200 is a “players distance” iron in line with core Apex model of the past, while Ai300 is a “game-improvement” club, positioned similarly to the now-defunct Apex DCB.

2024 Callaway Apex Ai200, Ai300 irons: What’s new, key technology

Ai200

Ai300

In analyzing the Apex lineup, Callaway engineers sought to deliver products with an elevated look, improved feel, and better consistency than 2021’s offerings. A significant task, as the 2021 Apex lineup weren’t exactly slouches and were perennial top performers in our Best Irons series.

• Reimagined designs: Engineers not only focused on the curb appeal of the clubs — how they look on the shelf — but appearance from every angle, including perhaps most significantly, at address. It’s a cleaner, sleeker Apex design.
• Fully forged design: Similarly, engineers focused on refining the feel of each iron, eschewing a cast body design and relying on a fully forged construction with a hard steel face and soft steel body to deliver “tour-level” feel.
• Ai Smart Face: Callaway’s company-wide embrace of machine learning and artificial intelligence sees engineers refining face designs for optimum performance in the Apex Ai200 and Ai300 irons. Specifically, engineers leveraged the technology to deliver greater spin and launch consistency across the face while reducing any “hot spot” areas.
• Forged 455 Face Cup: Callaway continues to leverage its face cup design for greater ball speed, with this incarnation moving further into the heel and toe. According to engineers, the positioning also moves CG location closer to the impact area for more stable strikes.
• MIM weighting: As in previous Apex designs, Callaway again utilizes strategically positioned MIM weighting to dial in launch and spin.
• Dynamic Sole Design: Improved shaping = better turf interaction and more forgiveness through the ground.

Additional model details

Callaway Apex Ai200

Ai200

Callaway sought to deliver distance without sacrificing feel and consistency in the Apex Ai200.

• Mid-launching
• Hollow-body construction
• Thinner topline and sole
• More compact than Ai300

Callaway Apex Ai300

Ai300

Built for the player seeking distance with ease of launch and forgiveness while retaining feel and a consistent face.

• Profile designed for forgiveness
• Cavity back design
• Thicker topline and sole
• Larger profile than Ai200

What Callaway says

Zack Oakley, Senior Product Marketing Manager for Irons at Callaway: “This is a very exciting one… it’s been three, three and a half years since our core Apex line was launched. We look back at this players’ category that we started, setting the standard back in 2014. What Apex has become has really created its own standard. Over the last three years…we really didn’t feel like we had hit the Apex standard.”

“So, there was a bit of a lull, and we wanted to recommit ourselves to really focusing on what this player needs. We don’t feel like we or the competition has been catering to this player the way they deserve. So, we went back to the drawing board, relooked at some things, and focused on three key areas for this next generation of Apex.”

“It starts with this idea of elevated look and feel—two important things…and lastly, this idea of superior consistency, where we’re not just talking about distance, but making sure that the product is consistent from part to part, consistent in the tolerances of the builds, and consistent in the performance. That’s where the new Apex Performance Series was born.”

Ai200

Discussing Apex Ai’s feel

Brian Williams, Vice President of R&D: “That was really the big challenge here: using a soft carbon steel body that we wanted for premium feel. It’s not as rigid as a cast body might be. We set our engineering team to really work on the body construction. Here, you can see our top lines are supported in a way that allows us to have that soft body but still a high-strength face. So, we use a forged Carpenter steel 455—very strong. It allows us to be very thin and go after industry-leading ball speeds while still having that great feel in the body receiving material.”

Ai300

Discussing Apex Ai’s spin performance 

Brian Williams, Vice President of R&D: “We’ve seen some models out there that can have high speeds or long shots in them, but very few that do it with consistency. You see a lot of flyers and you can have clubs where you can have 10 or even 15 yards difference in carry distance on balls that feel like you hit them in the same spot. So, we used our approach, the AI Smart Face approach now in the Apex iron. We used it to increase speed, but we really had to focus on optimizing spin and launch. We were relentless in our pursuit of healthy ball flights. We wanted increased launch with high spin, steeper descent angles into green—we wanted a product that was going to hit to a number with consistency. So, a big focus on carry distance for us, and that’s something that I think will be unique to the Apex line of clubs compared to some of the other clubs in the players’ distance category where you see lots of variation in your overall carry distances.”

Club Junkie’s take

Apex Ai200

Ai200

We have been waiting what feels like an eternity for the new Callaway Apex Ai200 irons. Callaway said they were pushed back to ensure that the performance was what they wanted and I think the wait will pay off. The Apex i200 irons look great with the sleek back and simple badging, resembling their Apex Pro sibling. Size and shape on the new Ai200 are good, the irons are slightly oversized without being too large and have just enough offset to ensure better players will like looking down at them. Feel is very soft at impact and you can really feel the ball compress off the face of the irons. A forged body and face on the irons gives you this feel and responsiveness that not too many multi-piece irons offer. Ball flight is high, but controlled and the forgiveness is very good at this size. Shots hit almost anywhere on the face will fly high, far, and straight.

Apex Ai300

Ai300

This might not be the fan favorite of the GolfWRX crowd but I think the Apex Ai300 will be a really good seller for the average golfer. Typically larger, game improvement irons don’t offer much in the feel and sound department. They are focused on performance only, but the new Apex Ai300 won’t make players compromise any longer. The Apex Ai300 offer the soft feel and sound that the Ai200 gives you but adds on some forgiveness. Launch is higher and the Ai300 just wants to go straight. This isn’t the iron for the player who is looking to work the ball, but for the player looking to hit high and straight shots as often as possible. The Ai300 are easy to hit and produce long shots no matter where you make contact on the face.

Pricing, specs, availability

• Pre-sale: 8/15
• At retail: 8/23
• Price: $1,400/7 piece set ($200/club)

Callaway Apex Ai200 specs

Callaway Apex Ai300 specs