ARTICLE AD BOX
Rumors personification been floating astir for months that Apple mightiness motorboat a brand-new iPhone exemplary this year: nan alleged iPhone Air, a new, super-thin iPhone that whitethorn group nan first ample creation displacement for nan connection successful galore years.
More than a facelift, nan iPhone Air is simply a different strategy altogether, being neither a overmuch affordable guidelines exemplary nor a feature-packed Pro phone. Instead, rumors image a telephone that’s aimed to please group who are consenting to sacrifice immoderate usability for a sleeker, slimmer design. Basically, it’s nan iPhone type of nan original MacBook Air.
Current rumors propose nan telephone will debut arsenic information of Apple’s iPhone 17 lineup this fall, giving it nan punishment iPhone 17 Air. Of course, it’s not a done woody conscionable yet. Apple could still alteration its plans aliases nan rumors could move retired wrong. But tin reports personification recreation retired to propose that point existent is successful nan works. Here are each nan rumors astir nan upcoming telephone truthful far:
The thinnest iPhone yet
The 17 Air will beryllium very thin, but nan rumor mill hasn’t wholly settled connected nan nonstop number.
Supply concatenation master Ming-Chi Kuo predicted a 5.5mm telephone successful January, which would make it somewhat thicker than nan 5.1mm M4 iPad Pro that debuted past May. Two days later, Bloomberg newsman Mark Gurman reiterated a state he’d made successful December: that nan caller telephone would beryllium “about 2 millimeters thinner” than nan 8.25mm iPhone 16 Pro. Supply concatenation master Jeff Pu has suggested it would beryllium astir 6mm.
No matter who is closest, nan 17 Air would beryllium 1 of nan thinnest Apple products ever, moreover overmuch truthful than nan iPhone 6, which presently holds nan grounds for thinnest iPhone astatine 6.9mm — and was notably prone to bending. Encouragingly, Apple managed to make nan M4 iPad Pro amazingly sturdy.
Battery woes
Apple is said to beryllium moving connected caller ways to caller tin artillery to meet its ultra-slim telephone goal. A November 2023 rumor from ETNews said Apple was attempting to create a new, denser benignant of artillery that uses c nanotubes and a cognition of materials for illustration nickel, cobalt, manganese, and aluminum for early devices.
But successful November 2024, Korean leaker yeux1122 posted that Apple is utilizing modular artillery tech. They said nan institution had sought to get thinner internals to alteration immoderate overmuch artillery capacity and a slimmer telephone but failed. The Information wrote later that play that Apple was having problem uncovering abstraction for nan battery, SIM card, and thermal materials inside, limiting really bladed it tin be.
A overmuch caller rumor from leaker Digital Chat Station suggested that immoderate Apple’s telephone and nan also-rumored skinny Samsung Galaxy S25 will characteristic a 3,000 – 4,000mAh artillery and measurement location betwixt “5.xmm-6.xmm.”
The iPhone 17 Air’s display
All signs correct now are pointing to each iPhone 17’s OLED show utilizing nan aforesaid LTPO expanse tech recovered successful existent Pro models. That could mean immoderate higher refresh rates and small powerfulness consumption, arsenic it enables nan screens to raise their refresh rates to 120Hz and past driblet arsenic debased arsenic 1Hz. That’s information of why Apple’s always-on show characteristic useful without a important artillery cost.
As for aboveground size, rumors mostly activity together it will measurement astir 6.6 inches. That’s a tad smaller than nan 6.7-inch aboveground of nan iPhone 16 Plus, which nan 17 Air whitethorn beryllium replacing this year. It’s expected that nan telephone will get a Dynamic Island pinch Face ID, for illustration nan remainder of nan flagship line.
In-house chips and Apple Intelligence
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman precocious said that Apple will outfit nan iPhone 17 Air pinch in-house Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips, arsenic bully arsenic its ain bespoke cellular modem. That’ll beryllium a first for nan company, which has been trying for years to create its ain modem successful an effort to ditch Qualcomm. Apple is apparently assured it’s done that now, and bully tin to commencement putting it successful phones, perchance starting pinch nan iPhone SE 4 incorrect nan adjacent less months.
Apple will astir apt put a regular A19 spot successful nan 17 Air, reserving nan A19 Pro spot for its Pro phones. The telephone could too personification 8GB of RAM and support Apple Intelligence AI features arsenic a result.
Camera diet
Rumors personification been diligent that nan iPhone 17 Air will only personification 1 camera connected nan back. Citing proviso concatenation master Jeff Pu successful October, MacRumors wrote that it will beryllium a 48-megapixel shooter and that nan telephone will characteristic a 24-megapixel shooter for nan front-facing selfie cam.
How overmuch will it cost?
The iPhone 17 Air could beryllium costly contempt lacking nan fancy camera array of nan Pro phones aliases nan dual-camera setup of nan guidelines model. The Information moreover wrote that it could costs overmuch than nan $1,299 iPhone 16 Pro Max does now.
Not each rumor agrees. The Wall Street Journal wrote successful December that Apple is aiming for point cheaper than nan Pro phones. That’d put it beneath $999, wherever nan iPhone 16 Pro starts.
Why is Apple making nan iPhone 17 Air?
Gurman reported successful August that boosting income is nan ample motivator for nan Air redesign aft years of Mini and Plus telephone flops. Later, successful his January 12th newsletter, he wrote that nan institution sees nan Air strategy arsenic “a tried-and-true winner” for getting sales.
The Journal’s December communicative echoed that, saying Apple is trying maturation pinch nan iPhone 17 Air pursuing its years of “largely incremental upgrades.” Although nan iPhone still makes up astir half of Apple’s revenue, nan outlet wrote, its “last ample activity of income gains was successful 2021,” acknowledgment to carriers’ subsidies amid their 5G push.
Apple has tried since 2020 to goose income utilizing 4 flagships, and nan 17 Air onslaught is nary different, CNBC wrote successful November. Apple started pinch nan iPhone 12, 12 Mini, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max, past swapped retired nan Mini models for “Plus” phones starting pinch nan iPhone 14. But nan Mini and Plus models haven’t clicked pinch buyers. Most recently, nan iPhone 16 Plus only made up 10 percent of Apple’s aboveground orders successful 2023 and 16 percent of them past year, Ross Young of show investigation diligent DSCC told nan outlet. The Air could theoretically move nan Plus arsenic a somewhat higher-end option.
Drumming up income isn’t needfully nan afloat communicative though, arsenic Gurman too offered different mentation successful January: Apple is utilizing nan telephone arsenic a testing crushed for caller technologies, including its in-house wireless and compartment modem chips. But overmuch than that, it’s a stepping chromatic toward nan smaller tech needed to yet build a folding iPhone.