Rumors have been floating round for months that Apple would possibly launch a brand-new iPhone mannequin this 12 months: the so-called iPhone Air, a brand new, super-thin iPhone that will mark the primary massive design shift for the road in a few years.
More than a facelift, the iPhone Air is a unique technique altogether, being neither a extra inexpensive base mannequin nor a feature-packed Pro telephone. Instead, rumors describe a telephone that’s aimed to please people who find themselves prepared to sacrifice some operate for a sleeker, slimmer design. Basically, it’s the iPhone model of the unique MacBook Air.
Current rumors counsel the telephone will debut as a part of Apple’s iPhone 17 lineup this fall, giving it the identify iPhone 17 Air. Of course, it’s not a accomplished deal simply but. Apple might nonetheless change its plans or the rumors might prove mistaken. But sufficient stories have come out to counsel that one thing actual is within the works. Here are all of the rumors in regards to the upcoming telephone up to now:
The thinnest iPhone but
The 17 Air might be very skinny, however the rumor mill hasn’t completely settled on the precise quantity.
Supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted a 5.5mm telephone in January, which might make it barely thicker than the 5.1mm M4 iPad Pro that debuted final May. Two days later, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman reiterated a declare he’d made in December: that the brand new telephone could be “about 2 millimeters thinner” than the 8.25mm iPhone 16 Pro. Supply chain analyst Jeff Pu has urged it could be round 6mm.
No matter who’s closest, the 17 Air could be one of many thinnest Apple merchandise ever, much more so than the iPhone 6, which at the moment holds the document for thinnest iPhone at 6.9mm — and was notably vulnerable to bending. Encouragingly, Apple managed to make the M4 iPad Pro surprisingly sturdy.
Battery woes
Apple is alleged to be engaged on novel methods to suit sufficient battery to satisfy its ultra-slim telephone purpose. A November 2023 rumor from ETNews stated Apple was trying to create a brand new, denser type of battery that makes use of carbon nanotubes and a mixture of supplies like nickel, cobalt, manganese, and aluminum for future units.
But in November 2024, Korean leaker yeux1122 posted that Apple is utilizing normal battery tech. They stated the corporate had sought to get thinner internals to allow each extra battery capability and a slimmer telephone however failed. The Information wrote later that month that Apple was having bother discovering area for the battery, SIM card, and thermal supplies inside, limiting how skinny it may be.
A newer rumor from leaker Digital Chat Station urged that each Apple’s telephone and the also-rumored skinny Samsung Galaxy S25 will function a 3,000 – 4,000mAh battery and measure someplace between “5.xmm-6.xmm.”
The iPhone 17 Air’s show
All indicators proper now are pointing to each iPhone 17’s OLED show utilizing the identical LTPO panel tech present in present Pro fashions. That might imply each increased refresh charges and fewer energy consumption, because it permits the screens to boost their refresh charges to 120Hz after which drop as little as 1Hz. That’s a part of why Apple’s always-on show function works and not using a important battery price.
As for display dimension, rumors typically agree it’s going to measure about 6.6 inches. That’s a tad smaller than the 6.7-inch display of the iPhone 16 Plus, which the 17 Air could also be changing this 12 months. It’s anticipated that the telephone will get a Dynamic Island with Face ID, like the remainder of the flagship line.
In-house chips and Apple Intelligence
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman just lately stated that Apple will outfit the iPhone 17 Air with in-house Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips, in addition to its personal bespoke mobile modem. That’ll be a primary for the corporate, which has been making an attempt for years to develop its personal modem in an effort to ditch Qualcomm. Apple is outwardly assured it’s accomplished that now, and nicely sufficient to begin placing it in telephones, presumably beginning with the iPhone SE 4 throughout the subsequent few months.
Apple will in all probability put an everyday A19 chip within the 17 Air, reserving the A19 Pro chip for its Pro telephones. The telephone might even have 8GB of RAM and assist Apple Intelligence AI options because of this.
Camera weight loss program
Rumors have been steadfast that the iPhone 17 Air will solely have one digital camera on the again. Citing provide chain analyst Jeff Pu in October, MacRumors wrote that will probably be a 48-megapixel shooter and that the telephone will function a 24-megapixel shooter for the front-facing selfie cam.
How a lot will it price?
The iPhone 17 Air could possibly be costly regardless of missing the flamboyant digital camera array of the Pro telephones or the dual-camera setup of the bottom mannequin. The Information even wrote that it might price greater than the $1,299 iPhone 16 Pro Max does now.
Not each rumor agrees. The Wall Street Journal wrote in December that Apple is aiming for one thing cheaper than the Pro telephones. That’d put it beneath $999, the place the iPhone 16 Pro begins.
Why is Apple making the iPhone 17 Air?
Gurman reported in August that boosting gross sales is the large motivator for the Air redesign after years of Mini and Plus telephone flops. Later, in his January twelfth e-newsletter, he wrote that the corporate sees the Air technique as “a tried-and-true winner” for getting gross sales.
The Journal’s December story echoed that, saying Apple is making an attempt progress with the iPhone 17 Air following its years of “largely incremental upgrades.” Although the iPhone nonetheless makes up about half of Apple’s income, the outlet wrote, its “final massive wave of gross sales positive factors was in 2021,” due to carriers’ subsidies amid their Fifth Generation push.
Apple has tried since 2020 to goose gross sales utilizing 4 flagships, and the 17 Air strategy isn’t any completely different, CNBC wrote in November. Apple began with the iPhone 12, 12 Mini, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max, then swapped out the Mini fashions for “Plus” telephones beginning with the iPhone 14. But the Mini and Plus fashions haven’t clicked with patrons. Most just lately, the iPhone 16 Plus solely made up 10 p.c of Apple’s display orders in 2023 and 16 p.c of them final 12 months, Ross Young of show analysis agency DSCC advised the outlet. The Air might theoretically substitute the Plus as a barely higher-end choice.
Drumming up gross sales isn’t essentially the entire story although, as Gurman additionally supplied one other rationalization in January: Apple is utilizing the telephone as a testing floor for brand spanking new applied sciences, together with its in-house wi-fi and cell modem chips. But greater than that, it’s a stepping stone towards the smaller tech wanted to finally construct a folding iPhone.
