At this point, pretty much all the rumors hint at Apple launching a new ultra-slim iPhone later this year, which is expected to be called the iPhone 17 Air. The idea is to create an iPhone with a brand new design to make it more appealing. But will the iPhone 17 Air really convince people to upgrade?
What the iPhone 17 Air rumors say
Apple wants the iPhone 17 Air to be the thinnest iPhone the company has ever made. Currently, that title belongs to the iPhone 6 at 6.9 millimeters thick. For the iPhone Air, Apple hopes to achieve a thickness of 5.5 millimeters. Having such a thin iPhone will certainly be impressive, but thinness comes with a lot of compromises.
For instance, the iPhone 17 Air will have a single-lens rear camera, just like the recently launched iPhone 16e. But while the iPhone 16e is an entry-level phone, the iPhone Air will be marketed as a premium device, similar to the Pro models. But while the Pro models have three rear cameras and a more powerful chip, the iPhone 17 Air won’t.
Customers who opt for the new Air model will miss out on the ultra-wide lens and the telephoto lens for optical zoom. Reports also suggest that the iPhone 17 Air will have the same A19 chip as the base iPhone 17 with only 8GB of RAM, while the Pro models will have a chip with extra GPU cores and 12GB of RAM, making it more future-proof for AI tasks.
When it comes to the display, the new ultra-slim iPhone is rumored to have a 6.6-inch OLED panel. While this makes the phone bigger than the iPhone 16 Pro, it will be smaller than the Pro Max models – a drawback for those who love massive screens. And while rumors suggest that this year’s non-Pro models will get a display with a higher refresh rate, Apple may opt for 90Hz rather than 120Hz.
Here’s why the iPhone 17 Air might not be a huge hit
Given all this, the iPhone 17 Air may not be the hit that some people expect. For sure, there will be a lot of people who will be interested in trying out the ultra-thin iPhone because they want something that feels different and truly new. But this iPhone will be in a tough spot compared to the rest of the lineup.
We don’t know exactly how much Apple will charge for the new iPhones, but analysts believe that the iPhone 17 Air will sit between the base iPhone 17 and the smaller iPhone 17 Pro, replacing the current Plus model.
Currently, the iPhone range is made up of these models and prices:
The iPhone Plus in its current state has never been a hit. The first one was the iPhone 14 Plus in 2022. A CIRP report last year revealed that the iPhone 16 Plus is the lowest-selling model in the lineup, accounting for just 13% of iPhone 16 sales.
Historically, the Pro Max version has always been the most popular among customers despite its higher price. Even if you’re not a tech enthusiast, opting for the most expensive iPhone model that features all the latest technologies seems like an obvious choice if you can afford it. On the other hand, people who don’t want to spend a lot of money on a phone usually end up opting for the base model.
Even with a brand new design, the iPhone 17 Air will cost more than the base model, but will have fewer features than the rest of the lineup. It’s hard to imagine that Pro customers will give up everything they have just to get a thinner iPhone, while people who want to save money won’t think twice about buying the less expensive model.
At the end of the day, it looks like Apple will have another iPhone that sounds interesting in theory, but won’t be the most popular.
What about you? Would you be willing to buy an iPhone 17 Air? Let us know in the comments section below.
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