According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, iPhone 17 Air will feature a number of features from the iPhone 16 Pro, including Camera Control and ProMotion. Rumors have long suggested that the entire iPhone 17 lineup would feature ProMotion, but it wasn’t quite clear whether or not iPhone 17 Air would feature Camera Control. Despite the thinness though, it now seems likely the phone will feature Camera Control.
Apple had also considered making the iPhone 17 Air its first “port-free” iPhone, and going all in on wireless charging. The company ultimately decided against this.
As previously rumored, Apple is working on a much thinner iPhone for the iPhone 17 lineup. It’s expected to come in at 5.5mm, with a roughly $900 price tag, similar to the iPhone 16 Plus it replaces. It’ll also have a few compromises. It won’t have a second speaker, and it’ll only have a single rear camera, unlike the iPhone 16 Plus it replaces. Nonetheless, it’ll pack a 6.6-inch display.
One area that it won’t compromise in is battery life. Apple didn’t want to compromise in this department, according to Gurman:
Skinnier phones require thinner batteries, and that often mean fewer hours of battery life. Apple didn’t want to compromise here, so it sent engineers back to the drawing board to redesign display and silicon components, as well as software, to make the device more efficient.
Additionally, the iPhone 17 Air will offer the C1 chip, Apple’s first 5G modem. This chip initially debuted in the new iPhone 16e, and will also make its appearance in the iPhone 17 Air. This does mean that the iPhone 17 Air won’t support mmWave, though Apple still totes the iPhone 16e as offering “Superfast 5G cellular.”
This is the second time we’ve heard an analyst suggest a $900 starting price for the iPhone 17 Air. Back in December, The Wall Street Journal also reported such. If this price point holds up, the phone will probably perform particularly well. It’ll certainly be the first iPhone to look truly new in quite some time.
Apple had also considered making the iPhone 17 Air its first iPhone to have no charging port, though the company ultimately decided against this. Apple likely wouldn’t have been able to make this change anyways, due to European regulation.
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