The iPhone 17 Air has appeared in all sorts of reports for about half a year. There’s no question Apple will launch its slimmest iPhone to date this fall, including it in the iPhone 17 series. We’ve been getting an increasing number of reports detailing the handset, including leaks featuring dummy units.
Using the iPhone 16 Plus and 16 Pro Max made the thought of a slimmer iPhone with a large display more appealing to me. These are the first 6.7-inch and 6.9-inch iPhones I actually used as daily drivers for weeks in my long history of using iPhones. I loved the larger displays, but both of them are too bulky.
I’m ready to get the iPhone 17 Air even though the ultra-slim phone will come with compromises. But those compromises might not be as massive as one would expect.
Mark Gurman detailed the iPhone 17 Air design and specs in a new report, stressing the redesigned iPhone’s importance. Apple isn’t just trying something new after the iPhone mini and iPhone Plus sizes flopped. The iPhone 17 Air will debut key technologies that Apple will use in future models, including the upcoming foldable iPhone and iPhones without ports.
Gurman says in his Power On newsletter that Apple wanted the iPhone 17 Air to feature a 6.9-inch screen, but ultimately settled on a 6.6-inch display to prevent bending issues.
More interesting is the detail concerning the USB-C port. Apple wanted to make a port-free iPhone 17 Air this year. The device would charge wirelessly. That’s how it would move data. However, Apple ultimately decided against removing the port. The potential backlash from regulators, like the EU, was one of the main reasons for postponing the plan.
However, if the iPhone 17 Air is successful with buyers, Apple plans to make a port-free iPhone in the future. In such a scenario, more iPhones would also get the ultra-slim treatment.
Gurman also listed various specs for the iPhone 17 Air that match what we’ve heard before:
- 6.6-inch display with slim bezels like the iPhone 16 Pro
- 120Hz refresh rate (ProMotion)
- standard Dynamic Island cutout
- A19 chip
- C1 modem
- single 48-megapixel camera on the back
- no physical SIM slot
- Camera Control button
Gurman seems to imply that the phone is made of aluminum. That would be a strange choice, considering that the iPhone 17 Air would still need to support wireless charging, MagSafe included. Dummy units already indicate that the phone will support MagSafe.
Speaking of the iPhone 17 Air battery, I would’t be angry with lower battery life from an ultra-slim phone. But Gurman says Apple might compromise on camera, 5G connectivity, and the physical SIM, but the battery life is a priority. Apple supposedly wants battery life as good as the current iPhones:
But the inner workings of the phone, code-named D23, represents a herculean effort by several Apple teams. 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.
As a reminder, the iPhone 16 phones have much better battery life than their predecessors. Also, the iPhone 16e features terrific battery life, with the C1 chip being a key component for the improved efficiency in this 6.1-inch model.
Also, let’s not forget the rumors that Apple will adopt new battery technologies, including silicon-carbon and solid-state batteries, in future iPhones. Maybe some of these innovations will come to the iPhone as soon as this year.
Gurman also notes the price of the iPhone 17 Air, saying the phone should retail for about $900, or about as much as the current iPhone 16 Plus.
Finally, the Bloomberg reporter said something I long believed about the iPhone 17 Air. The ultra-slim device will be critical for Apple’s foldable iPhone coming in 2026. The iPhone Fold “would take advantage of the Air’s battery, display, modem and chip advances.”
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