The iPhone 17 Air is promising to bring some major changes to Apple’s flagship series with a slimmed down design that doesn’t sacrifice impressive specs. After the disappointing iPhone 12 Mini back in 2020, Apple took on the ‘bigger is better’ mentality by introducing the Plus model, but the iPhone 17 Air looks to be changing things up once again.
A new rumor suggests the iPhone 17 Air is coming with a slimline redesign similar to that of the iPhone X, expected after the introduction of the iPhone 16 in September. The iPhone 17 Air is reported to have a smaller screen and an aluminium chassis, with the same chipset as the iPhone 17 base model. Apple seemingly intends for the Air to sit somewhere between the standard model and the iPhone 17 Pro, in the hope that its slender design proves to be a profit-boosting selling point.
So, if you want something with a little more oomph than the standard iPhone model, but don’t necessarily need all the bells, whistles, and heftier price tag of the Pro, then the iPhone 17 Air should sit comfortably between the two. It might seem like a leap of faith, but it’s nice to see some push for growth even from the industry leaders, and we fully expect the iPhone 17 to sit comfortably in our picks for the best 5G phones when it arrives.
Mark Gurman, the Bloomberg analyst who revealed these rumors, also went on to say that he expects this slim version of the iPhone 17 to be far more successful than the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 Mini models. It seems as though Apple is keen to find a middle ground for consumers, and it’ll be interesting to see exactly what it plans on packing into the iPhone 17 Air to set the model apart from others.
It also makes us wonder whether Apple intends on sunsetting the Plus models, in the same way it did away with the Minis when it last made a significant line-up change. It’s safe to assume the Pro Max models will stick around, due in part to them being the best gaming iPhones, but the Air is expected to hold enough weight, despite its smaller stature, to hold its own as part of Apple’s 2025 iPhone 17 series.