iPhone 17 Air To Blow Away Apple’s Plus-Sized Ambitions

With the iPhone 16e out, all eyes are now awaiting Apple’s next-generation iPhones. Expected to be called the iPhone 17, the 2025 family is expected to bring four variants across various price points. The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max will continue to pamper all those who simply want the best that Apple has to offer – no compromises whatsoever! That’s hardly a surprise ever since the iPhones started using the Pro moniker. 

However, there has been a shuffle with the vanilla iPhone lineup. You see, the iPhone Plus hasn’t been a hit with audiences since its introduction in 2022. Apple’s decision to ditch the Mini iPhone in favour of a ‘maxi’ version didn’t pay benefits and hence, the marketing team at Apple got creative again. Instead of playing with the screen size this time, Apple’s R&D team has been cooking a slightly new formula – putting the iPhone on a diet. The result is what is expected to be called the iPhone 17 Air!

This ‘iPhone-on-a-diet’ formula has been hinted by veteran industry analysts and lately been confirmed with leaked dummy units. It seems that a lot rests on the iPhone 17 Air then, just like the slimness-centric Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge. 

What’s the hype around the iPhone 17 Air?

A lot, as it seems from the leaks. 

Apple’s obsession to make its iPhone slimmer stopped years ago after the infamous ‘bendgate’ scandal that hurt the iPhone 6. Eventually, the market demanded iPhones with better battery life and as a result, Apple ditched the pursuit of making its iPhones slimmer. In fact, newer iPhones have continued to gain weight!

But Apple needs to keep inventing! It needs to think differently! Hence, the tech gurus at Apple decided to axe the least popular variant of the iPhone – the iPhone 16 Plus. In its place, the iPhone 17 Air is expected to woo more people with a sleek new design! Everybody loves a slimmer phone – at least that’s what Apple assumes for now. 

ALSO READ: The Main Reason To Buy iPhone 16 Is Coming To India, Courtesy Apple Intelligence

Hence, based on inputs from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman and Sonny Dickson, a leakster, we have a fair idea of what to expect from the iPhone 17 Air. 

- A sleek new design that measures the thickness at just 5.5 mm. That’s a lot slimmer than the iPhone 6, which held the record for the slimmest Apple phone at 6.9 mm. 

- To prevent the recurrence of the ‘bendgate’ scandal, Apple restricted the screen size to 6.6 inches, thus ensuring superior structural rigidity. 

- There will be a camera hump, as expected. The hump appears to be substantial and since space is a constraint, Apple is likely to stick to a single rear camera sensor, just like the iPhone 16e. Hopefully, this one gets a superior image sensor and a sensor-shift stabilisation arrangement. 

- Despite the reduction in thickness, the rest of the layout is identical to existing iPhones. That means you get Apple’s new Camera Control key, dedicated buttons for volume control and power and a Dynamic Island on the display. 

Here’s your first look at the iPhone 17 dummies, Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/WnOjD71Iba

— Sonny Dickson (@SonnyDickson) March 16, 2025

- There were rumours of Apple ditching the USB-C charging port in pursuit of reducing the thickness further! However, the teams were unsure of taking such a bold step with this product and hence, the charging port was left untouched! If the iPhone 17 Air finds more takers, you can expect the iPhone 18 Air to ditch the charging port. Will MagSafe be the only reliable way to charge iPhones in the future?

- The specifications will be beefed up too. Similar to its previous-gen Plus predecessors, the iPhone 17 Air will stick to a ‘standard’ A19 chip rather than an A19 Pro chip. The display will be upgraded to a ProMotion one, thus bringing the luxury of 120Hz refresh rate to more people. The battery stamina is expected to be on par with other iPhone models, thus hinting at the use of a high-density silicon carbide battery. 

- Lastly, the price. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to carry a starting price of USD 900, thus keeping it in the same price range as the iPhone 16 Plus. Such a price along with the upgraded features should provide more incentives for people to consider the iPhone 17 Air over the regular iPhone 17.

What about the other iPhone 17 models?

Based on the leaked dummy images, the vanilla iPhone 17 seems identical to the iPhone 16. The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max gain a Poco-inspired rectangular camera hump, thus suggesting some serious upgrades to the camera sensors this year. 

ALSO READ: No MagSafe For iPhone 16e Because Apple Thinks Differently!