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Some YouTube douchebags will still try their best to make the iPhone air the next bendgate anyway. May as well release both sizes.
I look forward to seeing lots of videos where people put it in their back jeans pocket, sit down heavily and then react to it being bent.
 
Ummm, it’s aluminum. iPhone 17 Air WILL bend with the right pressure.

I'm surprised that they can't engineer a super-thin device that doesn't bend very easily. The tech exists. Maybe aluminum is not the best material as devices get thinner? Maybe it needs to be supported by another alloy?
 
while not a direct replacement for 13mini, maybe lots of people are upgrading to 16e from it since the store has seen a couple re-stocks of refurbished units.

It is the 'cheapest' current iPhone, and the next '(S)E' coming from SE1/2/3.

I'm not saying its a stellar option, its an expensive gutted iPhone 16, features and form factor / same size but.
I have no desire for a "cheaper" phone. I absolutely want a smaller phone.

I upgraded with every model from the 3G through the 6. ABSOLUTELY HATED the 6, & as soon as the SE came out bought one. Then a 2nd SE, then a 3rd SE until the 12 mini came out. Only went with that bigger phone because the SE was being orphaned & wanted a better camera. Upgraded again to a 13 mini, & am now on my 2nd 13 mini (I abuse my phones), & I'm going to stick with the 13 mini until we get another small form factor phone, or this one gets orphaned by the OS again.

Really, the 5S was peak iPhone design. Give us one that size w/ a bezel free design & the latest & greatest hardware & I'll buy one for me, and each of my family members on day one.

When I want a giant screen, I pull out my iPad Mini that is always in my shoulder bag.
 
Is titanium out of fashion or something?
Titanium is about 67% heavier than aluminum, and Apple wants the 17 Air to be both thin and light. Apple may need to make some parts of the 17 Air's aluminum housing thicker than in their titanium iPhone housings to compensate for the lesser strength of aluminum, but on balance it may still be lighter than if they'd used titanium.
 


Apple prototyped a larger ultra-slim iPhone 17 Air with a 6.9-inch display, but ultimately decided not to go ahead with the device because of fears that it could be susceptible to bending, according to a new report.

Bent-iPhone-Air-Feature.jpg

Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, writing in his latest Power On newsletter:
Earlier this month, we reported on a rumor out of China claiming that the iPhone 17 Air shares the same dimensions as the iPhone 17 Pro Max, with the only difference being in the thickness of the devices. It's quite possible the rumor had its origins in Apple's canned prototype.

Corroborating rumors indicate that the iPhone 17 Air that Apple will launch in September will feature a 6.6-inch display with 120Hz ProMotion support, a Dynamic Island, an A19 chip, a single 48-megapixel rear camera, and Apple's custom-made C1 modem. Gurman has been told that the device may start at roughly $899 in the U.S., which is the same price point as the iPhone 16 Plus that the ultra-thin device is believed to be replacing in Apple's smartphone lineup.

Article Link: Apple Canned Larger iPhone 17 Air Model Over Fears of Bendgate 2.0
Why not use titanium and put a 0.5 mm ridge in a "T" inside the back plate?
 
still don't know why anyone would want this. didntwe learn with the iPhone 6?
Sure, Apple redesigned the housing to be stronger, and they also switched from the 6000 series aluminum used in the iPhone 6, to the stronger 7000 series, then stainless steel for the higher-end models starting with the iPhone X, though they switched to "aerospace-grade aluminum", which is a modified 6000 series aluminum that's supposedly stronger than the stock 6000, starting with the iPhone 12 and 12 mini, and Apple has continued using that in the lower-end iPhones while they also used stainless steel for the higher-end models, until they switched to titanium for the higher-end models starting with the 15 Pro and Pro Max.
 
You know what looks more futuristic? The iPhone 3gs.

It's got a flush camera without any bulge at all, a home button, a headphone jack, no idiotic pill/notch, the BEAUTIFUL iOS 6, comfortable edges on a nice plastic back, and it's so rugged that it doesn't even need a case.

Now if it just had a bigger screen and a faster processor.
Remind me, how good was the camera? It was trash, even compared to its competitors of the time. And frankly the 3g was *******. The 4 and 5 were far better in terms of design.

I’ll live with a bump if it means I get a lighter device and better functionality out of the camera.
 
I mentioned the same concern last month and some fanboy said I was talking nonsense. Well here you go...from the horse's mouth.
 
Even with the current rumoured screen size, I fear such a thing can happen. Hopefully that will not be the case and the build quality is good.
 
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Why would you make a "thin and light" phone that's got a larger screen than the base model?

They should have made this 5.8" or even 6" amd it would have been perfect
Because it'd feel like the Mini, a more portable device, and that's not what they're going for.
They want ultralight as premium and special, a big screen that doesn't feel like a brick.
 
Because it'd feel like the Mini, a more portable device, and that's not what they're going for.
They want ultralight as premium and special, a big screen that doesn't feel like a brick.
The mini has a 5.4" display. Would feel more like a slightly bigger iPhone XS
 
The mini has a 5.4" display. Would feel more like a slightly bigger iPhone XS
Didn't mean in terms of dimensions, just as a product.
I'm taking a guess, of course... I think they don't want it to be perceived as the "baby" iPhone like the Mini was because the specs say it's smaller. Bragging about lightweight could be more effective if it also gives you a bigger screen.
 
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