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iPhone 17 Air Said to Feature Titanium Frame — Unlike iPhone 17 Pro
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Meanwhile I never destroyed any of my many Apple aluminum devices.
Its also a marketing term, and just like with from factors they will take the one you like away every few years so it can make its triumphant return a few years later. And yest, I am not talking about the 0,00000001% that buys a new phone every year to come on here and post or create YouTube videos about. I am talking about normal people that use their phone for four plus years.
I bettcha they will make some recycling claim on the aluminum to up talk the marketing value.
More and more convinced in keeping my iPhone 14 Pro for yet another year. Never had gone over 2 years with the same iPhone since iPhone 4S — now it will be doubled to 4 years 
That’s a bummer. I’d rather have a lighter phone. I don’t bend it as I never put it in my back pocket and I’m careful with my phones.
They’ll be referring to it as “Aerospace-grade” ergo I don’t think they expect consumers to consider it “non-pro”.
"It is unclear why the iPhone 17 Air would have a titanium frame, as aluminum is lighter than titanium, which would be fitting for the device's rumored ultra-thin and lightweight design.
That's pretty easy, Titanium has a higher strength to weight ratio than aluminum, you need less of it to be equally strong
That's pretty easy, Titanium has a higher strength to weight ratio than aluminum, you need less of it to be equally strong
I want an iPhone Earth, the total opposite of the Air: thick enough for no camera bump, with a commensurate increase in battery capacity.
All the people who don't like burning money for the sake of burning money. All of these phones are already at a premium, if someone prefers a thinner and lighter phone it doesn't mean they also don't want to prevent their device from easily breaking, they still benefit from size and weight reduction.
Yeah lot of misinformation from all the marketing speak, JerryRig and others have done good vdieos pointing out how little titanium was really used. It was always a blend of aluminum and titanium - the chasis is aluminum with an outer layer of titanium overlayed on parts of it.
Apple marketing talks of a titanium design but doesn't say the frame is actually titanium because it isn't.
100% - with the charging case to add on to make up for the lack of battery it's not going to be very 'airy'
I seriously doubt more than a few percentage of Air users will use any case including a battery one. The few that buy a battery case will probably put it on for isolated situations. A person that buys the Air says "being thin is so important to me that I am willing to give up other attributes to get it". Such a person won't ruin the very thing that matters most to them.
"It took a lot of courage to remove the titanium on the pro models, but we at apple know what is best for our pros, and we know you will love it."-Tim Cook on stage announcing the 17 line.
The titanium frame is not where most of the heat is dissipated in the titanium pros. The heat mostly goes to the back panel (and maybe the screen?). The 15/16 pros have an aluminum inner frame with a thin titanium shell bonded to the edges of the aluminum frame. It is a composite and if the frame is doing any heat dissipation, it would go through the inner aluminum frame.
The rumored iPhone 17 Air will have a titanium frame, according to Apple analyst Jeff Pu.
In an investor note with equity research firm GF Securities this week, Pu also said the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max will have aluminum frames, so the iPhone 17 Air will apparently be the only new model to use titanium.
It is unclear why the iPhone 17 Air would have a titanium frame, as aluminum is lighter than titanium, which would be fitting for the device's rumored ultra-thin and lightweight design. Titanium is generally stronger than aluminum, however, so perhaps the material is necessary to ensure that the iPhone 17 Air's thin chassis is durable.
Last year, another Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the iPhone 17 Air's frame would use both titanium and aluminum, so there could be a mix of both materials. Apple surely has its reasons, and it may discuss them during its iPhone 17 event in September.
Since the iPhone X in 2017, all of Apple's highest-end iPhone models have featured either stainless steel or titanium frames, so the return to an aluminum frame for the iPhone 17 Pro models this year would be a notable change.
Here is what Pu expects:
Here are the materials used for the iPhone 16 series:
- iPhone 17: Aluminum frame
- iPhone 17 Air: Titanium frame
- iPhone 17 Pro: Aluminum frame
- iPhone 17 Pro Max: Aluminum frame
- iPhone 16: Aluminum frame
- iPhone 16 Plus: Aluminum frame
- iPhone 16 Pro: Titanium frame
- iPhone 16 Pro Max: Titanium frame
Article Link: iPhone 17 Air Said to Feature Titanium Frame — Unlike iPhone 17 Pro
Apple essentially will be ripping people off for the PRO models this year! Not only will it not be in a Titanium Case, it won't even be in th e stainless steel that we had before! It will be the cheap Aluminum.
I feel that should make my current iPhone 16 Pro Max very valuable with a highter resell vaulue this year! But since Apple will be driving the pricing, I bet they don't offer anymore than they have in the past... but it will be interesting to see what the market drives... meaning what people will be selling them for on eBay!
This is a LOW BLOW I feel! and I'm not happy with the stupid rear design! A bigger Bump?! Dumb! and how are you supposed to protect that? Should b interesting to see the what the case makers do!?!
For several different reasons I just went from a 11 to a 16PM instead of waiting for the new 17PM (MASSIVE QUALITY OF LIFE IMPROVEMENT/UPGRADE) and its been about 2 weeks and yeah the weight is something to get used to. I will say though, I suspect Apple is doing this for several different reasons:
1) The price of titanium has jumped quite a bit the past few years, whereas aluminum has a lot of peaks and valleys, but it is far cheaper.
2) Even though I guess the 16PM would have been the "S" generation phone for the Pro line, this new one feels like a transitional phone of sorts.
3) Obviously taking the shine from the Pros and putting it on the new product could make it more attractive to customers.
So with the Air, it definitely makes sense to use titanium as I was one of the people wondering about its durability. The Galaxy S25 Edge uses titanium also, and from my understanding hasn't had any issues. Apple probably expects the Pro to still be their main seller, but still have high hopes for the Air to sell fairly well. At this point the only dealbreaker for them would have to be only having on camera, and if they raise the price to over $900. If it sticks to $900 I think they got something good.
1) The price of titanium has jumped quite a bit the past few years, whereas aluminum has a lot of peaks and valleys, but it is far cheaper.
2) Even though I guess the 16PM would have been the "S" generation phone for the Pro line, this new one feels like a transitional phone of sorts.
3) Obviously taking the shine from the Pros and putting it on the new product could make it more attractive to customers.
So with the Air, it definitely makes sense to use titanium as I was one of the people wondering about its durability. The Galaxy S25 Edge uses titanium also, and from my understanding hasn't had any issues. Apple probably expects the Pro to still be their main seller, but still have high hopes for the Air to sell fairly well. At this point the only dealbreaker for them would have to be only having on camera, and if they raise the price to over $900. If it sticks to $900 I think they got something good.
That’s not a very compelling reason given that they’ve steered us towards titanium for two years in a row. They need to keep premium materials for premium devices.