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iPhone 17 and 'iPhone 17 Air' Expected to Lack 5x Optical Zoom Lens

Parowdy said:
People want everything they can get. If you get a Pro and don’t have the Air features, software wise at least, people won’t be happy.
The market doesn’t change every year, the iPhone itself is a perfect example for that.
The 5c was a cheap shot at a „budget“ phone that didn’t work out. Last years phone in a worse housing is nothing anyone asked for and is not a feature. The Mini was a class in itself and not a feature phone, it was the same as the regular in smaller, it didn’t work out so Apple went the opposite direction and still is.
A phone twice as thick, with more processing power and something foldable on it would be a feature phone Apple won’t bother making for the time being, hand held gaming with iOS devices is definitely going ways but is nowhere where the RND for such a phone would seem feasible. Apple is not ROG.

I don’t see Apple developing hardware for only a single generation and not iterate on it for the next release of iPhones. So, I don’t see apple going the way of the feature phone and the 5c, Xr or SE don’t count as examples.
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I just want a phone with a screen smaller than 6.1”, light, no camera bump and with Touch ID on the power button (or under the screen).
They can call it Air, SE, Budget or whatever…
 
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MartyvH said:
The most plausible use of the thinness has got to be a foldable in the usual Apple way of creating something refined, a quality foldable phone that’s thin when folded unlike the Samsungs.

But then by now there would have been news of foldable parts from suppliers and analysts like Kuo.

The Air just makes no sense at all alongside the SE 4 and the non-Pro iPhones.
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If they make it too thin, it will be foldable indeed… the wrong way 😅
PsykX said:
I have noticed 2X produced a 12 MP photo which I expected because it is a crop from the 1X lens.

But I tested with 3X and 4X and they also produced a 12 MP photo, which didn't make sense to me.

I also thought it would just crop it, but this is not what happened.
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As far as I know, 1X to 2X shots are taken with the main 48 MP sensor, while from 2X to 5X are from the telephoto 12 MP sensor (over 5X are digitally zoomed)
 
Parowdy said:
So you want a better Pro with fewer cameras. That’s not a feature phone.
What are Pro features? Pro Motion, camera modi and the like, USB 3 speeds, a better chip and a couple things I haven’t think of right now.
What you want is a lighter non Pro phone, that’s not a feature phone.
And the RND won’t be feasible for Apple. I don’t see people wanting such a phone more than the Mini iPhones, and we know how that journey went.
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They already have different back designs for Pro and non-pro. I do not think sticking a previous/current gen Pro screen in it with a compact camera for a 3rd back design would require much DND. Other features that's now going into specifics... Which in theory would allow them to position it perfectly in the middle between regular and Pro.

But just to contemplate... Presently if Air was released for current generation I think iPhone 15Pro form factor (except thickness) with it's screen and materials (titanium) but updated hardware (with A18 Pro) and compact camera would make the most sense. It would be slimmer and smaller than 16Pro while still offering more features than regular 16.
 
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antonrg said:
6,6 inch is not an ultra portable phone, no matter how thin it is
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Sure it is. Thinness and lightness are where the portability comes from. No one wants tiny phones. Even if this comment gets 50 downvotes on the internet, it doesn't reflect the real world's desire for tiny phones.
 
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klasma said:
I wasn’t saying increase the number of models. The 17 Air will be replacing the 17 Plus, and they could have a differently oriented model each year in that slot.
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I would reorganize the entire thing as iPhone SE ($400), iPhone ($600), iPhone Air ($700), iPhone Pro ($800), iPhone Pro Max ($900).
 
Cirillo Gherardo said:
Sure it is. Thinness and lightness are where the portability comes from. No one wants tiny phones. Even if this comment gets 50 downvotes on the internet, it doesn't reflect the real world's desire for tiny phones.
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Depends on what you use it for. As someone who is very active - the last thing I need is a phablet whenI'm on the move. To me, portability does not mean thin and large. I wouldn't generalise if I were you, but if that makes you feel better, then that's fine by me. I still don't consider large screens (no matter how thin the device is) - portable.
 
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antonrg said:
Depends on what you use it for. As someone who is very active - the last thing I need is a phablet whenI'm on the move. To me, portability does not mean thin and large. I wouldn't generalise if I were you, but if that makes you feel better, then that's fine by me. I still don't consider large screens (no matter how thin the device is) - portable.
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I can generalize just fine because the handful of people who still want small phones only exist on the internet, and don't exist in enough volume in the real world to justify the product even existing.
 
Cirillo Gherardo said:
I can generalize just fine because the handful of people who still want small phones only exist on the internet, and don't exist in enough volume in the real world to justify the product even existing.
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In this case, if we use our assumptions to generalise, here is a real world trend (at least in Paris and its region): iPhones are not the most popular phones, 16 series is barely anywhere as of Dec 2024, on public transport you would see Plus phones as often as minis.

What you see is regular size models anywhere from 12 to 14 series. That's what you see in bulk when it comes to iPhones. Voilà.
 
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antonrg said:
In this case, if we use our assumptions to generalise, here is a real world trend (at least in Paris and its region): iPhones are not the most popular phones, 16 series is barely anywhere as of Dec 2024, on public transport you would see Plus phones as often as minis.

What you see is regular size models anywhere from 12 to 14 series. That's what you see in bulk when it comes to iPhones. Voilà.
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Well, we wont have sales data until January, but according to Tim Cook interview on the 1st November on CNBC, iPhone 16 demand was slightly higher than iPhone 15, which was higher than 14. So I would say iPhone 16 are a popular smartphone. We just don’t know which model sell better than the other, since Apple never disclose that data.
 
Cirillo Gherardo said:
Apple cancelling the iPhone mini immediately after its failed introduction and continually pushing toward larger and larger models is data enough for everyone.
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Still baseless assumptions. Apple cancelled the Mini after TWO generations, but without disclosing any number.
Several analysis pointed out something between 3-5% of the sales, which means MILLIONS of customers anyway.
It could be not enough for Apple to keep the model in their lineup, but cannot be dismissed as “no one wants a small iPhone”.
I’m an iPhone Pro Max user, but people have different needs.
 
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FlyingDutch said:
Still baseless assumptions. Apple cancelled the Mini after TWO generations, but without disclosing any number.
Several analysis pointed out something between 3-5% of the sales, which means MILLIONS of customers anyway.
It could be not enough for Apple to keep the model in their lineup, but cannot be dismissed as “no one wants a small iPhone”.
I’m an iPhone Pro Max user, but people have different needs.
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Within weeks of the launch of the 12 mini, information leaked from within Apple that it was considered failed launch and highly disappointing. The model was a 2 year bet, so it was going to be sold for a minimum of 2 generations anyway regardless of volume. But it was already known immediately after the 12 mini launch that the form factor had no future.

Apple has no problem keeping low volume products like HomePod, AirPods Max, and iPad mini in existence if there is any real interest in them. There is no market for small iPhones.
 
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FlyingDutch said:
Well, we wont have sales data until January, but according to Tim Cook interview on the 1st November on CNBC, iPhone 16 demand was slightly higher than iPhone 15, which was higher than 14. So I would say iPhone 16 are a popular smartphone. We just don’t know which model sell better than the other, since Apple never disclose that data.
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True, we don't know the exact details. I'm just speaking from experience of taking metro in Paris all the time and seeing almost no 16 with people and I know how to differentiate the models quickly
 
antonrg said:
True, we don't know the exact details. I'm just speaking from experience of taking metro in Paris all the time and seeing almost no 16 with people and I know how to differentiate the models quickly
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Quite hard to distinguish from a 15 Pro to a 16 Pro, especially with a case. Easier for the 16, since the camera setup is different, but I would say your Paris metro survey is not a very reliable report.
 
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