Next Year's Slim iPhone 17 Could Be an 'iPhone Air'

[klasma]

This only makes sense if it does away with all external connectors.

I think it’s more likely they drop MagSafe charging (which also necessitates the glass back) in order to achieve the thinness.

 

[iFunk]

When I read headlines like this I think back to my 20+ years in the cellular industry. I remember when Verizon Wireless launched the Moto Q and the first video showed how thin it was. They compared it to a pencil laying flat on the table. I guess innovative for that time lol.

I wish I could find the commercial I was thinking of comparing it to a pencil lol. The cellular industry went from big phones to really small phones to tablets aka "phablets" to thin phones with big screens to now that will be ultra thin!

Commercial I found:

 

[klasma]

I love the people in these threads that think they know more about market needs/wants than the third most valuable company in the world.

I guess that’s why the iPhone mini and Plus were so successful.

 

[Seamaster]

“iPhone Air - it’s our thinnest iPhone ever… but rest assured our profit margins for it won’t be… and we think you’re going to love it!”

- Tim

"We couldn't be more excited etc etc etc... [repeat annually ad nauseam]"

 

[iFunk]

I think we know where we will end up with the race to thinness.
View attachment 2405230

Ha I was thinking the same but Zoolander! -

 

[blairh]

This is long overdue. The innovation to see smartphones evolve into very thin and light devices has been needed for quite some time now.

(Most) people want thin and light smartphones. We hold them in our hands for long periods. We (often) carry them in our front pockets. There are massive benefits to making a smartphone that is crazy thin and light.

iPhone Air is the perfect name as well. Eventually this crazy thin and light framework will also come to the Pro and non-Pro iPhones as well in due time. This will be the the first example and set the way forward.

2025 lineup:

iPhone 17
iPhone 17 Air
iPhone 17 Pro
iPhone 17 Pro Max

Makes sense to me. Only question becomes how much will the Air price start at? I suspect the price could be $1,099. Exactly between the starting prices of the 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max.

 

[Chuckeee]

I mean, do they? Isn't the whole point that the Plus and Mini sold poorly and Apple hasn't been able to come up with a "fourth option" that sells as well as the others? I don't think they'd keep changing what the fourth option was if they considered it a success. Maybe they'll really knock it out of the park this time with the iPhone Air. But so far, they haven't come up with a "killer" fourth iPhone model. I don't think it's unreasonable to be skeptical. Personally, I hope it succeeds, because I'm one of those people who thinks the Pro models have gotten a bit thick and heavy and would like to see them slimmed down. This could be the beginning of that trend.

I don’t think it’s just that they had poor sales. I think the real issue is market share. It’s not that people were buying enough iPhone mini or iPhone plus, It was that they were buying them instead of a different iPhone. I think that is what Apple is chasing with this new iPhone Air.

 

[Bigg Macc]

Me thinks this thin air phone will be a two-year stepping stone to a flip.

A flip will give mini lovers a small pocket friendly size and will allow Apple to charge big bucks. Win win.

Two birds, one stone.

 

[n-evo]

The more I hear about this phone the less sense it makes.

It kinda seems like a public proof of concept? Maybe in an attempt to make the iPhone “sexy” again.

 

[sos47]

iPhone is too iconic a name. And how would they rename iCloud?

Apple Cloud or „AC“
like they named „AI“

 

[mansplains]

It better be thicker and heavier than the iPhone 17 Pro like the iPad lineup or I'm out

 

[macduke]

Apple really wants iPhone customers to be as confused as iPad customers when it comes to buying a new phone.

I get why they’re making it though: you gotta get the tech stack really thin before you can make it into a foldable. Apple would never release a chonky foldable. What I want to know is will it fit a USB-C port? Lightning was thinner.

 

[98winds]

Thin, slim, light... that was the last iteration of the iPod Touch. With a larger screen, play with words to name this new smartphone. How many would say "I want this"?

 

[anthogag]

iPhone Air is a good name for an iPhone where thin and light is the primary design goal.

Then it's iPhone, iPhone Air, iPhone Pro,..., & iPhone Ultra for Watch Ultra users

 

[mazz0]

I don’t want slim*! I want thick enough that they can do a Mini with decent battery life, and no camera bump!

*actually I do want slim, just not at the price it currently comes at.

 

[ab2c4]

I wouldn't be surprised if this first thin "air" model has heat issues.

 

[Radeon85]

The 5 mm M4 iPad Pro is robust enough, and the iPhone Slim will hardly be thinner.

But you can't put an iPad in the back pocket and sit on it which I've noticed a lot of people do, particularly women. So it's easy enough to snap one.

 

[klasma]

But you can't put an iPad in the back pocket and sit on it which I've noticed a lot of people do, particularly women. So it's easy enough to snap one.

I’m holding an M4 iPad Pro in my hands right now, trying to bend it, and I have a hard time imagining snapping a much smaller phone (much smaller lever) with the same resiliance by sitting on it.

 

[Radeon85]

Bet Apple thought that when they made the iPhone 6.

 

[maverick2007]

Now I can relate to Buffett's exit from Apple stock! No direction, no innovation ... selling the same sh#@t by changing wrapper..... seriously? Apple where are you heading?????

 

[Biro]

I want more battery life than this would allow!!!

Not only that… I don’t want the unnecessary features and higher price of the Pro and Pro Max. The Plus was just right me. So of course Apple will discontinue it.

 

[femike]

And with a camera bump that is twice the height.

 

[dampfnudel]

I think we still need some more pieces to this iPhone 17 “Air” mystery puzzle. It doesn’t make sense. This iPhone will basically be the iPhone 17 with a thinner frame, smaller Dynamic Island, a different looking camera lens cluster or single camera and cost more than the 17 and less than the 17 Pro/Pro Max which will basically look the same as the 16 Pro/Pro Max??? The lineup for next year sounds a little weird. So either Tim is just plain crazy or he’s crazy like a fox. We’ll see next year.

 

[bigheaddoug]

When I first heard rumors about this phone, I honestly thought "slim" meant left-to-right, not front-to-back. I was trying to imagine an iPhone shaped like an AppleTV remote. 😜

 

[dampfnudel]

The iPad Air line lacks ProMotion which means the iPhone Air will like lose out on that too. It's one of those features that really should be on everything now, but Apple very astutely holds it back from anything but the most expensive models, because for those of us who care, it's a dealbreaker not to have it. Most of my family just can't tell but I won't go without it on an iDevice which means I'm stuck paying for the Pros.

I thought the iPhone 17 will get ProMotion based on the rumors. If this iPhone “Air” is positioned above the 17, it will get ProMotion.