Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
The Regular iPhone 17 is Reportedly Proving Popular — Here's Why
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
As an aside, I think Apple are keeping the option of making the “iPhone air” ( NOT the “iPhone 17 air) a limited edition once-off.
Going by my logic, the “iPhone fold” or “iPhone anniversary” won’t be added as an extra phone to the existing line up, they’ll replace the air.
So, the range will be:
Budget ( currently 16e )
normal ( currently 17)
Pro (currently 17 pro)
Big pro (cutrent 17 pro max)
Limited edition ( currently iPhone air)
The range I’d already pretty wide, so they might just change the limited edition every year or two years, rather than widening the range. And they won’t be given numbers.
The plus for Apple is that the “limited editions” don’t need to sell we’ll, and they don’t have to take a public hit fir cancelling, because it’s limited edition to start with : “We’re not cancelling this product because it was always planned to be manufactured and sold only for this period”.
The good news is that it might mean a new mini one year, but it won’t be upgraded with chip bumps unless it’s a huge seller.
Last edited:
Nobody else here gets another important reason: the maximum price for the national subsidy (500 to 1,000 RMB) is 6,000 RMB.
Luckily I bought a 16 plus for my mother. Her vision is good so she needs a big phone with no compromises.
I would say Air is a Pioneer device. Apple is using it to pave its way for the folding iPhones while trying to innovate with an entirely new form factor.
$799 - iPhone 17 - 6.3" screen, 256 GB, dual camera, stereo speakers, good battery life
$999 - iPhone Air - 6.5" screen, 256 GB, single camera, mono speaker, middling battery life
$1099 - iPhone 17 Pro - 6.3" screen, 256 GB, triple camera, stereo speakers, very good battery life
The Air just seems like a bad value all around. In terms of value, IMO it's 17 > 17 Pro >> Air.
BTW, the Air is the first iPhone that has been released with just a mono speaker in a decade. Even the 16e is stereo.
$999 - iPhone Air - 6.5" screen, 256 GB, single camera, mono speaker, middling battery life
$1099 - iPhone 17 Pro - 6.3" screen, 256 GB, triple camera, stereo speakers, very good battery life
The Air just seems like a bad value all around. In terms of value, IMO it's 17 > 17 Pro >> Air.
BTW, the Air is the first iPhone that has been released with just a mono speaker in a decade. Even the 16e is stereo.
I pre-ordered the 17. It has the same screen as the Pro while being $300 less and 29 grams lighter. A no brainer (for me) while I await the folding iPhone.
The base iPhone 17 is basically the 16 Pro, with slightly inferior cameras (but still very good) and slower USB C transfer speeds and aluminium frame, but has slightly faster chip, much better front camera, higher peak brightness, better battery life and double the base storage. All for £799, absolutely incredible value for money and the best premium midrange phone on the market right now.
Better battery life than the Air.
Not as ugly as the Pro.
Not extortionately expensive, and has a decent spec.
Of the three new models, it seems the most compelling to me.
Not as ugly as the Pro.
Not extortionately expensive, and has a decent spec.
Of the three new models, it seems the most compelling to me.
I have a slightly off-topic question that I hope somebody can answer. If I enroll in Apple's Next Up (Upgrade) plan, does it still allow me to trade in my old phone every year for a reduced monthly payment, or does the monthly payment stay the same and they just recycle your trade in.
Hands down the best price/features iPhone released this year for the average user. Main reason I bought the pro phone historically was because of the display. That difference has been erased and I thank all the mid level Android competition, which have provided great displays at a lower price point, for this. Barely ever use the telephoto lens on the pro. Never used the 'Pro' photography and video formats. Never use LIDAR. The 17 is a great value this year for the average consumer. The Pro is now really for someone who wants those Pro features or nicer material choices in the frame.
With all due respect, who wrote this article? "Because of the screen"? and that's it?
People are talking everywhere about how the base iPhone 17 will be bought in mass.
Not a SINGLE reviewer/youtuber recommends either the pro or the air, just the base model.
Why? Because is almost identical (if not better) to any previous Pro iPhone. And nobody is talking about specific picky details so don't come at me telling me "But A19 pro..."
We should have a proper and way larger article about the benefits of the base model vs previous years and the EXTREME popularity the base iPhone will have this year.
People are talking everywhere about how the base iPhone 17 will be bought in mass.
Not a SINGLE reviewer/youtuber recommends either the pro or the air, just the base model.
Why? Because is almost identical (if not better) to any previous Pro iPhone. And nobody is talking about specific picky details so don't come at me telling me "But A19 pro..."
We should have a proper and way larger article about the benefits of the base model vs previous years and the EXTREME popularity the base iPhone will have this year.
I don't know why you are so convinced that the Air is going to be a limited edition since it's been presented as the way forward and certainly is the most innovative of the 3 models (I group the Pros together for the sake of simplicity). The only way it can become a "limited edition" is if it sells miserably and they decide to give up. If they wanted to brand it as a limited edition they would have said so.
Yes, it has 2 major potential issues: the battery and the camera. But...
If the battery manages to last around 18 hours on normal usage, that's enough. I would say that a battery that you have to consistently recharge over night is even preferable to one which lasts 36 hours and forces you to either recharge it around midday, every other day, or every night even if it's still around 40% (which is not good for the battery health). With small incremental advancements in battery technology, improvements in chips' energy efficiency and OS optimizations, it can really end up not being an issue after all.
The camera is another story, but not everyone wants a Pro camera (and not everyone who buys it really needs it...).
P.S.:
regarding the speaker... I'm gonna say, as long as they are good for receiving calls, I welcome the return of mono speakers, because the recent trend of music blasted in public spaces or live voice calls when it's not necessary is absolutely despicable!
Last edited:
Storage price isn't the only thing that adds to the cost of the phone obviously. The vapor chamber, the better camera's, the separate chip every year, bigger batteries, ...
It's literally not catching up if every year it gets last years innovations of the pro. It's staying exactly where it was: one year behind with one less camera.
Well, yes, it'll be a year behind.
You can be damn sure they made that decision based on a LOT of data that tells them exactly how many people are willing to pay that, how many sales they'll lose and how many more they can make by the price increase and where the exact sweet spot lies. From their perspective it's definitely not a mistake.
People buying the pro are just beta testing future versions of the regular iPhone without their knowledge.
I really can’t fathom why Apple thinks the air isn’t just going to be another failure like the mini phones. It’s even more compromised than they were
Why is the battery compromised? It’s basically the same battery performance as in iPhone 16 PRO…
And who cares about stereo speakers? Is the 10 cm stereo separation that important to you? Mono can still go loud if that’s your concern.
Mono iDevices suck for sound. The sound quality is worse and it always sounds like it’s coming from one side of the screen in landscape mode, because it is.