TL;DR
- Apple is placing a big bet on the iPhone 17 Air to revive the company’s sales.
- To achieve higher sales, the company wants to price the iPhone 17 Air lower than the iPhone 17 Pro.
It has been long since the Cupertino-based tech giant Apple reportedly started working on the “iPhone 17 Air,” an iPhone with the goodness of Apple Intelligence but the thickness of the newly-launched M4 iPad Pro. Now, a report sheds some light on where the company will place the iPhone in its tight lineup.
iPhone 17 Air Could Revive Apple’s Sales
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Apple is placing a big bet on the iPhone 17 Air to revive the company’s sales. Over the last few years, the non-Pro iPhones haven’t been received well in the market, primarily due to the lack of new features and incremental updates in each model.
Citing information from a CNN report published on September 30, 2024, the iPhone 16 series didn’t do as well as Apple wanted it to; the company sold 12% fewer units when compared to the iPhone 15 launch. Out of the four new devices launched, the baseline iPhone 16 (review) and the iPhone 16 Plus did the best, better than the iPhone 16 Pro models.
iPhone 17 Air Could Be The First iPhone To Come Out With A New Design Since 2022
To put things into perspective, the iPhone 17 Air will be the first new iPhone the company has launched since the iPhone 14 Plus came out in 2022. Most recently, Apple unveiled the M4 iPad Pro model, which, despite having large screens and one of the most powerful processors on a tablet ever, featured a thinner side profile than most tablets out there.
While reducing the thickness might not have won the iPads as many accolades as it should have, it might work wonders for the iPhone, as the product has a higher adoption rate than other devices in the company’s portfolio. The iPhone 17 Air will feature exceptionally thin sides, particularly compared to the current-generation iPhones, which are about 8mm thick.
Also Read: Top 14 Smartphones Launches of 2025: From Galaxy S25 Series to iPhone 17 Series, & More
Apple Could Place The iPhone 17 Air Below The Pro Models
The report also adds how Apple is planning to place the iPhone 17 Air below the iPhone 17 Pro. In order to achieve this, the former could ship with a simplified camera system that contains only one sensor (albiet with a 48MP sensor). This will help the company reduce the manufacturing cost of the iPhone 17 Air.
Previous reports suggested that Apple engineers faced some trouble placing a regular iPhone’s components into a thinner chassis. Hence, keeping the essential components might be the new strategy that the company has adopted. Moreover, the company aims to keep the thickness of the iPhone 17 Air under or around 6mm.
Also Read: Choosing Between iQOO 13 and realme GT 7 Pro: My Experience
Apple’s Foldable Devices Could Arrive By 2027
In addition to the iPhone 17 Air, the report also mentions some bits about Apple’s purported foldable devices: a flip-style iPhone with a bigger screen than the Pro Max models and a larger foldable device that unfolds into a 19-inch screen.
While the former will compete with the mainstream foldables, the latter will push the foldable laptop market, which isn’t too popular at the moment. The foldable devices were supposed to arrive in 2026, but they might be delayed until 2027.
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Interesting to see the price difference between the iPhone 17 Air and iPhone 17 Pro. While the new iPhones offer great features, it's always a good idea to be prepared for potential system issues. TunesKit iOS System Recovery is a helpful tool that can fix a range of iOS problems, such as boot loops and software glitches, without data loss.