iPhone 17 Air rumors: the sacrifices Apple is making to get it so thin
Apple's ultra-thin iPhone is rumored to be cutting out features in the name of thinness - here's what's reportedly on the chopping block
📱 Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 17 Air later this year
🤏 The phone will be Apple’s thinnest to date, but achieving that takes a lot of work
❌ Some features will be downgraded, while others will be completely removed
👀 Here are the sacrifices Apple is reportedly making to make the iPhone 17 Air so thin
Apple is making a super-thin phone, but it needs to take a few different routes than it’s used to in order to make it right. The iPhone 17 Air has been rumored for quite some time as the successor to the iPhone 16 Plus, but instead of just being a larger version of the iPhone 17, it’ll be the thinnest iPhone Apple has ever shipped.
We’ve seen a lot of renders, dummy units, and images that give us an idea of what the iPhone 17 Air will look like. Compared to the rest of the lineup, this phone will be extremely thin - 5.5mm, to be exact. But in order to get to that thickness, Apple needs to leave some features on the cutting room floor, while scaling back some of the specs at the same time. Apple is also expected to include new, much thinner internals that could wind up in next year’s iPhone Fold.
It’s clear that the reason to buy the iPhone 17 Air will be for the form factor, but the question on many people’s minds is what you have to sacrifice in order to have the thinnest iPhone ever. As it turns out, there are a number of things you’ll need to live with, at least according to the rumors. Here’s what we’ve heard so far.
📸 A single rear camera
The biggest glaring omission on the iPhone 17 Air are extra cameras on the back. The phone is rumored to come with just one 48MP sensor housed in a huge camera bump, and that’s it. There will of course be an LED flash, but if you’re looking to take an ultra-wide photo of a landscape or zoom in without losing detail with a telephoto lens, you’re out of luck. We saw Apple give the iPhone 16e a single camera earlier this year, so it’s not out of the ordinary at this point. But considering it’ll be a more expensive phone than the dual-camera-equipped iPhone 17, it could be a dealbreaker for some.
🔋 A small battery (that we pray isn’t actually small)
The physical size of the iPhone 17 Air won’t allow for a big battery. That’s why the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max will grow in size and get a bit thicker this year. But so far, every rumor suggests the 17 Air will opt for a smaller cell than what we’ve seen on the most recent iPhones, likely landing around 3,500mAh or so.
That being said, we’ve also seen reports that Apple could use a denser, silicone-carbon battery technology that will allow for higher capacity at a physically smaller size. We saw OnePlus use this technology in the OnePlus 13 series, with the compact OnePlus 13T featuring a huge 6,260mAh cell. If Apple uses this technology, the battery could wind up being pretty big, at least larger than 3,500mAh. Let’s hope that that’s the case – otherwise, battery life might suck on this phone.
🔊 Worse speakers
Apple might only include one speaker on the iPhone 17 Air: the earpiece. Rumors suggest there isn’t enough room to keep the bottom-firing driver, so the company will eliminate the bottom speaker entirely as a result. If you crank up your iPhone’s volume now, you’d notice that the earpiece can get pretty loud, but it’s certainly not as loud as having an extra speaker to pair it with. You might want to stick to using headphones with your 17 Air if you want the best listening experience.
🛜 No mmWave 5G
While it isn’t necessarily a huge deal, not having mmWave 5G support on a 2025 flagship phone is a bit strange. Apple’s iPhone 17 Air is expected to use the company’s C1 modem for connecting to 5G. It was used in the iPhone 16e and runs more efficiently than previous modems Apple has used, but it only supports sub-6GHz connections and not the lighting-quick mmWave technology. The rest of the iPhone 17 lineup will likely come with it, so if you want to have the latest and greatest in 5G, the 17 Air won’t likely be for you.
💰 A higher price than iPhone 17
These sacrifices will reportedly come despite the iPhone 17 Air price being higher than the iPhone 17’s. Apple is rumored to charge around $900-$1,000 for this phone, which is around $100-$200 more than we expect the iPhone 17 price to be. Sure, you’re paying for the thinnest iPhone ever, but at the end of the day, the experience needs to feel worthy of a high asking price. One camera, a small battery, limited 5G, and worse speakers aren’t what we’re used to seeing from a pricey iPhone, so the slim form factor will have to be high on your priority list.
📱 iPhone 17 Air coverage continues
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Max Buondonno is an editor at The Shortcut. He’s been reporting on the latest consumer technology since 2015, with his work featured on CNN Underscored, ZDNET, How-To Geek, XDA, TheStreet, and more. Follow him on X @LegendaryScoop and Instagram @LegendaryScoop.