If no one fixes it, Apple will present the iPhone 17 in September. A new series of its flagship product which this year will include a new range for the company: the iPhone 17 Air. It is a device from which we expect a revolutionary design, but due to its characteristics and its price it can already be described as strange.
And, although Apple hasn't announced it, we've known about it for months thanks to leaks. For example, we already know that will be the replacement for the 'Plus' range and it is precisely the act of taking on this role that adds more incentives so that we do not stop classifying it as “strange”.
Some context needed for the iPhone 17 Air
As our colleague Javier Lacort pointed out in Xataka, Apple was taken by surprise for years with “the fourth iPhone”. It was in 2017 that we first saw three devices. The two that were in historical order, the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, then a special iPhone X commemorating the tenth anniversary of this range.
This continued in 2018 and 2019, but in 2020 we saw something unprecedented: a fourth iPhone. In this case, the iPhone 12 mini. Apple wanted to check if this nostalgia for small phones translated into good sales and… Well… The “mini” passed without pain or glory despite the fact that in 2021 they would repeat with the iPhone 13 mini .
The trend was towards larger and larger mobile phones, which is why Apple released an iPhone 14 Plus in 2022. On paper, this made a lot of sense, given that it allowed enthusiastic users of large mobile phones to 'have an iPhone this size. without having to opt for a “Pro Max” with what that means in terms of price. However, it turned out to be average.
Neither the iPhone 15 Plus nor the very recent iPhone 16 Plus seem to have supplanted the previous ones. Users continue to mainly opt for the “Pro” range or, failing that, for the standard model. Aware of this, Apple therefore wishes to take a new step in 2025.
An iPhone More what is not Morebut that's not the case Proand it is not either standard
Concept render of the iPhone 17 Air (Image: MacRumors)
This description seems strange for the still-unreleased iPhone 17 Air, but despite this, it may be the most accurate definition. At least based on what we now know about this device. And in the leaks it appears as a terminal that It's really more of a sort of big iPhone SE 4 (if the iPhone SE 4 ends up being what we think, which seems to be the case).
To get to the point, the iPhone 17 Air should stand out fundamentally for being a device which, despite its 6.5-inch screen (with 120 Hz by the way), will be extremely thin. So much so that it would become the thinnest iPhone in history with only 6.3 millimeters thick. To give this number some context, remember that the iPhone 16 Plus is 7.8 millimeters thick.
However, for technical reasons The iPhone 17 Air aims to be equal and even inferior to the standard iPhone 17. Despite its refined design and its expected good quality screen, it would only have a single camera sensor on the back and a battery which, given its thin design, could even be lower than that of its small brother.
Yes, it is true that this single camera is intended to be a latest generation Sony sensor with 48 megapixels and capable of providing good results, but not only would it lose the exclusive telephoto lens of the “Pro”, but it would not even have the ultra wide angle that standard iPhones have boasted for years. At least, and I'll share this with this other one, it will have an A19 chip. It won't be the A19 Pro, but it doesn't look bad at all.
What makes Apple's attempt to succeed with the fourth iPhone stranger is that It would be priced similar (and even a bit higher) to the “Plus”. And all this despite the fact that, as we see, its hardware will not be better than that of the iPhone 17.
Although making assumptions about its nine-month sales seems crazy, the fact remains that it seems controversial. Especially when the reason for that price increase is due to a design innovation that, as meritorious and applaudable as it may be, no one asked for. Therefore, in the absence of definitive knowledge, this is already the strangest iPhone Apple has ever released. At least in recent years (hello, iPhone 5c).
Cover image | Montage with photo from Pixabay on Pexels and Wylsacom
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