Here's everything you need to know about the upcoming iPhone 17 Air

Apple is set to introduce the iPhone 17 Air in 2025, alongside the rest of the iPhone 17 lineup. It will replace the supposed iPhone 17 Plus due to lower-than-expected sales of iPhone's "Plus" models. But more importantly, the iPhone 17 Air will focus on a super lightweight and compact design while maintaining flagship-level features.

iPhone 17 Air rumors roundup:

Design and display

Starting with the design, as mentioned before, the iPhone 17 Air is all about how thin it is. Because this thing is rumored to be just 5.5 – 5.65 mm thin, making it one of the thinnest products Apple has ever shipped. For reference, the iPhone 16 Pro Max (review) is 8.3 mm thick and the regular iPhone 16 (review) is 7.8 mm thick. Whereas Samsung's answer to the iPhone 17 Air — the Galaxy S25 Edge — measures 5.8 mm at its thinnest point. A slim design means a lightweight phone as well. And going by the rumors, the iPhone 17 Air will weigh just 145 grams. That is in part thanks to the titanium-aluminum frames that Apple is using for this phone, but also because Apple had to make quite a few compromises to achieve this. Including (but not limited to) a single downfiring speaker setup and the lack of a physical SIM card tray. This means the iPhone 17 Air will be eSIM-only worldwide.

Up front, the iPhone 17 Air will feature a 6.6-inch OLED display with a Dynamic Island and also a 120Hz refresh rate "ProMotion" technology with LTPO. Making it Apple's first non-Pro iPhone with a higher refresh rate. It will also include the Always-On Display feature, which was previously limited to Pro models.

Performance

As for performance, Apple's thinnest iPhone will be powered by the upcoming A19 chip. The same A19 processor that will also power the regular iPhone 17, while the iPhone 17 Pro series will taste a more powerful A19 Pro chip instead. It's also expected to use the "Apple C1" 5G modem that we first saw on the iPhone 16e (review). The entire iPhone 17 lineup will supposedly use Apple's custom-designed Wi-Fi chip as well. And in terms of memory, this iPhone will have either 8/12GB of RAM, meaning it will be equipped with all the Apple Intelligence chops. But once again, its super slim design potentially means poor heat dissipation and thermal throttling. Although it seems that the iPhone 17 Air will include a vapor chamber heatsink to combat that issue to some extent.

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• It seems Nubia is working on its own "iPhone 17 Air"

Battery

So one of the biggest compromises of this iPhone is definitely in the battery side of things. Some rumors point to a meager 2,800 mAh battery for the iPhone 17 Air, which is similar to the 2,815 mAh battery of the iPhone 12 (review). It was even rumored that Apple will use a high-density silicon anode battery for this phone to offer battery life that is "on par with current iPhones", according to popular Apple leakster Mark Gurman. Thankfully, the iPhone 17 Air will still support MagSafe charging (something that was weirdly missing on the iPhone 16e). And surprisingly enough, we've even read news of Apple developing a separate battery case to combat battery anxiety. Which feels like such a "create the problem then sell the solution" thing, to be honest.

Camera

Besides the battery, the iPhone 17 Air cuts back on the camera department too. Since it will equip a single 48MP rear camera capable of 2x optical zoom shots, housed inside a rectangular camera bar. So there's no ultrawide camera and no telephoto camera to look forward to here. This iPhone will carry an upgraded 24MP front-facing camera (instead of 12MP), which will also be present on the rest of the iPhone 17 lineup.

iPhone 17 Air rumored specifications:

• Dimensions and weight: 5.5 – 5.65 mm thick, 145 grams
• Display: 6.6-inch ProMotion OLED, 120Hz refresh rate, LTPO technology
• Chipset: Apple A19 chip, Apple C1 5G modem
• Memory: 8/12GB RAM
• Rear camera: 48MP single rear camera, 2x optical zoom
• Front camera: 24MP selfie camera
• Battery: 2,800 mAh high-density battery
• Connectivity: eSIM-only

iPhone 17 Air Launch Date and Availability

Alongside the rest of the iPhone 17 series, the iPhone 17 Air will launch in September 2025. And since it's replacing the iPhone 16 Plus, the popular rumor is that it will also start at USD 899. Which puts it in the middle of the iPhone 17 and the iPhone 17 Pro.

• Meanwhile, check out our review of the iPhone 16e