iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Air: What We Know About Apple's Next Smartphones
Apple is preparing to launch an entirely new iPhone, one that will be ultra-light and have a body that is just 5.5 millimeters thick. This is what several (and reliable) sources have been claiming for a couple of weeks now. The new iPhone could be called the iPhone 17 Air, or simply the iPhone Air. Judging by the specifications leaked so far, however, it will not be the flagship model of the 2025 lineup, mainly due to the inevitable design compromises that allowed Apple's designers to make the device's profile extremely thin. Along with the iPhone 17 Air, Apple will launch other new models, including two iPhone 17 Pro models with a redesign.
The design will be the strong point of the device, already indicated as the thinnest iPhone ever, but the technical characteristics will not place it at the top of the range. According to the most popular rumors, it will mount the new A19 chip, instead of the A19 Pro that will arrive on the more expensive models, it will have a single 48MP rear camera, it will mount a single speaker near the upper speaker and will be compatible only with eSIMs.
To prevent the reduced thickness from resulting in limited autonomy, the battery will be high-density. Furthermore, the absence of a wide-angle camera and zoom would have allowed Apple engineers to increase the size of the power supply unit. The use of the new C1 modem and a WiFi 7 chip, both made in Cupertino , will also ensure better energy management compared to models with third-party components. The device will feature the action button, the Camera Control button, a 24MP front camera with integrated Face ID and the USB-C port. Finally, the latest rumors speak of 12GB of RAM, the same capacity as the iPhone 17 Pro, necessary for Apple Intelligence to work properly when all the expected functions will be available .
The iPhone 6 Plus ExperienceThe ultra-thin design may make for a stunning design, but it also brings with it a number of structural challenges that aren’t easy to solve. The question on many people’s minds, in particular, is whether such a thin body will tend to bend. Apple had a similar problem back in 2014, when it launched the iPhone 6 Plus, when some users reported a problem with their devices: they tended to bend irreparably when placed in their back pockets. The problem (although never officially acknowledged by Apple) was later solved in the 6s models with a reinforcement of the body in the points most prone to bending during daily use. A video with the “bending” tests of the iPhone 6 contributed explosively to the media relevance of the so-called “bendgate” and to the popularity of a YouTuber who is now very famous in the tech field, Lewis Hilsenteger, and his channel Unbox Therapy. Curiously, Hilsenteger himself was among the first to get his hands on some “dummies” of the next iPhone of the 17 series, that is, “prototypes” without components or displays, usually made in advance by case manufacturers based on rumors. In a video published in recent days, Unbox Therapy showed them all, including that of the new iPhone 17 Air.
To avoid bending problems with the iPhone 17 Air, Apple engineers have reportedly chosen to limit the size of the Pro Motion display to 6.6”, a midway point between the diagonal of the iPhone 17 Pro and that of the iPhone 17 Pro Max. It cannot also be ruled out that, mindful of the problems of the iPhone 6 Plus, Cupertino designers have taken much more effective countermeasures to reinforce the body, which should be made of aluminum and titanium.
In the video, Unbox Therapy also shows some “dummies” of the new iPhone 17 Pro. One of the most obvious novelties in this case could be the two-tone design of the back, due to a new body made of aluminum with a glass insert. The use of aluminum is a substantial difference compared to the 15 and 16 Pro models, which instead have a titanium frame.
The other aesthetic difference that will be immediately noticeable is the larger photographic unit: the current square protrusion will become a rectangle with rounded edges, with the long side horizontal on the body. The three cameras in a triangular configuration will remain on the left, while the flash and Lidar sensor will be moved to the right. The “photographic rectangle”, never seen before on iPhones, had already been experimented with by some Android manufacturers in past years, in particular by Xiaomi on the Mi 11 Ultra .
The new features won't be limited to the design, however. The iPhone 17 Pro will feature a more scratch-resistant display, a larger battery, the new A19 Pro chip paired with 12GB of RAM, a 48MP zoom, the ability to record video in dual mode (i.e. front and back at the same time), support for 8K resolution recording, and a new cooling system. The new iPhones in the Pro series will also arrive in a new color, a Sky Blue similar to that of the most recent MacBook Air models.
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