iPhone 17 Air

With the 2025 iPhone lineup, Apple plans to introduce an ultra thin "iPhone 17 Air," marking the first notable redesign to the iPhone in several years. iPhone 17 Air is not the device's official name, and we don't know exactly what Apple will call it, but multiple rumors have confirmed Apple's work on a super thin iPhone.

The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be somewhere between 5.5mm and 6mm thick, which will make it the thinnest iPhone to date. That measurement doesn't include the camera bump, which could be thicker to accommodate the single 48-megapixel rear camera rumored for the device.

Apple will sell the iPhone 17 Air alongside the standard iPhone 17, the iPhone 17 Pro, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max. We are not expecting an iPhone 17 Plus this year, with the iPhone 17 Air effectively replacing it in the lineup. Early rumors suggested the iPhone 17 Air could be as expensive or more expensive than the iPhone 17 Pro, but more recent information suggests it will be more expensive than the iPhone 17 but not as pricey as the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max.

In terms of size, rumors suggest the iPhone 17 Air will have a 6.6-inch display, which will put it in between the iPhone 17 and the iPhone 17 Pro Max in size. As mentioned, it will have a single-lens rear camera, and Apple could be planning for a horizontal bar-like camera bump at the back.

The iPhone 17 Air is expected to feature a 120Hz ProMotion display, and it will be equipped with Apple's 5G modem. Other features include an A19 chip, Wi-Fi 7, and a more advanced display material that can better hold up to drops and scratches.

Apple plans to market the iPhone 17 Air with a focus on design rather than internal specs. It won't have the top-of-the-line components like the iPhone 17 Pro models, but the fresh design may be a draw.

Note: See an error in this roundup or want to offer feedback? Send us an email here.

With the 2024 iPad Pro launch, Apple slimmed down the chassis, and the 12.9-inch model is just 5.1mm thick. It's Apple's thinnest device ever, and now Apple is aiming to follow it up with a super thin iPhone.

We've heard several rumors about the iPhone 17 Air, and thickness estimates have ranged from 5mm to a little over 6mm. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, for example, thinks that the iPhone 17 Air will be around two millimeters thinner than the iPhone 16 Pro.

The iPhone 16 Pro is 8.25mm thick, so an iPhone 17 that's 2mm thinner would come in at around 6.25mm. 6.25mm would make the iPhone 17 Air the thinnest iPhone to date, but some rumors think it will be even thinner.

The Information has said the iPhone 17 Air will be around 6mm thick, while Jeff Pu thinks it will be 6mm thick. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes the iPhone 17 Air will be 5.5mm thick at its thinnest point, which likely means it will have a 5.5mm chassis with a thicker rear camera bump area.

Currently, the thinnest iPhone to date was the iPhone 6 at 6.9mm. iPhones got thicker with the iPhone X and beyond, as Apple changed device thickness to provide more space for the battery, camera lenses, Face ID hardware, and more.

Apple might use a titanium-aluminum frame for the iPhone 17 Air, with the device using more titanium than the current Pro iPhones.

A conceptual rendering of the iPhone 17 Air provides some insight into what the device might look like. It features a slim, 5.5mm profile and a thicker rear camera bar with single-lens camera. Apple is said to be planning to use a horizontal bar-like camera for the iPhone 17 Air, with the iPhone 17 Pro expected to adopt a similar design.

The iPhone 17 Air will have a 6.6-inch display, and rumors suggest the rear camera could be relocated from the upper left side of the iPhone to the center of the device. The Information has described the camera setup as a "large, centered camera bump on the back of the device," and we have seen that design in an alleged component leak.

Leaker Jon Prosser shared renders of the alleged iPhone 17 Air design, with the device featuring a camera bar equipped with a single rear camera on the left and a microphone and LED flash on the right.

There is no room for a speaker on the bottom edge of the device, so the iPhone 17 Air will have just one speaker at the top.

The iPhone 17 Air is rumored to have a 6.6-inch display, which means it will be larger than the iPhone 17 but smaller than the iPhone 17 Pro Max. While there were rumors that the iPhone 17 Air could feature a slimmed down Dynamic Island, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo does not expect notable changes to the Dynamic Island.

The iPhone 17 Air is expected to use the same OLED panel as the current iPhone 16 Pro models, which is sourced from Samsung. The panel has a 30 percent increase in brightness and improved longevity compared to the prior-generation iPhone 16 display.

The entire iPhone 17 lineup is expected to get 120Hz ProMotion display technology, which means it will no longer be a feature limited to the Pro lineup. ProMotion displays will be enabled by the low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) panels that Apple plans to use for all of the iPhone 17 models. LTPO allows for 1Hz to 120Hz refresh rates.

At the higher end, the 120Hz refresh rates allow for smoother scrolling, smoother video content, and other benefits.

ProMotion refresh rates would allow for always-on display functionality, but it is not yet clear if this is a feature that Apple plans to expand to the entire lineup.

We don't know what Apple is going to call its ultra thin iPhone. Rumors have referred to it as the "iPhone 17 Slim" or the "iPhone 17 Air," but neither name is official.

Given that Apple has an iPad Air and an iPad Pro and a MacBook Air and a MacBook Pro, the iPhone "Air" naming might make the most sense.

Apple is working on A19 and A19 Pro chips for the iPhone 17 lineup, and the iPhone 17 Air will get the A19 chip.

Rumors suggest that all iPhone 17 models will have a vapor chamber heatsink to improve thermal performance. Vapor chambers work by spreading head evenly across a larger area, reducing thermal throttling and ensuring consistent performance.

The iPhone 17 Air is expected to have 8GB RAM, which is the RAM in current iPhone 16 models. 8GB RAM is sufficient for Apple Intelligence.

With limited internal space due to the slimmed down design, the iPhone 17 Air will get just a single-lens rear camera. Rumors suggest it will use the same 48-megapixel Wide camera that's in the iPhone 16 models.

If the iPhone 17 Air only has a single-lens rear camera, it will not be capable of capturing spatial video or spatial photos unless Apple has a new technique in mind for capturing this kind of content.

All iPhone 17 models could have a 24-megapixel front-facing camera with a six-element lens.

Apple-Designed 5G Modem Chip

The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be one of the first iPhones that will use an Apple-designed 5G modem chip. Apple's modem will be capable of theoretical 5G download speeds of up to 4Gb/s, which is slower than Qualcomm modems in current iPhones. The chip also won't support the fastest mmWave 5G, and it will be limited to sub-6GHz speeds.

For other iPhone 17 models, Apple plans to continue to use Qualcomm chips. It's just the iPhone 17 Air that will get the Apple chip.

SIM Tray

Apple will remove the physical SIM slot in iPhones sold in more countries next year, though it is not yet clear which countries. U.S. iPhone models haven't included a SIM tray since the iPhone 14, but Apple has continued using it in other countries.

The iPhone 17 Air may be too thin to support a SIM tray.

Bluetooth and Wi-Fi

The iPhone 17 Air will have an Apple-designed Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chip that supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3. The chip is separate from the Apple-designed 5G modem that will also be included.

There's no word on battery life for the iPhone 17 Air yet, but space will be limited so there may be battery life compromises.

The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be priced more affordably than the iPhone 17 Pro, which will start at $999.

The iPhone 17 Air will be introduced in September 2025, at Apple's annual fall iPhone-centric event. It will launch shortly after, and will be sold alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max.