Launched late next year, who will the super-thin, super-expensive iPhone 17 Air be for?
According to rumors, Apple will launch an ultra-thin iPhone 17 model - replacing the iPhone 17 Plus version in the 2025 iPhone line. Recently, Bloomberg analyst Mark Gurman revealed the reason why the "Apple House" released an ultra-thin iPhone.
Who is iPhone 17 Air for?
So far, Apple has failed to create a fourth iPhone model that has the same mass-market appeal as the standard iPhone, iPhone Pro and iPhone Pro Max models. It previously released the iPhone Mini but replaced it with the larger iPhone Plus model a few years later — due to lack of demand.
The response to the iPhone Plus model was also not very positive, which is why Apple discontinued it and launched an ultra-thin iPhone model, expected to be called the iPhone 17 Slim or iPhone 17 Air.
According to Gurman, the iPhone 17 Air was inspired by the success of the MacBook Air. The MacBook Air sits in the middle of Apple's laptop lineup and is aimed at users who don't need the most impressive specs.
The iPhone 17 Air will be quite expensive.
Apple is taking a similar strategy with the iPad Air, which sits one tier below its top-of-the-line iPad Pro tablet.
Gurman is skeptical about this strategy when applied to the iPhone, fearing that the iPhone Air will inevitably fail like the iPhone mini and iPhone Plus.
According to Gurman, the foldable iPhone will be the only iPhone that can "sell well." The foldable iPhone is expected to launch in 2026 at the earliest or be delayed until 2027.
The iPhone 17 Air is rumored to have the latest high-end specs like the A19 chip and Dynamic Island display with 120Hz refresh rate, but the downside is the camera. Since the iPhone is one of the best camera phones, having a weak photography system will be the biggest minus point of this iPhone.
