Apple Might Revive This 2010 Accessory for the iPhone 17 Air — Here's What We Know

The iPhone 17 launch is a matter of weeks away, and Apple is rumored to be mixing things up this generation with a super-slim handset. Dubbed the iPhone 17 Air until Apple gives it an official name next month, rumors suggest we’ll be getting a handset that’s just 5.5mm thick at its thinnest point — quite a drop from the 7.8mm of the iPhone 16.

But thinness comes at a potential durability cost. That could be paid via a chunky case, but if you’re adding a thick coating to a super-slim handset, then is there any point in getting the thin model in the first place?

Apple may have found a way to square this circle from its own recent history. In 2010, the company released a bumper case to go alongside the iPhone 4, which covered the edges of the phone, but not the back. It was discontinued after just two years, but Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman believes Apple may be plotting an unlikely revival for the iPhone 17 Air.

“I believe Apple has at least considered/tested a new case for the slimmer iPhone this year that surrounds the edges but doesn’t cover the back,” he wrote on X. “It’s a similar concept to the iPhone 4 Bumpers from 2010.”

Curiously, the colorful original Bumper Case’s popularity wasn’t just about protection, but down to a very specific set of circumstances that are unlikely to be repeated 15 years later.

“Antennagate” caused iPhone 4 users to drop calls if they held their handsets in a way that covered the antenna bands, and Bumper Cases were then offered to customers free of charge for a few months as a way of addressing that.

Will it be necessary?

The big question is whether something like the Bumper Case will actually be necessary for the iPhone 17 Air. While we might assume that thinner equals more vulnerable, a lot comes down to the design decisions Apple has made along the way.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, itself just 5.8mm thick, managed to get through the YouTuber JerryRigEverything’s torture tests rather impressively, suggesting that a case might be more about peace of mind than necessity.

And while a Bumper Case means you won’t be adding extra thickness to your ultra-thin device, that does come at the expense of leaving the backplate exposed. Scratches are very likely to build up over time, no matter how careful you are with your phone.

In all likelihood, fragility won’t be the biggest issue with a phone so thin anyway — it will be battery life. We’ve heard that the iPhone 17 Air will pack a 2,900mAh cell, which is an 18.5% drop from the iPhone 16’s 3,561mAh battery. According to sources at Apple, between 60% and 70% of users will get a full day’s use from it, compared to 80-90% for other models.

While Apple will no doubt be working on clever tricks to maximize that battery life with the Air, power users may still need extra juice on the go. The Information reckons that the company is planning on offering a battery case for it, which will certainly increase the footprint of the phone, but will probably be a more useful addition overall.

Despite the battery drawback, the iPhone 17 Air looks set to be an improvement on the iPhone 16 Plus it’s replacing in one key way. Apple will reportedly be giving all of its handsets a ProMotion 120Hz screen this time around, ending the era of 60Hz jerkiness for its cheaper handsets.