iPhone 17 Air seemingly leaked in iOS 26 — here's what we know

iPhone 17 Air render — (Image credit: Future)

Apparent confirmation of the iPhone 17 Air, and part of its display specs, has just been found within the latest beta of iOS 26.

Macworld spotted that the newly-available iOS 26 beta 2 includes a new version of Apple's clownfish wallpaper — available since the first iPhone — with a 420x912@3x resolution.

iOS 16 review public beta — Apple's clownfish wallpaper, shown on an iPhone 14. (Image credit: Future)

Doing the math gives us a total resolution of 1,260 x 2,736. This is different from any current iPhone screen resolution, and — given the rumors — suggest there's only one iPhone coming this year that's different in size from previous generations. It therefore suggests that the rumors of a new, 6.6-inch iPhone 17 Air are accurate.

Strengthening this are previous claims the iPhone 17 Air will have a resolution of around 1260 x 2740. That's a few rows of pixels off from the wallpaper size, but close enough to support the general claim of a new iPhone of this size coming soon.

What to expect from the iPhone 17 Air

While we expect the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max to be direct sequels to the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, the iPhone 17 Air is thought to be tagging in for the iPhone 16 Plus while offering a different mix of features.

Measuring 6.6 inches according to the rumors, the iPhone 17 Air will be larger than the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro, but still smaller than the Pro Max model. It'll also only carry one rear camera, rather than two or three. But in return, the iPhone 17 Air's body will supposedly be noticeably lighter and thinner, possibly as slim as 5.5mm (0.22 inches).

If you've seen the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, the iPhone 17 Air should fill a similar role in the iPhone line-up.

The S25 Edge had to reduce its battery capacity and also lost a camera compared to the regular Galaxy S25 model, but we're hoping that the iPhone 17 Air will be able to still offer a practical battery life thanks to Apple's generally power-efficient hardware. We admit we're a little unsure about Apple offering just a single camera on the back, though.

Whatever Apple has to offer the world with the iPhone 17 series this year, we should see the announcements come in the second week of September, as we have most years since the iPhone first launched.

We can't imagine it'll specifically address the size of its clownfish wallpaper on stage, but hopefully it'll tell us the same iPhone 17 Air display info by more direct means.

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Richard is based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, tablets, gaming, and whatever else people need advice on. Following on from his MA in Magazine Journalism at the University of Sheffield, he's also written for WIRED U.K., The Register and Creative Bloq. When not at work, he's likely thinking about how to brew the perfect cup of specialty coffee.

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