With the iPhone 17 launch event officially scheduled for September 9, now's the time to start thinking about whether you want one of the new phones — and which model you should actually buy. Normally, you could make that decision pretty easily, but this year Apple has thrown a spanner into the works by introducing the iPhone 17 Air.
While officially replacing the iPhone 17 Plus, the rumors paint a very different picture of what to expect. In fact, the 17 Air may end up being significantly more advanced than a Plus would have been, to the point where it'll be closer to the iPhone 17 Pro than anything else.
There are going to be some major differences between the two, though, due to the 17 Air's super-slim design. And that means choosing the Air would lead to some major trade-offs compared to its chunkier sibling.
The Air's battery life may be noticeably worse
Phone thickness is usually dictated by the components inside, because there's only so much space you can free up before compromising core features. The battery is one of the bulkiest parts, and that means the skinny iPhone 17 Air will reportedly shrink the battery in line with the more minimal design.
Reports suggest the battery will be just 2,900 mAh in size, which is significantly smaller than you'd expect from a modern flagship — even one from Apple. For reference, the iPhone 16 Pro's battery is 3,582 mAh.
This may not be the end of the world, since Apple is good at getting a lot of battery life out of smaller-sized batteries — and it's rumored it may employ a new silicon-carbon battery with roughly 15% better power density. But it doesn't change the fact that it likely won't last nearly as long as the iPhone 17 Pro.
There's only one camera
It's been a while since we've seen a flagship phone without at least two camera lenses, let alone the iPhone. But all the design leaks we've seen point towards the 17 Air coming with a single 48MP camera lens on the back. Meanwhile, the 17 Pro is expected to come with the usual trio of main, ultrawide and telephoto lenses.
It's understandable that the phone wouldn't have a telephoto lens, since they typically need a lot of space and are usually reserved as Pro-tier features. But the lack of an ultrawide lens is a pretty big disadvantage, even if Apple has perfectly valid reasons for skipping it.
No anti-reflective display
Dummy units suggest that the iPhone 17 Air will have a slightly bigger display than the iPhone 17 Pro. Rumors even suggest it could be as large as 6.6 inches, compared to the Pro's 6.3 inches. But it may still lose out on a number of screen features that the Pro models will get to enjoy.
The main one is that both the 17 Pro and Pro Max are expected to come with some new anti-reflective glass. Similar to the screen on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, this will supposedly help reduce glare from external light sources — be it bright lights or the sun.
Sadly, the Air won't get the same treatment, which means you'll need to rely on your wits to keep reflections from ruining your phone experience.
A less powerful A19 Pro
While it may end up being a case of split hairs, the A19 Pro chipset expected to arrive with the iPhone 17 Air is not going to be the same as the one in the iPhone 17 Pro. In fact, according to recent rumors, the Air may be missing one of the GPU cores you'll find on the iPhone 17 Pro.
The claim is that there will only be five GPU cores, instead of six, which is going to have an obvious effect on graphical performance. Plus, without the rumored vapor cooling system supposedly coming to the Pro models, it means the Air is going to be at a serious disadvantage when high graphics processing is needed.
A higher price tag?
Here's the thing. While the iPhone 17 Air is going to be smaller, and with all those extra trade-offs, you'd think it would be the cheaper option. But that may not be the case.
Some early rumors claimed the iPhone 17 Air could have the same $899 starting price as the iPhone 16 Plus — so long as you ignore the rumored price hikes. Unfortunately, we have heard speculation that it could cost significantly more. Some have speculated that it could cost $1,099, though others have suggested it may actually cost more than the iPhone 17 Pro Max.
It's impossible to say which rumor is correct right now, but considering the iPhone 17 Air is totally new and may come with a bunch of new tech, it makes sense that Apple would want to up the price. Especially since the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, the other big thin phone on the market, starts at $1,099.
More from Tom's Guide
- Here Are the Rumored iPhone 17 Colors for Each Model — Vote for Your Favorite
- 7 Rumored iPhone 17 Upgrades You Need to Know About
- Apple Rumored to Increase Prices for iPhone 17 — Here’s How Much They Might Cost
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