One of the biggest bummers about the iPhone 17 event is that just about everything has seemingly leaked ahead of time. We’ve already seen the entire iPhone 17 lineup in terms of specs, dummy units and even some videos.
In fact, we have a pretty darn good idea of all 7 products Apple could launch at the iPhone 17 event on Sept. 9. This includes new AirPods Pro 3 and Apple Watch 11. So what is Tim Cook’s “One more thing…" and can Apple actually surprise us? Yup, here’s how it could happen.
I believe that the iPhone 17 Air will be the last (and biggest) reveal of the Apple event. If you haven’t been following all the rumors, the iPhone 17 Air is expected to be the thinnest iPhone ever at just 5.5mm with a pretty big 6.6-inch display. But Apple needs to do more than just show a ruler to get shoppers to care. Tim Cook & Co. must pleasantly surprise us.
Don't just be another Galaxy S25 Edge
One of the biggest criticisms of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is that Samsung basically made a scaled down version of the Galaxy S25. And as lightweight and sleek as that design is, a lot of people just shrugged their shoulders.
Most of the negative comments I read online about the S25 Edge are basically “Who is this for?” and “Who asked for this?” I have a feeling the rumored iPhone 17 Air could fall into the same trap. But Apple could help counteract that negativity in a few key ways. For starters, it helps that the S25 Edge is a bit thicker at 5.8mm. But what else?
Tell us why we want an iPhone 17 Air — and show us it won't break
The raison d’etre for the iPhone 17 Air will be portability and Apple will need to convince the masses that it will make their lives easier and better. It can’t just be a fashion statement.
Maybe give an iPhone 17 Air early to JerryRigEverything and have him torture it and show the results during the Apple event in front of the world. Put your money where your mouth is.
I don’t know about you, but I put my iPhone 15 Pro Max in my back pocket all the time. Having something I can almost forget about that slips into my front pocket and doesn’t dig into my thighs when I climb stairs would be a nice change of pace.
But I know what you’re thinking. Something that thin will snap in half the second I accidentally sit on it. Apple will need to show how strong the iPhone 17 Air is. Maybe give one early to JerryRigEverything and have him torture it and show the results during the Apple event in front of the world. Put your money where your mouth is.
Convince us that a single rear camera is okay
The iPhone 17 Air is rumored to feature just a single 48MP camera. That approach is usually reserved for cheap phones like the iPhone 16e. So the rear shooter in the iPhone 17 Air is going to have to be really, really, really good. The Galaxy S25 Edge has dual rear cameras, so it’s already at a disadvantage versus its main rival.
You’re not getting an ultra wide lens, but maybe Apple could deliver better zoom performance via AI, similar to the ProRes zoom feature on the Google Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL.
Give us longer battery life than we'd expect
Given that it’s tipped to get a fairly small 2,800-2,900 mAh battery, the iPhone 17 Air definitely won’t have the endurance of the iPhone 17 Pro Max (tipped for over 5,000 mAh.)
But Apple does make its own chips and now its own C1 modem — and it makes iOS 26. So Apple should be able to have more control over the endurance it’s able to squeeze out of its super thin phone.
If you take a look at the top performing devices on our best phone battery life list, the longest-lasting handsets can surf the web over 5G for 17 hours or longer. I think Apple will need to surpass 14 hours in our testing to win over the skeptics.
For the record, the iPhone 16 Plus — the phone the iPhone 17 Air is ostensibly replacing — endured for 16.5 hours. So there can’t be too much of a drop-off.
About that rumored iPhone 17 Air price
The latest rumors point to a very premium price for the iPhone 17 Air. How premium? We’re talking $1,099, or potentially $300 more than the regular iPhone 17.
Apple is also rumored to raise the price of the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, but those phones are expected to get more powerful A19 Pro chips, brighter displays and more capable 48MP telephoto cameras.
Sure, the iPhone 17 Air is tipped to start with 256GB of storage, but there’s going to have to be a combination of wow-factor and real-world benefits to justify the sticker shock.
iPhone 17 Air Outlook
Let’s be real. There’s a big risk of Apple’s “one more thing” moment turning into a letdown. But if Apple can show us that the iPhone 17 Air is built tough, takes at least as good photos as the regular iPhone 17 and can last us a full day on a charge, it has a chance of avoiding a backlash.
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