*Picture credit score — Majin Bu
This yr, main cellphone producers Apple and Samsung have determined to introduce new fashions to their flagship smartphones. As if the yearly slimming down of telephones wasn’t sufficient, we now have the upcoming iPhone 17 Air, and the at present accessible Galaxy S25 Edge. Each are telephones that goal to offer customers with a brilliant slim chassis whereas retaining flagship efficiency.However, because it seems, not many individuals are fascinated by such a factor. The Galaxy S25 Edge isn’t promoting, prompting Samsung to chop down on manufacturing. And, if that is something to go by, then I guess that Apple is in a panic proper about now.
iPhone 17 Air: cool, however restricted
The iPhone 17 Air is just too slim to pack a lot juice. | Picture credit score — Majin Bu
The most important downside with each of those telephones is the truth that they’re restricted by at the moment’s expertise. Apple and Samsung, particularly, are fairly sluggish to undertake rising improvements and infrequently path behind their opponents.
In response to all the stories which have come out on the iPhone 17 Air, it is going to be an costly cellphone with much less highly effective {hardware} and a tiny battery: 2,800 mAh. If that sounds ridiculous to you, don’t fear, you’re not alone.
Apple is conscious that such a small battery is grounds for an terrible person expertise. As such, the corporate has launched AI-powered battery saving within the hopes that the iPhone 17 Air will a minimum of have satisfactory battery life.
Nonetheless, if the Galaxy S25 Edge is any indication, then the iPhone 17 Air will value across the identical because the iPhone 17 Professional. And the one individuals who’d select the Air are both customers that desperately need one thing new, or individuals with very small pockets.
All in all, this was not the time for Samsung and Apple to check out tremendous slim telephones. Particularly when each firms have nonetheless not begun utilizing newer, denser batteries.
Apple’s third failed flagship mannequin?
Funnily sufficient, the iPhone 17 Air is definitely supposed to interchange the iPhone Plus fashions. The Plus stays the worst-selling iPhone mannequin, and Apple hoped that the Air can be extra profitable.
Nonetheless, the Plus fashions themselves had been a alternative for the iPhone mini. The mini fashions additionally had the identical downside: they bought poorly. If the iPhone 17 Air additionally flops, then we is likely to be allowed to say that Apple’s “additional” mannequin annually is cursed, type of just like the Protection Towards the Darkish Arts place in Harry Potter.
Moreover, if this cellphone doesn’t promote nicely both, it is likely to be the shortest-lived iPhone mannequin ever. Apple could return to the drafting board for the iPhone 18 collection subsequent yr, as a result of it might need a profitable lineup for the twentieth anniversary of the iPhone in 2027.
Simply wait till subsequent yr
For starters, it’s seeming very probably now that the legendary foldable iPhone will come out subsequent yr. As well as, Apple Intelligence — the corporate’s incomplete suite of AI instruments — could lastly be full by the point the iPhone 18 rolls round. There’s additionally a number of stories that the iPhone 18 may have a punch gap as an alternative of the Dynamic Island.
I, personally, don’t like that, and assume that Apple is dropping its identification with the iPhone 18. However the iPhone 17 this yr will even function a redesigned exterior, so choose your poison. I simply actually assume that the iPhone 17 Air is destined for failure, even when I really fairly like its design.
If it had been as much as me, I’d simply wait until 2027. That’s the yr when the whole lot modifications. Apple will unveil a new iPhone Professional mannequin, one with no cutouts or holes on the show. However in case you completely want a brand new iPhone quickly, then 2026 ought to suffice.
Or, you might simply go for the bottom mannequin iPhone 17 this yr, which goes to appear like the bottom mannequin iPhone 16.
