iPhone 17 Rumors, From a Slim ‘Air’ Mannequin to a 25% Tariff Menace

We’re nonetheless months away from Apple’s anticipated reveal of the most recent iPhone, which we anticipate to occur within the firm’s regular September window for launching the following version of its standard line of smartphones. Within the meantime, loads of rumors are swirling about what the upcoming gadget, possible known as the iPhone 17, might seem like. 

From a redesigned digicam module to a slimmer “Air” model of the iPhone 17, there’s been numerous buzz about what Apple’s subsequent lineup will carry. We’d even see a contemporary blue coloration choice for the Professional fashions. 

However the greatest information might be that iPhones get pricier due to tariffs. President Donald Trump threatened that Apple telephones made outdoors the US could be topic to a 25% tariff, which might tack $200 or extra on to the costs of the iPhone 17 collection if all that additional value was handed alongside to the buyer. We’ll have to attend and see how Apple and CEO Tim Prepare dinner reply to this proclamation.

And the rumors aren’t nearly exterior appearances; reviews counsel Apple will overhaul the appear and feel of its software program with the launch of iOS 19 as nicely. There are additionally rumors about elevated RAM throughout all 4 anticipated gadgets.

Here is what analysts and leakers predict concerning the iPhone 17 lineup. 

A slimmer iPhone 17 ‘Air’ 

One of many greatest rumors surrounds a potential iPhone “Air,” a thinner model of Apple’s flagship gadget that may change the iPhone Plus choice. 

The Air might function a 6.6-inch display, making it barely smaller than the iPhone 16 Plus and iPhone 16 Professional Max however nonetheless greater than the baseline mannequin, in keeping with analysts Jeff Pu and Ming-Chi Kuo. A Bloomberg report from March helps these rumors, and notes that the iPhone Air might measure 5.5mm thick. The report additionally suggests the telephone will value round $900, placing it on par with the iPhone 16 Plus and sustaining its place within the iPhone hierarchy. 

For Apple to slim down a tool, it could must make {hardware} trade-offs, and which may embody the telephone’s digicam. In line with each Kuo and Bloomberg, it is potential this model of the iPhone 17 would have just one important digicam, doing with out the ultrawide and 5x telephoto lenses which were staples of Apple’s premium iPhones for years. This is able to place the slim iPhone in the identical camp because the $600 iPhone 16E relating to cameras, as that telephone has just one rear lens. The excellent news, although, is that the selfie digicam on the iPhone Air might get a lift; extra on that later. 

Watch this: iPhone 17 Rumors: What Analysts Say Apple Is Doing Subsequent

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One key problem can be sustaining a excessive battery capability, since a slimmer construct usually means much less house for the battery and thus a possible compromise on battery life. Bloomberg suggests Apple is concentrated on tackling that shortcoming. The report additionally notes that the iPhone 17 Air is predicted to have superslim bezels, a Digicam Management button and the Dynamic Island.

The telephone will possible function an A18 or A19-branded chip, Pu suggests. This is able to reportedly match the chip within the baseline iPhone 17. It might additionally embody the Apple-developed 5G modem, known as the C1 chip, which debuted on the iPhone 16E.

The next refresh fee throughout the board

Rumor has all of it fashions of the iPhone 17 will function a 120Hz show, bumping the non-Professional fashions up from their present 60Hz refresh fee. That might be a welcome change, because the discrepancy between the Professional and non-Professional refresh fee is shocking; when Apple debuted the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus with a 60Hz show, there was a little bit of an outcry from people who anticipated extra in 2024. This rumored replace might treatment that — and presumably carry the always-on show to the baseline mannequin. 

What we possible will not see is a brand new anti-reflective show that Apple was reportedly engaged on, in keeping with MacRumors. A supply reportedly advised the publication that Apple scrapped plans for a extra scratch-resistant show coating which might have appeared on the iPhone 17 Professional and Professional Max. This is able to have made them the primary iPhones with an anti-reflective display, giving them a function that CNET’s Patrick Holland deemed one of many finest attributes of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely. In line with MacRumors, “Apple bumped into issues scaling up the show coating course of, and it’s at the moment now not a deliberate function for the ‌iPhone 17 Professional‌ fashions.”

Digicam upgrades 

It is not an iPhone launch with no digicam improve, and there have been loads of rumors about what the digicam module might seem like on Apple’s upcoming telephones. In January, a leaked picture from Majin Bu on X urged the telephone might function a pill-shaped digicam bar, basically resembling what you’d discover on Google’s Pixel 9 telephone. In February, Bu adopted up with CAD renders of what is stated to be the iPhone 17 lineup, that includes horizontal digicam bars, in addition to bigger rectangular bars on the iPhone 17 Professional fashions. 

Entrance Web page Tech additionally shared iPhone 17 Professional renders in a video in February, depicting a bigger digicam bar that maintains the lens’ stacked structure. A separate video on the iPhone 17 Air reveals a smaller digicam bar, with one lens on the left. 

In April, Bloomberg reported the “iPhone 17 Professional will look much more just like the 16 Professional than anticipated,” including, “From the entrance, the 17 Professional will seem fairly just like the 16 Professional. It is the again digicam that can look meaningfully completely different.” The newest rumors counsel the iPhone 17 Professional’s three-lens digicam association can be maintained, however will sit on a brand new panel that stretches throughout the telephone’s width.

Later in April, Bu once more posted a picture of the purported iPhone 17 lineup, displaying these wider digicam bars with the stacked lenses nonetheless configured to the left. 

Not till subsequent 12 months, for the twentieth anniversary of the iPhone, will Apple be “getting ready a significant shake-up” for the telephone’s design, Bloomberg says. That features a (long-rumored) foldable model and a “daring new Professional mannequin that makes extra in depth use of glass.”

One other camera-related rumor is that the selfie digicam on all iPhone 17 fashions, together with the Air, can be upgraded to 24 megapixels, in keeping with Pu. That is an honest bump from the present 12-megapixel front-facing digicam on the iPhone 16 lineup, although it is necessary to do not forget that extra megapixels do not routinely imply higher photographs. Nonetheless, given how a lot folks more and more depend on their entrance cameras to snap selfies and document movies for TikTok and Instagram, it will certainly be a welcome development.

A sky blue iPhone 17 Professional

It is not clear what colours can be included within the iPhone 17’s lineup. However in April, Bu stated the iPhone 17 Professional and Professional Max might embody a sky blue choice. In an article, Bu wrote that “sources near the availability chain verify that a number of iPhone 17 Professional prototypes have been made in varied colours, with Sky Blue at the moment the frontrunner.” 

Bu describes the sky blue coloration as being “much more gorgeous than the much-loved Sierra Blue of the iPhone 13 Professional, with a brightness and refinement that make it irresistible.” (My colleague Jeff Carlson is not so thrilled about this rumor.)

iOS 19 might carry a contemporary look

Concerning what’s on the within, Apple is reportedly trying to revamp its cell working system with the discharge of iOS 19. In line with Bloomberg, this “contains updating the fashion of icons, menus, apps, home windows and system buttons.” Sources reportedly advised the publication that Apple is “working to simplify the way in which customers navigate and management their gadgets,” and that the design borrows from the Imaginative and prescient Professional‘s working system. As an example, VisionOS options extra round app icons and translucent navigation panels. It is potential what you may see in your future iPhone might extra intently mirror this aesthetic.

The software program revamp would reportedly prolong to iPad and Mac, due to this fact bringing consistency throughout Apple’s gadgets. Bloomberg notes this might be the largest software program shakeup since macOS Huge Sur’s launch in 2020 and iOS 7’s launch in 2013.

Different potential options

The rumors on what frames the iPhone 17 lineup will function have gone forwards and backwards, however Pu just lately urged the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Professional and iPhone 17 Professional Max will all have aluminum frames. He famous that the iPhone 17 Air might be the outlier with a titanium body. 

Moreover, the iPhone 17 Professional Max might have a narrower Dynamic Island, due to a smaller Face ID sensor. Pu has stated the Dynamic Island on different iPhone 17 fashions would reportedly keep the identical dimension. 

In February, Kuo famous Apple will swap out Broadcom’s Wi-Fi chips for in-house chips throughout the iPhone 17 lineup, stating this might “improve connectivity throughout Apple gadgets.” It is not but clear what precisely this might imply, however it could be attention-grabbing if Apple’s C1 chip have been accompanied by its personal Wi-Fi chip, too.

In April, tipster Digital Chat Station famous that given the usage of Apple Intelligence and AI on a “giant scale,” all of the telephones will include 12GB of RAM. Digital Developments notes this aligns with earlier solutions from Kuo, which provides the rumor some added weight. The iPhone 16 lineup tops out at 8GB of RAM, so this might be a notable leap. 

We’ll proceed to replace this piece as extra rumors floor, so you’ll want to observe alongside.