iPhone 17 Air's Ultra-Thin Design Will Result in These 3 Missing Features
The thin and light design of Apple's rumored "iPhone 17 Air" will require some compromises. The device is rumored to lack three features found on many iPhone models, including a bottom speaker, an Ultra Wide camera, and a SIM card slot internationally.
The Information last year reported that the ultra-thin iPhone 17 model will have only a single speaker, built into the earpiece at the top of the device. This rumor appears to be accurate, as 3D renders of the iPhone 17 Air that have surfaced in recent weeks show only a few holes on the bottom edge of the device, which are likely for microphones.
Like the iPhone 16e, the iPhone 17 Air is expected to be equipped with a single 48-megapixel rear Fusion camera, which is a main 1× camera combined with a 2× zoom option with "optical-like" quality. This means the iPhone 17 Air would lack an Ultra Wide camera for 0.5× photos, but this extra internal space should allow for a larger battery.
Apple started phasing out the physical SIM card slot on iPhones in the U.S. with the iPhone 14 lineup in 2022, so it should come as no surprise that the iPhone 17 Air is also expected to work with digital eSIMs only in that country. However, The Information reported that Apple planned to eliminate the SIM card slot on iPhones in more countries this year, so the iPhone 17 Air might only work with eSIMs internationally too.
Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 17 Air in September.
Popular Stories
Apple today announced it will be permanently closing three retail stores in the U.S. in June, including Apple Trumbull in Trumbull, Connecticut, Apple North County in Escondido, California, and Apple Towson Town Center in Towson, Maryland.
Apple Towson Town Center in Maryland
Apple issued the following statement to MacRumors:At Apple, we are constantly striving to deliver exceptional service...
The all-new MacBook Neo has been such a hit that Apple is facing a "massive dilemma," according to Taiwan-based tech columnist and former Bloomberg reporter Tim Culpan.
In the iPhone 16 Pro models, the A18 Pro chip has a 6-core GPU. During the chip manufacturing process, however, sometimes a CPU or GPU core can turn out to be faulty. Rather than discarding the leftover A18 Pro chips with...
Apple today released a minor iOS 26.4.1 update for the iPhone 11 and newer. While the release notes for the update only mention unspecified "bug fixes," we have since learned about two specific changes that are included in it.
First, 9to5Mac spotted an Apple Developer Forums thread suggesting that iOS 26.4.1 fixes an iOS 26.4 bug that affected iCloud syncing in some apps.
Second, an...
Popular Stories
Apple discounted the iPhone Air by up to 30% on its official UK Amazon storefront last month, in a steep and highly unusual direct price reduction, and at least one color sold out entirely.
The sale price brought the 256GB iPhone Air down to as low as £699 across two colorways (Sky Blue and Space Black), both reduced from their original £999 price. Sky Blue has since sold out entirely,...
Apple plans to release an updated iPhone Air and a lower-end iPhone 18e early next year, according to the latest word from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In a report this week, he said Apple plans to unveil the two devices in spring 2027, alongside a standard iPhone 18. If so, Apple will likely announce the trio of devices in March or April next year. It is unclear if there will be a live-streamed ...
Despite the iPhone Air's struggling sales, a known leaker claims Apple will push ahead with at least two generations of the device, while also suggesting the standard iPhone 18 will see virtually no exterior design changes.
In a recent post on Weibo, the leaker known as "Fixed Focus Digital" said that the standard iPhone 18 will not have substantial changes to its design, reinforcing rumors...
