Apple (AAPL) will host its annual fall event on Sept. 9 at its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters, where the company is expected to debut its latest iPhone and Apple Watch lineups.
The biggest news from the show should be Apple’s highly anticipated iPhone 17 Air. Think of it as an iPhone that’s been dabbling in Ozempic like the rest of us. At 5.5 millimeters thin, it will be far slimmer than the standard iPhone and iPhone Pro. The standard iPhone is 7.8 millimeters thick, while the Pro is 8.3 millimeters thick.
According to Apple watcher Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, the Air’s thinner design could come with some tradeoffs. The phone, for instance, could have just a single wide-angle camera, rather than the dual-camera setup found on the base iPhone or triple-camera setup found on the Pros.
The phone will also reportedly come with a smaller battery, which, unless Apple is able to work some of its software wizardry, could impact battery life. That could make for a hard sell to consumers, who generally want phones with more cameras and larger batteries.
Case in point: Samsung’s own superthin Galaxy S25 Edge wasn’t exactly a volume seller when the company launched it earlier this year, Nabila Popal, senior research director at IDC, told Yahoo Finance.
But the iPhone 17 Air could also serve as a blueprint for Apple’s foldable iPhone, which Gurman said Apple will launch in 2026. Samsung followed a similar formula with the S25 Edge, debuting the thin phone and then revealing its Galaxy Z Fold 7 in July.
That phone, which features a design so thin that it barely has room for its USB-C port, is selling very well. Samsung said Fold 7 sales have jumped 50% versus its predecessor.
In addition to the iPhone 17 Air, Apple is also expected to debut its standard iPhone 17, as well as its iPhone 17 Pro and larger iPhone 17 Pro Max. The iPhone 17 Air will replace the older Plus model, which was the weakest seller of the main iPhones.
The 17 Air and standard 17 will come with Apple’s new A19 processor, while the Pros will get the company’s A19 Pro chips, Gurman reported.
According to Apple enthusiast site MacRumors, citing analyst Jeff Pu, the iPhone 17 Pros will get upgraded telephoto lenses along with a redesigned camera bump, making them more distinct from the current iPhone 16 Pros.
The iPhone 17 will also get a larger display, moving up to 6.3 inches from the iPhone 16’s 6.1-inch screen.
Wall Street analysts are also anticipating a price hike for the latest iPhones, ranging from $50 to $100 for the Air.
