My 4 doubts concerning the iPhone 17 Air

One thing you are going to hear much more buzz about within the subsequent a number of months is the iPhone 17 Air, generally dubbed the iPhone 17 Slim. There’s at all times loads of hype round any new iPhone mannequin, even when it seems to be an incremental improve just like the iPhone 16 series. Nonetheless, the Air might be Apple’s first main design overhaul because the iPhone 11, wanting in contrast to most smartphones, not to mention final 12 months’s fashions.

I am skeptical of how good the Air will probably be for just a few causes. Keep in mind that these factors are all based mostly on rumors — I am totally anticipating some particulars to alter. I am additionally genuinely hoping that the product will succeed and break any doubt I may need, so that you may virtually contemplate it recommendation for Apple, assuming they’ve any room for adjustments this late into the product cycle.

1 Apple has a blended observe file with skinny gadgets

The specter of a brand new Bendgate

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A decade in the past, Apple bumped into severe controversy (and authorized issues) when individuals found that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus — particularly the latter — have been just a little too straightforward to bend. In case you weren’t paying consideration, you might even bend the telephones by sitting down with them in your pocket. It was a fairly potent deal-killer for a tool that price a number of hundred {dollars}. Court docket paperwork later revealed that Apple had lengthy been conscious of the problem in personal, regardless of public makes an attempt to dismiss any complaints.

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You’d assume Apple would’ve realized its lesson, however the firm’s obsession with thinness has created subsequent issues on a smaller scale. Primarily, I am pondering of the 2018 iPad Professional, for which you will discover loads of examples of bending on-line.

Apple appears to have made 2024 iPads just a little extra sturdy, however the specter of Bendgate looms within the background, and iPhones do not have individuals as enthralled as they used to. An argument with the iPhone 17 Air may steer hundreds or hundreds of thousands of shoppers in direction of Android telephones.

2 Thinness is getting precedence over specs

Individuals do not care that a lot about slim gadgets

You’d assume that the radically completely different model of the iPhone 17 could be the one with the perfect specs, however that is not what rumors are saying. As a substitute, the Air is anticipated to exchange Plus-model iPhones, sitting between the bottom iPhone 17 and the 17 Professional. Sure, the Air ought to have issues like an A19 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 6.6-inch, 120Hz ProMotion show, however do not count on any greater than two rear cameras. It might have as few as one, in line with analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, though I personally doubt that except Apple equips it with variable zoom.

The consensus appears to be that Apple is hoping a slim design will probably be a promoting level by itself. I feel Apple is overestimating how a lot that issues anymore — certain, many individuals will probably be attracted by the brand new aesthetic, however most telephones are skinny sufficient to suit comfortably in a pocket lately. I am going to wager that when you requested the typical individual, they’d take two-day battery life or a less expensive worth over thinness each time. However these are not acceptable concepts in Apple’s boardrooms, so right here we’re.

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3 The worth might be astronomical

How a lot are bragging rights actually value?

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It has been claimed by The Information that the iPhone 17 Air may truly price greater than the iPhone 16 Professional Max, which begins at an eye-watering $1,199. It is one other rumor I am cautious of, however sadly, I may see it coming true. Apple has lengthy focused a “premium” market, by which it actually means richer consumers are keen to pay for pure luxurious. There is a purpose the corporate even dared to ship the Vision Pro for $3,500 when the $500 Meta Quest 3 exists.

Some individuals have the disposable earnings to purchase telephones based mostly purely on aesthetics, however that is not most of Apple’s base, I can assure. iPhone improve cycles are getting longer, upwards of three years, and even then some persons are shopping for older fashions to avoid wasting money. An Air costing as a lot or greater than a Professional Max may arrive useless within the water.

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4 The iPhone 17 Air could also be shortly eclipsed

Why settle for compromises now when you are able to do higher by ready just a bit longer?

Cheap hypothesis by Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman means that the Air will ultimately change into the template for all iPhones. As soon as Apple solves pioneering design and miniaturization points — in different phrases, there will not be any must cost additional for mid-tier specs, and you can get Professional-level specs in an Air type issue.

I name it cheap as a result of Apple adopted the very same template with 2017’s iPhone X. The following 12 months, we did not simply get the iPhone XS and XS Max, however an inexpensive different, the iPhone XR — a deal adequate that I went out and purchased one myself.

Gurman argues that we cannot see the Air design change into widespread till 2027, however even when it takes that lengthy, some individuals will understandably check out the Air’s specs and worth and determine they’d be higher off ready a 12 months or two. As issues are, rumors recommend the Air might be a compromised middleground nobody requested for, like a mediocre model of the iPhone X.

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