TL;DR
- The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be a thin and light iPhone that replaces the Plus model.
- The thinness brings along compromises such as a singular rear camera, a single speaker, and worse battery life.
- Apple knows the battery life is poor, and the company’s solution to the problem it created is to sell you an optional battery case.
Apple has been hard at work on the iPhone 17 series, and the company seems intent on shaking things up in more ways than one. The iPhone 17 series is rumored to feature the iPhone 17 Air, a thin and light iPhone model that will replace the Plus model (which in turn replaced the Mini model). Unfortunately, a smaller footprint comes with compromises, and it seems there will be a fair few on the iPhone 17 Air, including the obvious hit to battery life.
According to a report from The Information, the iPhone 17 Air will have compromises such as a single speaker instead of two, a single rear camera instead of the usual three in Pro iPhones, and reduced battery life. The hit to battery life is so severe, the report states that Apple’s internal tests suggest just about 60-70% of users can go through a single day without recharging the thin phone, as compared to the usual 80-90% for other iPhone models.
Apple is said to be countering this with an optional accessory: a phone case containing a battery pack. There’s no further information on the case specifications.
Apple introduced a Smart Battery Case in 2015 for the iPhone 6, and we can imagine the company revisiting the idea with the iPhone 17 Air. However, the Smart Battery Case of that era was widely criticized for being bulky and unattractive. It came with a 1,877mAh battery, which just about normalized the battery life on the iPhone 6. A Smart Battery Case for the iPhone 17 Air would have to rethink these cons and the fact that a battery case defeats the very point of a thin iPhone.
Apple iPhone 17 Air concept renders based on leaked design
The report also suggests that since the iPhone 17 Air doesn’t have a physical SIM slot, it could face issues being sold in certain prime regions like China, where eSIM-only phones aren’t allowed to be sold. Note that Apple sells eSIM-only iPhones in the US, so this limitation isn’t really of concern to us in the US.
A leak from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggests that Apple does have plans for the Air/Slim lineup. Kuo mentions that Apple is on track to release the iPhone 18 Slim in the second half of 2026, followed by an iPhone 19 Slim in the second half of 2027. The iPhone 19 Slim is said to have a larger display than its predecessors. It remains to be seen what Apple ends up calling this thin iPhone variant.
