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, typically 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. Nevertheless, the Air may very well be Apple’s first main design overhaul for the reason that iPhone 11, wanting not like most smartphones, not to mention final yr’s fashions.

I am skeptical of how good the Air might be for a number of causes. Keep in mind that these factors are all primarily based on rumors — I am absolutely 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 think about it recommendation for Apple, assuming they’ve any room for adjustments this late into the product cycle.

1 Apple has a blended monitor file with skinny gadgets

The specter of a brand new Bendgate

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A decade in the past, Apple bumped into critical controversy (and authorized issues) when folks found that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus — particularly the latter — had been slightly too simple to bend. Should you weren’t paying consideration, you possibly can even bend the telephones by sitting down with them in your pocket. It was a reasonably 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 difficulty in personal, regardless of public makes an attempt to dismiss any complaints.

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You’d assume Apple would’ve discovered 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’ll find loads of examples of bending on-line.

Apple appears to have made 2024 iPads slightly extra sturdy, however the specter of Bendgate looms within the background, and iPhones do not have folks as enthralled as they used to. An issue with the iPhone 17 Air might steer 1000’s or hundreds of thousands of consumers 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 totally different model of the iPhone 17 could be the one with the most effective specs, however that is not what rumors are saying. As an alternative, the Air is predicted to switch 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 anticipate any greater than two rear cameras. It might have as few as one, in keeping 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 might be a promoting level by itself. I believe Apple is overestimating how a lot that issues anymore — certain, many individuals might be attracted by the brand new aesthetic, however most telephones are skinny sufficient to suit comfortably in a pocket lately. I will wager that in case 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 may very well 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 might 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 might see it coming true. Apple has lengthy focused a “premium” market, by which it actually means richer customers are prepared to pay for pure luxurious. There is a cause the corporate even dared to ship the Vision Pro for $3,500 when the $500 Meta Quest 3 exists.

Some folks have the disposable revenue to purchase telephones primarily based 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 save lots of money. An Air costing as a lot or greater than a Professional Max may arrive lifeless within the water.

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4 The iPhone 17 Air could also be rapidly 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 grow to be the template for all iPhones. As soon as Apple solves pioneering design and miniaturization points — in different phrases, there will not be any have to cost additional for mid-tier specs, and you can get Professional-level specs in an Air kind issue.

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

Gurman argues that we cannot see the Air design grow to be widespread till 2027, however even when it takes that lengthy, some folks will understandably check out the Air’s specs and worth and determine they’d be higher off ready a yr or two. As issues are, rumors counsel the Air may very well be a compromised middleground nobody requested for, like a mediocre model of the iPhone X.

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