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All-New 'iPhone 17 Air' Rumored to Feature Single 48MP Rear Camera, 8GB of RAM, and More
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I’m thinking more a thin iPhone 17 Plus with either a Plus or base Pro price point.
Is this your predicted lineup next year or just a wish/suggestion?
If predicted, I'm a little confused. Why is there an iPhone Mini (since it was discontinued)? And is the "iPhone" supposed to be the SE? Remember there are two sizes each of iPad Airs and iPad Pros--are you suggesting there will be two sizes of iPhone Airs?
nope - because many of us didnt buy the new iPhones! I’m rocking the 14PM now and will be upgrading to one of these 17 line phones. As of right now, the rumors suggest all four phones may be possible replacements. Like others, I struggle to see why the Air, as currently rumored, is a better buy than even a base 17 model. There are some key missing data points
Take a look at the name of this web site. If you don’t want to hear rumors about new Apple products, it might be a good idea to stay away from the site for a while - because Mac Rumors are what they do.
I think I see the vision for this phone.
Its flagship ‘feature’ is the thinness and lightness. I think a lot of people will go for that. You’ll still have the pro models for people that want the most power, as well as the base models for people who want something less expensive.
Probably only has a single camera so they can make more internal space for battery. Probably the same reason they landed on the larger 6.6 in screen, only way to get decent battery life.
I’m really considering buying this next year, with the hardest sell being the single camera and the huge screen (I’m sad the mini is never coming back…)
Its flagship ‘feature’ is the thinness and lightness. I think a lot of people will go for that. You’ll still have the pro models for people that want the most power, as well as the base models for people who want something less expensive.
Probably only has a single camera so they can make more internal space for battery. Probably the same reason they landed on the larger 6.6 in screen, only way to get decent battery life.
I’m really considering buying this next year, with the hardest sell being the single camera and the huge screen (I’m sad the mini is never coming back…)
Gonna disagree with you on that, Apple doesn’t wait for a product to be mainstream before they release a product. They like to release a product in a niche market and take it into the mainstream. The MP3 player was a niche market until the iPod came along. Same with the tablet market. Touch screen smart phones, smart watches.. The foldable phone won’t become mainstream until Apple releases one and I think it will be soon.
c'mon. "17 Air"? Don't be silly.
Hopefully, the 17 will be heavier than the 16. Lightweight devices just feel cheap. It's why a Rolex is heavier than a Casio. No one wants tech that's lightweight.
Hopefully, the 17 will be heavier than the 16. Lightweight devices just feel cheap. It's why a Rolex is heavier than a Casio. No one wants tech that's lightweight.
While I will grant you tablets, MP3 players were much more of a thing before iPod than foldables are today. Same for smartphones before iPhone. A category is usually much bigger than what foldables is, before Apple jumps on. So while I agree with you that Apple takes an upcoming concept and takes it mainstream, it is usually a lot closer to maturity before Apple jumps on, than where foldables are now. So I disagree with the “soon” part. I think it is at least 3 years away.
In fact, I think it may never happen. I think it’s a quirky concept, and I don’t see it as the inevitable conclusion to evolution. There are two possible concepts, fold or flip. Fold will never cost less than double of a normal phone just by design, and while flip was popular (mostly in the US) back in the dumb-phone days, it makes a lot less sense for a smartphone that you glance at every other minute. Consider how many times you unlock your phone every day. Now imagine flipping open your phone every time - flip-flip-flip-flip. That would drive me nuts.
I think it’s one of those products where people like the idea of it, but once they start using it they find out it isn’t actually all that useful.
The ones I have seen in the wild (only fold by the way, no flips), the owner has been annoyingly pushy about showing pictures on it, to the point where I legitimately suspect that they are paid to do it.
Also, people are theorising that the “iPhone 17 Air” is a carrier for tech for a foldable. If it is, that just means that Apple is hedging their bets - they don’t want to get caught out without the ability to get on the band-wagon, but they still have the option to never do it.
I agree as a personal opinion, but downvoted because you said “no one wants…”. Many people want tech that’s lightweight. Ultra thin watches is a thing, and while they are not Rolexes, they are more premium than Casio. iPhone is also not a Rolex, it is more like a Seiko. Rolex doesn’t exist in the phone industry.
I’ve actually seen more flips in the wild than folds. I think I saw only two folds—both owned by slightly to very tech-y males. Several flips—owned by a few non-tech-y females, and one by a slightly tech-y male (he likes small phones, otherwise he probably would have gotten a fold). They all seem to like their phones.
One of the flips I saw was actually owned by a child. It makes me wonder if maybe flips are a good form factor for kids. Assuming good construction, they might be more durable in folded mode than a traditional phone, possibly able to withstand drops better because of their shape/size and of course the screen being on the inside. Of course, a good case could make anything withstand drops, but talking about inherently in naked form.
They may not release a foldable iPhone but we know that they have been working on them since they have several patents on foldable devices. I still think that some kind of flexible iPhone is coming. It may not be a foldable but they need to do something to get people interested in the iPhone again because new buttons, slim bezels and AI aren’t going to be selling points for long.
There is a similar dilemma with the Apple Watch 10 vs Ultra - neither is clearly better, you are picking between thinner and lighter or longer battery life. Both cover all of normal user use cases.
Actually, would they be able to do the 3d Vision videos or whatever with just a single camera? I don’t think that is a big concern for people but I expect apple to work that in to create reasons to get the Vision headset.
They don't "need" to do anything as long as the competitors' sales numbers are what they are. As long as they are working on being ready in case they need to be ready, they are not running behind anyone.
People are searching for an answer to a question that may not have an answer: How does Apple extend the life of the cash cow that is iPhone. There has never in history been a consumer product with the commercial success of the iPhone, and there may never be one in the future.
I'm guessing you are in the US, but even then the few Folds I have seen in the wild, I have seen on trips to US... Never saw a (edit) flip. Not saying my experience is more valid than yours, and your argument does make sense. In any case, I think the price of the current batch, whether fold or flip, dictates that anyone you saw using one is considered a first-mover, whether they are tech-y or not.
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You mean “never saw a flip”, right? Yes, I am in the US. I’m not really making any statement, just reporting what I saw, except for my drop durability hypothesizing. But I don’t think durability was the ultimate reason the child’s parents got her the flip. I assume it’s because they probably got some carrier deal, since her mom also has a flip and they aren’t super rich (nor tech-y).
The only other statement I would make though, from my extremely limited observation, I would hypothesize that females tend to like flips more than folds (probably because they prioritize portability), and tech-y men tend to like folds more than flips (probably because they prioritize large screens).
And I am sure that Apple would like to keep it that way. They are not innovating anymore, they are just refining and that is fine but they need an iPhone that they can use as a risk and I don't think that making a super thin iPhone is the answer.