Apple iPhone 17 Air Promises Curious Design Change, New Leak Says
Updated May 5 with more iPhone 17 Air design details and more focus on the USB-C port, plus details of future Air models in subsequent years.
When this fall's iPhones are revealed, there's one that's creating a lot of buzz. That model, nicknamed iPhone 17 Air, will be super-slim, as little as 5.5mm thick. But a new dummy has emerged which shows a curious redesign of the USB-C port. Here's why it's so curious and it comes at a time when interest in the new phone is growing. And there's already a report on subsequent iPhone Air models.
Let's start with that. Respected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo from TFI Securities has published a schedule of iPhones, as he sees it, from now until the second half of 2027. There are some intriguing details, but here we'll stick to what it means for the Air models, or 'iPhone 17 Slim,' as Kuo calls it.
His belief is that the second half of this year will see the launch of the first model, the iPhone 17 Slim. We can be confident this means in September, as that's the routine month for iPhone releases.
Then, in the second half of 2026, alongside several iPhone 18 handsets, there will be the iPhone 18 Slim. So far, so unsurprising, although it's good to note that Kuo believes the Air will be an annual release, not a less frequent one like the SE used to be, for instance.
But when we get to what Kuo terms '2H27,' the comment is different. 'iPhone 19 Slim (with a larger display vs. 18 Slim),' is how Kuo describes that year's release. Apple regularly uses the same design two years' running, so the prospect that Apple is already planning a third Air or Slim with a bigger screen will appeal to many — assuming it lives up to the excitement it has already generated before it has even officially been acknowledged.
Back to that design upgrade with a possibly ugly changed to the USB-C socket and its surrounding antenna band.
Previous rumors about the 17 Air have been promising, such as better performance than expected, hints about new colors, and how its thinness compared to the rest of the range could be remarkable.
The latest dummies being exhibited by leakers, such as this one released in a video by Apple Track, are exceptionally detailed. The video compares the dummy of the 17 Air to the current iPhone 16 Pro, and the difference in thickness is striking — and the difference will be even more pronounced if rumors about the iPhone 17 Pro Max design prove true.
But the cost of that 5.5mm svelte design could come at the cost of symmetry on the base of the phone. That's because, as pointed out by MacRumors, 'Achieving this level of thinness is unlikely to come without compromise. Dummy models… suggest that Apple has made some subtle adjustments to accommodate internal components in the tighter chassis. Most notably, the USB-C port on the bottom edge is no longer centered front-to-back,' it points out.
The dummy seems to show the socket is closer to the rear of the device than the front, which is 'likely to accommodate display components within the enclosure,' the report claims.
Look closely within the USB-C port and the central element around which the hollow USB-C connector wraps when you plug it in, seems to be a little off-center, too, sitting lower than the middle.
For many, this will look a little off, to say the least. But let's put this in perspective. There is a limit to how thin a display can be, while still accommodating touch capabilities and so on. So, it seems probably that the USB-C socket couldn't be any closer to the screen, so the only way to achieve the maximum thinness is to move it off-center. Add in that it's a part of the phone you literally only look at if you're plugging in a cable and it seems likely this is going to be no problem, after all.
In terms of symmetry, it's also worth noting that the leaked dummy shows two perforations on either side of the USB-C port. That's symmetrical, at least, unlike the iPhone 17 Pro Max, for instance, which has six holes on one side and four on the other.
Two holes suggests the speaker may not be as potent as it is on other iPhones, but we'll have to see. Note that the iPhone 17 Air is expected to dispense with the SIM card tray as well, which would be the first iPhone sold outside the U.S. designed for eSIM only.
Interest in the phone is at a high, with 9to5Mac predicting the Air could soar in the sales charts thanks to its thin profile, for a start. Then there's a 'just-right' 6.6-inch screen size which could make the iPhone easier to use one-handed than is the case with the Pro Max iPhones, especially the latest model with its 6.9-inch display. Finally, it points out, the new design feels like the future, intriguing customers just as the iPhone X did back in 2017.
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