On September 9, Apple is scheduled to introduce a major ‘shake up’ to its iPhone 17 launch, as the company’s ‘Plus’ variant is expected to be replaced by an ‘Air’ version that is reported to flaunt the slimmest chassis from the company’s entire lineup. As you can imagine, this design choice will arrive with a fair degree of compromises, but according to the latest pricing estimates, the company will charge a fair amount of money for its sleek flagship, to the point where it does not even warrant a modicum of attention.
Base iPhone 17 model’s price estimated to remain unchanged, iPhone 17 Air may arrive with double the internal memory as standard
The latest details from TrendForce state that the iPhone 17 Air will start from $1,099 and arrive with 256GB of internal storage. Looking at the price alone, a brand new iPhone 16 Pro oozes better value because it starts from $999, features a bigger battery, and has a more robust camera system. The report also states that the iPhone 17 Pro will cost $1,199, making it a whopping $200 price bump compared to its immediate predecessor. The only saving grace is that, instead of 128GB of storage, it will ship with 256GB as standard. As for the ‘top dog,’ the iPhone 17 Pro Max is estimated to start from $1,299.
Only the base iPhone 17’s price is expected to remain unchanged, starting from $799, making it a massive $300 difference from the iPhone 17 Air. As for why we cannot recommend Apple’s ‘super slim’ offering, as stated above, it comes with too many compromises. For starters, it is only packing a single rear camera at the back, which is embarrassing, and even if Apple incorporates some advanced computational techniques to improve image quality when zooming in digitally, there is a ‘day and night’ difference between leveraging software compared to hardware.
When we last reported about the iPhone 17 Air’s battery, its capacity was a mere 2,900mAh, with Apple mulling to bring an attachable accessory that would deliver more runtime because the technology giant’s internal tests displayed poor ‘screen time’ endurance. The iPhone 17 Air will be the company’s second handset to feature the in-house C1 5G modem, the same one found in the iPhone 16e, meaning that the device will lose out on mmWave connectivity. While this lack of an upgrade will not matter to some, if customers are paying upwards of $1,000, they should have the best hardware available at their fingertips.
Morgan Stanley, on the other hand, believes that the iPhone 17 Air will be priced at $999, which is still a ridiculous amount of money, but if the device garners the same level of popularity as the iPhone 16 Plus, we will hardly be surprised.
News Source: TrendForce
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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