Report: Apple believes vast majority of customers will not buy the iPhone 17 Air

Apple is expected to bring four new iPhone models in September this year, like it does every year, but with a twist. It will be replacing the Plus model with a new thinner and lighter iPhone 17 Air. However, according to a new report, Apple itself is unsure if people will buy this model and is said to be focussing its production on the other three variants.

The recent report from The Information (via Spyglass) that claimed Apple is planning to shake things up with its iPhone release schedule, backed by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, also included some details about the iPhone 17 Air. It stated that the company is not sure about the demand for the iPhone 17 Air in particular, which is why it will only dedicate 10% of it’s the production capacity in Asia towards this model. The main focus will be the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Pro models that will get around 40% and 25% capacity respectively.

This uncertainty is due to several compromises that the iPhone 17 Air is expected to make due to its slim form factor. The phone is said to come with a smaller battery that will not last a full day for a larger number of users compared to the other models. To combat this, Apple is said to release a phone case with a battery pack alongside the iPhone 17 Air. Secondly, the phone is said to come with a single rear camera and a single speaker. 

Till now, these are the expected compromises that the iPhone 17 Air is said to come with, but there could be more as new information comes out closer to launch. It should be noted that Apple has not shared any information on the iPhone 17 lineup or when it will be unveiled.

This idea of slimming down phones is not limited to Apple as Samsung is also close to releasing its Galaxy S25 Edge, a slim flagship, expected on May 13.