Home
News
You are here

Let's be real, the iPhone 17 Air will be a hit... if Apple doesn't push the price point too far

By Adrian Diaconescu

Updated: Nov 26, 2024, 12:15 PM

3comments

We interrupt our coverage of the best Black Friday deals from across the web and your search for the perfect Christmas gifts for all those you care about to tackle a topic that may seem insignificant at the moment, but that's likely to be on everyone's lips and minds roughly this time next year.

Yes, I'm looking to claim bragging rights when I'll inevitably be proven correct about one of Apple's "next big things." How can I be so certain that will happen? Because I've heard pessimistic early predictions on products like the iPhone 17 Air before, and they've rarely coincided with the ultimate commercial reality.

Like it or not, (almost) everything that Apple touches turns to gold

I know what you're going to say. "iPhoneArena" is at it again, praising Apple's product launch strategy like it's the second coming of Christ and finding faults with everyone else in the industry. But here's the thing: I personally hate that Apple is very likely to do without the Plus member of next year's iPhone 17 family in favor of an Air (or Slim, or Ultra) model that I don't think the market needs.

I was also incredibly sad to see that Plus variant replace the Mini to begin with in 2022, but I'm not going to let my feelings towards (truly) compact handsets and unnecessarily thin smartphones cloud my judgment. As such, I have to respectfully disagree with Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today and advise Apple haters who are expecting the 2025 iPhone 17 Air to flop to tone down their hopes.

The iPhone 16 Plus can only be considered a flop by Apple's insanely high standards. | Image Credit -- PhoneArena

I realize I'm going out on a limb by opposing the view of one of the most reliable Apple leakers and respected tech industry analysts out there, but I see way too much iPhone 17 Air advertising potential to believe this will suffer the same unfortunate fate as the iPhone 15 Plus or iPhone 12 mini.

Also, here's another topic where I don't see eye to eye with Gurman and many pundits like Gurman. I don't think the iPhone 16 Plus has "fallen flat" (and I have a couple of reports to back that), and while the iPhone 13 mini was definitely a box-office disappointment by all objective signs and standards, the causes of that failure are unlikely to translate to the iPhone 17 Air.

I strongly believe diminutive iPhones never found a large audience because potential buyers saw their small screens as a sign of weakness... that wasn't necessarily reflected in their price points. The iPhone 17 Air, meanwhile, is widely expected to exude premiumness (is that even a word?) and classiness, just as the popular iPad Air (2024) duo does.

I feel like that's a much more fitting parallel to draw than the one between the iPhone 17 Air and the MacBook Air lineup, and while I do realize that products like the Vision Pro and AirPods Max haven't exactly "turned to gold", I don't expect that to dictate what will happen to this already divisive next-gen iOS handset in any way.

Will you buy the iPhone 17 Air?

Mind you, I'm not asking if you should get this slimmed-down high-ender when it will (purportedly) see daylight. Because the answer to that question is most likely a resounding no for a vast majority of Apple fans and especially for non-fans.

But will you be convinced by the company's undoubtedly aggressive marketing to go for a thinner, lighter, and prettier device than anything we've ever seen from Apple? Be honest, you're not ruling that out today, and you will certainly find the temptation extremely hard to resist once the iPhone 17 Air is actually within reach.

Do we need a significantly thinner device than the iPhone 16 Pro Max? Probably not. Do we inexplicably crave one? Absolutely. | Image Credit -- PhoneArena

Let's be real, some buying decisions are logical and carefully thought-out, while others... not so much. This will probably fall into the latter category for millions of people around the world, and knowing Apple, creating a strong value proposition (at least at first glance) for the iPhone 17 Air shouldn't be a big problem either.

Just picture your battery life concerns being brushed away by software optimizations, the rumored use of a non-Pro A19 chipset buried under a mountain of "energy efficiency" propaganda, and the price point set slightly below that of the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

No, the latter puzzle piece doesn't line up with some recent speculation, but it's still early days and I HIGHLY doubt that the iPhone 17 Air will end up actually costing more than its Pro Max sibling. In that unlikely case and only in that unlikely case, I can agree that Apple would face an uphill battle turning its "superthin" 2025 iPhone into a commercial hit of biblical proportions.

View Full Bio

Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.