iPhone 17 Air was supposed to be a portless smartphone but regulations ruined it
Apple has been hard at work designing a replacement model for the iPhone Plus which itself was a replacement for the iPhone mini. This new iPhone 17 Air — a super slim variant of the upcoming iPhone 17 series — was apparently supposed to be the company’s first attempt at a portless future.
Portless smartphones are, at least in my opinion, a very interesting prospect for the future of the industry. While I’m still mad about the loss of the headphone jack I would rather companies go all in than force us to use dongles and wired chargers while denying us the 3.5 mm port. The iPhone 17 Air was supposed to be this vision of the future according to Apple insider Mark Gurman’s newsletter Power On.
Apple reportedly scrapped its original idea because of fears about the EU. The EU has already forced the company to adopt several changes it didn’t want to and is scrutinizing Apple’s business practices even further. Apple recently discontinued the last iPhone models still rocking the Lightning port in the EU to comply with new regulations.
The company didn’t want to risk being told that its innovative new smartphone was violating EU law and thus gave up on the portless iPhone 17 Air. Apple also reduced the size of the iPhone 17 Air from 6.9 inches to around 6.6 inches to avoid the phone bending in people’s pockets like the infamous iPhone 6 Plus.
However the new phone also has a lot going for it. For starters the iPhone 17 Air will have a dense battery according to new reports. This will allow the phone to last just as long as its thicker counterparts. The iPhone 17 Air will also use the A19 chip — not the A19 Pro, though — and feature Apple’s in-house cellular modem that’s more power efficient.
iPhone 17 Air will also apparently only have one rear camera like the iPhone 16e. We’ve seen renders of the iPhone 17 Air that show what is likely the finalized design. And though it does remind me of a Google Pixel phone it looks quite nice nevertheless.
Portless smartphones are, at least in my opinion, a very interesting prospect for the future of the industry. While I’m still mad about the loss of the headphone jack I would rather companies go all in than force us to use dongles and wired chargers while denying us the 3.5 mm port. The iPhone 17 Air was supposed to be this vision of the future according to Apple insider Mark Gurman’s newsletter Power On.
The company didn’t want to risk being told that its innovative new smartphone was violating EU law and thus gave up on the portless iPhone 17 Air. Apple also reduced the size of the iPhone 17 Air from 6.9 inches to around 6.6 inches to avoid the phone bending in people’s pockets like the infamous iPhone 6 Plus.
The iPhone 16 will look like a very minor upgrade when the iPhone 17 comes out. | Video credit — Apple
However the new phone also has a lot going for it. For starters the iPhone 17 Air will have a dense battery according to new reports. This will allow the phone to last just as long as its thicker counterparts. The iPhone 17 Air will also use the A19 chip — not the A19 Pro, though — and feature Apple’s in-house cellular modem that’s more power efficient.
iPhone 17 Air will also apparently only have one rear camera like the iPhone 16e. We’ve seen renders of the iPhone 17 Air that show what is likely the finalized design. And though it does remind me of a Google Pixel phone it looks quite nice nevertheless.
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