iPhone 17 Air breach report says a lot about Apple’s thinking

We’ve known for some time that the iPhone 17 Air would have to make compromises to achieve its ultra-thin design, but a new report yesterday reveals that buyers will have to make even more sacrifices than we thought. This suggests that you may be paying.

The fact that Apple is willing to drastically reduce its devices says a lot about the company’s thinking, not just this particular model.

Compromised iPhone 17 Air

It was previously reported that the ultra-slim model would have just one camera.

Most notably, Kuo said that the iPhone 17 Slim will have only one rear camera. The iPhone 17, on the other hand, is expected to have a dual-camera design, while the iPhone 17 Pro model will have three rear cameras.

That may not be considered a negative for anyone. There are many people who dislike the look of the Pro model’s chunky camera module, and who prefer the simplicity of a single camera.

I think the target market for the iPhone 17 Air actually considers the single camera to be a plus point. First, they replace the visual clutter of an impressive three-lens camera module with a simpler single lens (perhaps centered rather than offset). Second, it provides a simpler usage experience. There is no decision making, just aim and shoot.

We’ve also heard that Apple is willing to compromise on battery life, but is having trouble implementing its planned approach.

Yesterday’s report identified two further compromises. First, the performance of the wireless chip is inferior.

The iPhone 17 Air will be “one of the first iPhones” to use Apple’s in-house 5G modem, which isn’t as powerful as Qualcomm’s. Peak speeds are low and the ability to stay connected to cellular networks is somewhat unreliable, officials said. Apple’s internal modems also don’t support millimeter wave, a technology introduced with the iPhone 12 that allows for faster cellular speeds in certain regions.

At this point, the lack of mmWave functionality doesn’t mean much. It is clear that this technology is not yet widespread. While carriers saw initial marketing benefits from the promise of gigabit speeds, they quickly lost interest in the large infrastructure investments required to roll it out at any meaningful level. But it’s even more surprising that Apple is willing to offer a flagship iPhone with unreliable and slow standard 5G connectivity.

Second, there is no physical SIM slot.

Finally, information Apple engineers say they have yet to find a way to install a physical SIM card tray on the iPhone 17 Air.

As we pointed out at the time, this isn’t a big deal in the US or many other countries where eSIM is the norm. However, as it stands, it will be impossible to sell this model in China, where a physical SIM slot is a regulatory requirement.

This tells us about Apple’s thinking

All in all, Apple seems willing to make a surprising number of compromises just to get a slightly slimmer iPhone model.

That in itself doesn’t make much sense. This model will definitely hit the market, but Apple will only have to wait a year before it can resolve some of the difficulties it has encountered so far, most importantly battery life and mobile data reliability. That would be good.

Despite the challenges, the fact that it appears to be moving aggressively forward with plans to launch the iPhone 17 Air suggests that the company doesn’t see this as a single model issue. Perhaps the company sees this as a more sophisticated future for the iPhone.

Further support for this view can be found in a memo from Apple’s head of hardware, John Tarnas, in which he calls the next iPhone model “the most ambitious in product history.”

All of this together makes it seem like this isn’t about one model in the lineup, but rather the first step towards a new form factor that will roll out across the iPhone range. The Air may have one camera, but Apple is likely looking for a less clunky way to incorporate multiple cameras into something more similar to the iPhone 17 Air’s chassis.

A slimmer chassis is also key to future folding iPhones. Apple has resisted this trend so far, and I suspect it’s because they’re not happy with the thickness and screen sacrifices required of existing models. But if you can slim down the case, you can fold that slim unit in half and get a more Apple-like device.

Essentially, this is Apple’s next iPhone X. Initially a premium model alongside more traditional models, its design represents the future of iPhone. The push for this first new model suggests the company wants to reach that future quickly.

Rendering: Michael Bower/9to5Mac