Mark Gurman today shared some new details about the rumored iPhone 17 Air. In his PowerOn newsletter, Gurman said he's been told the device could start at around $899 in the US, which would mean it would occupy the same price point as the iPhone 16 Plus. This is also reasonable, because the industry has been rumored that the Air model will replace the Plus model in the iPhone product line.
Despite the rumored iPhone 17 Air's ultra-thin and lightweight design, Gurman said its battery life will be "comparable to current iPhones," although he did not mention specific models. Presumably, this means that the battery life of the device will be at least as good as the lowest-end iPhone 16 model, which is also quite unexpected.
Gurman said Apple has optimized its hardware and software to make the iPhone 17 Air more power efficient. The rumored iPhone 17 Air has three features that will help the device provide longer battery life than imagined, including a higher energy density battery, Apple's energy-efficient C1 modem, and the absence of a wide-angle camera to provide more body space for a larger battery.
Gurman said the iPhone 17 Air will feature the camera control buttons that debuted on all iPhone 16 models last year. This is the first time the device is rumored to come with this feature. This button provides quick access to the camera and related settings, but some people find it cumbersome and disable it. He also revealed that the borders around the iPhone 17 Air screen will apparently be as thin as those of the iPhone 16 Pro model.
Some of the other iPhone 17 Air specs he mentioned have been rumored before, including a 6.6-inch display with 120Hz Pro Motion support, Smart Island, a standard A19 chip instead of an A19 Pro chip, a single 48-megapixel rear camera, a C1 modem, and seemingly no physical SIM card slot globally.
Not surprisingly, the iPhone 17 Air will be released in September this year.