iPhone 17 Air Was Supposed to Offer Port-Free Design, But Apple Canned the Plan: Mark Gurman

iPhone 17 series rumours have been circulating on the Web for some time now. The lineup is expected to include iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air (or iPhone 17 Slim), iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max, and expected to launch in the second quarter of the year. The iPhone 17 Air is believed to debut as Apple's thinnest phone to date and is likely to replace the Plus variant. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has now revealed more details about the upcoming slim iPhone. The brand reportedly considered launching the iPhone 17 Air without any ports.

In his weekly Power On newsletter, Mark Gurman claims that Apple initially planned to make the iPhone 17 Air "Apple's first completely port-free iPhone" with wireless charging support and data syncing accomplished via the cloud. He states that the upcoming Air model will "foreshadow a move to slimmer models without charging ports." The brand reportedly shelved this plan to avoid potential consequences from European Union (EU) regulators. In recent years, the EU pushed Apple to replace the old Lightning charging port with the USB Type-C on its iPhone models.

The iPhone 17 Air's skinny build necessitated a thinner battery, and that often means less battery life. Gurman said that Apple didn't want to compromise on iPhone 17 Air's battery life and it asked engineers to redesign the display, silicon components and software, to make the device more efficient.

iPhone 17 Air Specifications (Expected)

The iPhone 17 Air is anticipated to arrive as Apple's thinnest phone to date with a 9.5mm thick profile Including the camera bump. The camera bump on the phone is said to have a thickness of 4mm. It is likely to boast a 6.6-inch OLED display with a 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate and the Dynamic Island. It is tipped to feature a 24-megapixel selfie camera and a 48-megapixel single rear camera. It is likely to ship with a Titanium frame. It is said to include Apple's first 5G modem and Wi-Fi chip.

As per past leaks, the iPhone 17 Air could be priced between $1,299 and $1,500 (roughly Rs. 1,09,00 to 1,26,000). It is said to include an A18 or A19 chip with support for 8GB RAM and Apple Intelligence features.