Apple Planned To Do A First With iPhone 17 Air, Make It Fully Port-Free And Powered By Cloud

The iPhone 17 Air will go on sale this autumn. It will likely be the thinnest iPhone of them all. Bit astonishingly, Apple was planning to do another massive first with the iPhone 17 Air and make it its first port-free iPhone, according to Bloomberg columnist Mark Gurman. Apple reportedly contemplated making the first "completely port-free iPhone," with all data transferring and charging carried out wirelessly and through the Cloud.

Following his January story that Apple was adding an "Air" option to its iPhone lineup, Gurman has provided additional information regarding the impending thinner iPhone 17 Air. According to Gurman, the iPhone 17 Air will go on sale this autumn. Similar to the MacBook Air, it will have a smaller profile than regular iPhones.

According to Gurman, Apple was planning to make the iPhone 17 Air the first port-free iPhone. However, due in part to worries about the potential reaction of European authorities, who have required smartphone manufacturers to accept USB-C ports, Apple has chosen not to pursue the port-free iPhone 17 Air for the time being.

Apple developers had to reportedly put in a "Herculean effort" to make a phone that was slimmer and had a smaller battery without compromising its life.

Regarding the iPhone 17 Air battery, Gurman noted, "Skinnier phones require thinner batteries, and that often mean fewer hours of battery life. Apple didn't want to compromise here, so it sent engineers back to the drawing board to redesign display and silicon components, as well as software, to make the device more efficient. He added its battery life will be "on par with current iPhones."

Gurman claims that the iPhone 17 Air will borrow some features from the iPhone 16 Pro. This includes ProMotion and Camera Control. While there were rumours that all iPhone 17 models will have ProMotion, there was a question mark over Camera Control. However, Gurman indicates that iPhone 17 Air will feature Camera Control despite its thinner profile.

The slimmest iPhone is anticipated to measure just 5.5mm and have a 6.6-inch screen. There will be some compromises as well: only one back camera and no second speaker. 

Other features reported earlier include the A19 chip, C1 modem, single 48MP main camera, and Dynamic Island.

According to Gurman, the iPhone 17 Air might retail for about $899 in the US, placing it in the same price range as the iPhone 16 Plus.