'Sleek Peek': Apple May Tease iPhone 17 Air At WWDC 2025, Along With iOS 26

We're just days away from a "sleek peek" into Apple's tech world at the Worldwide Developers Conference from June 9-13. A week before the keynote, Apple changed its "On the horizon" tagline with the "Sleek peek" one on its WWDC page.

The tagline is being assumed to refer to the upcoming sleek new design of Apple's operating systems, sporting a glass-like, visionOS-inspired appearance, and the rebranded iOS 26 (from iOS 19 earlier), as per experts.

However, rumour also has it that the "Sleek peek" tagline goes beyond software and hints at sleek new hardware too: the purported new iPhone 17 Air.

Apple may offer a glimpse of the "sleek" design of the iPhone 17 Air at WWDC, even though the phone is unlikely to premiere there. The iPhone 17 Air will likely see an official release only in September with the rest of the iPhone 17 lineup comprising iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Apple intends to use this new Air model to replace the Plus model in the iPhone lineup. The iPhone 17 Air is also reportedly influenced by the incredibly thin iPad Pro from the previous year, which has a profile of only 5.1mm.

The WWDC, although software-heavy, has been a platform where Apple usually throws a few surprises in the form of hardware. With the whole “sleek peek” talk, the event might well be a curtain raiser for the slimmest smartphone that Apple has ever put out.

The iPhone 17 Air could boast an extremely thin 5.5mm profile — narrower than the 6.9mm iPhone 6 — and weigh just 146 gm. Some compromises to go with the “Air” form include a single 48MP rear lens and 24MP front sensor, a 2,800mAh battery (around 20% smaller than that of iPhone 16), and aluminium frame.

The iPhone 17 Air is also likely to feature a 6.6-inch display, powered by the next-gen A19 chip, and Apple’s in-house C1 modem.