1 week Ago By Ben Lovejoy
The iPhone 17 Air has reportedly entered the new product introduction (NPI) phase – the first step toward manufacture of the ultra-thin model. Apple is believed to have prioritized a sleek design above feature set for the upcoming model, which may well be the most expensive one in the iPhone 17 line-up ..
. What we’re expecting from the iPhone 17 Air Apple has consistently had three iPhone models each year: The iPhone n The iPhone n Pro The iPhone n Pro Max The company has so far tried two different experiments with a fourth model – a mini and a Plus. The mini was, as the name suggests, a more pocketable version of the standard iPhone.
The Plus was a standard iPhone with a larger display. Next year we’re expecting Apple to try a third approach: the iPhone 17 Air. This would have a similar sized display to the iPhone 16 Plus, but would be much slimmer.
Reports have indicated that this will be Apple’s thinnest ever iPhone, at around 6mm thick , or 25% thinner than the standard model. Spec-wise, it’s expected to be closer to the base model than the Pro, but with just a single camera . Despite this, it’s been suggested that it may be the most expensive model in the line-up, Apple potentially hoping that there will be enough people willing to pay a substantial premium for the sleek design.
It’s likely intended as a first move into a slimmer form factor the company aims to replicate across the entire line-up in future . iPhone 17 Air enters new product introduction phase Digitimes reports that the upcoming model has now entered the first step toward manufacturing: the new product introduction (NPI) phase. This is the point at which Apple and its suppliers jointly assess the manufacturing feasibility of the intended design.
Product engineers at Apple work with production engineers at Foxconn to assess what manufacturing methods will be needed to assemble the device, and to ensure that the planned approaches appear practical. Typically, very small changes to the product design may be made at this stage to align with manufacturing capabilities. NPI will be followed by setting up a small-scale test production line to ensure that manufacturing theory and practice align.
iPhone 17 Air: Here’s everything we know so far Image: Michael Bower/9to5Mac.
