Last week, Front Page Tech’s Jon Prosser produced renders of a bold new look for the iPhone 17 Pro with a thick raised camera block housing the familiar three lenses on the back.
At the time it looked rather odd considering recent Apple design aesthetics, but it makes a bit more sense when paired with Prosser’s latest video, which shows a related look for the iPhone 17 Air.
As the pictures show, the slimmest member of the iPhone family will have one rather thick part: a camera visor, which looks a lot like that used by the Google Pixel lineup since 2021. Only here, there’s a single lens in a throwback to an era when one camera was plenty.
“I will say at this stage in the year, designs are pretty much final for the entire iPhone lineup, so what I saw with my own eyes is what you see here in our recreated render,” Prosser says, while showcasing the pictures.
Paired with the previous renders, it all makes a lot more sense. “Apple is going to want their designs — even if they’re kind of funny — to look intentional and consistent,” Prosser explains. “The camera bar is up there nice and flush on the Air device, so it's got to be up there nice and flush on the Pro too.”
While Prosser will take a lot of credit if this does indeed prove to be the final look of the iPhone 17 Air, this isn’t actually the first time a more Pixel-like look has been tipped.
Back in December, the Chinese leaker Digital Chat Station suggested a horizontal camera bar was on the cards based on supply chain materials. At the same time, Jukanlosreve supplied what he claimed to be a frame for the upcoming handset showing what we’re seeing here.
In fact, just yesterday on Weibo, Digital Chat Station doubled down on his previous post by reiterating the presence of a “horizontal, bar-shaped” design for the Air, to accompany a “large horizontal matrix design” on the Pro.
Elsewhere in Prosser’s video, the leaker reiterates what we have long assumed: that this is a replacement for the iPhone 16 Plus, rather than the most expensive iPhone ever made, as suggested when rumors of an iPhone 17 Slim first emerged.
“From what I understand, this is less of an upgraded premium iPhone and moreso debuts as a sidegrade: a supplemental but complementary option sitting next to the regular base model,” he explains.
On the front, Dynamic Island will stick around, but in keeping with a skinny phone, it’s going to be a whole lot smaller. “It is hella thin — and you know I mean it, because I have never said ‘hella’ in my life.” He adds that he doesn’t know the exact dimensions, but rumors suggest it’ll be five to six milimeters thin.
We’re likely some way away from knowing if Prosser’s render is correct. Apple has released new numbered iPhones in September for over a decade — only switching to October when forced to by a global pandemic. That said, we are expecting the iPhone SE 4 — or possibly the iPhone 16E — to launch this week, along with plenty of other announcements in the first half of the year for Apple fans to get their teeth into.
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