All this talk about a rumored iPhone 17 Air entering Apple’s lineup next year has me excited. For starters, the name alone implies that it’s going to be a thin and light design that should be dramatically different. While I’m excited for this change, one thing that’s irked me has been reports about its price.
Early on, iPhone 17 Air rumors hinted that this new model would surpass the cost of the current Pro models — which I think is crazy, but not out of the question. More recently, however, a new report from the Wall Street Journal indicates that the exact opposite could happen. There’s still a lot of time between now and September when Apple typically reveals its new iPhone lineup.
Still, I’m hoping that the latter is the correct scenario, so here’s why I think it shouldn’t cost more than the iPhone 17 Pro.
Just look at the iPad Air
Apple’s history is proof enough to convince me that the iPhone 17 Air should be cheaper than the 17 Pro. I’m reminded of this because of its iPad Air lineup, which has sat in between the standard iPads and the Pros. Currently, the 10th-gen iPad is the cheapest model in the lineup at $349 — while the iPad Pro with M4 chip takes up the $999 position. As for the current 11-inch iPad Air with M2 chip? Well, it sits at that sweet spot at $599.
It’s likely that the iPhone 17 Air will likely follow Apple’s pricing structure. Well, this is unless it ends up being called something else.
One camera versus three
Another indication why I don’t think the iPhone 17 Air will exceed the cost of the iPhone 17 Pro is because of the leaks hinting that there will only be a single rear camera with the iPhone 17 Air. The only iPhone in recent memory to come with that is the iPhone SE (2022), so there’s no way that a single camera in a phone could convince me it’s better than having three.
The Pro models come with triple camera systems for a reason, they’re meant to offer the best camera performance — which is why the iPhone 16 Pro Max currently is the best camera phone around. This setup gives users the most utility, from standard shots from the main camera, to getting much closer with the telephoto camera with optical zoom.
As much as I’ve taken plenty of outstanding looking shots from my iPhone SE (2022), the single camera just can’t match the utility I get now with my iPhone 16 Pro Max — so there’s no way Apple could justify making the iPhone 17 Air more expensive than the Pro.
A19 chip instead A19 Pro
It's likely that the iPhone 17 Air will be powered by Apple’s next-gen chipset — the A19, even though there hasn't been any leaks or rumors hinting at this. In contrast, the last two generations of the iPhone Pro have been powered by the ‘Pro’ variants of the chip.
This alone indicates that the cost of the iPhone 17 Air shouldn’t exceed that of the iPhone 17 Pro, especially when the standard iPhone 17 is rumored to pack the same A19 chip. By this logic, the iPhone 17 Air’s price should be less than the iPhone 17 Pro.
It’s a reimaging of the ‘Plus’
And lastly, Apple’s expected to retire the ‘Plus’ variant with the introduction of the iPhone 17. This comes from reliable leaker Ice Universe, who says that Apple’s ditching the iPhone 17 Plus in order to introduce the iPhone 17 Air — but this claim came with the acknowledgement that the Air would be the most expensive iPhone ever.
Still, I think if it’s intended to replace the Plus in the lineup, it only makes sense for the iPhone 17 Air to take up the current $899 price that the iPhone 16 Plus holds. Since it would share a lot of the specs that make up the Plus, I think Apple wouldn’t be too far off from keeping the iPhone 17 Air’s price around $899.
There’s very well room to potentially increase the cost to $950, but I think it would have difficulty convincing people about the savings over the $999 cost that the iPhone 17 Pro would presumably command.
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