3 shortcomings that make iPhone 17 Air inferior to competitors

After launching the iPhone 16e, Apple will continue to refresh its smartphone line later this year with the iPhone 17 Air — an ultra-thin phone, from 5.5mm to 6mm. With this thickness, the iPhone 17 Air not only "beats" the iPhone 16 (which is 7.8mm thick) but is also thinner than the iPhone 6 - 6.9mm thick.

In order to achieve slimness while maintaining good battery life, the phone is rumored to cut at least these 3 features.

No more SIM card

This is pretty self-explanatory for Americans. Apple has removed the physical SIM card tray from its phones since the iPhone 14, so it shouldn't be a big deal to implement it on the iPhone 17 Air.

But last year, The Information reported that the global move to eSim-only phones would begin with this year's phones, and the iPhone 17 Air would be a prime candidate due to its limited design.

Only one speaker

According to sources, the iPhone 17 Air will only have a single speaker on the front, eliminating the bottom-facing speaker on current iPhones. This means users will lose the stereo experience that current iPhone models offer.

This makes many users unhappy. In fact, the iPhone speaker is very useful when making calls using the speakerphone. Along with that, the sound quality from the speakerphone on the iPhone is already quite good, highly appreciated by experts for many years.

Only one camera lens

This is obviously the most controversial cut. With a 48MP rear camera, the iPhone 17 Air will be the same as the iPhone 16e.

In fact, most people rarely use ultra-wide-angle lenses, so removing them is not a big deal. Many people are willing to remove the telephoto camera just to own a lighter phone with a less cumbersome design.

In addition, the pixel binning on the iPhone's 48MP main camera still produces pretty good 2x optical zoom photos, so the iPhone 17 Air will benefit from this.

In return, according to rumors, the iPhone 17 Air will have a 120Hz ProMotion display, providing a higher refresh rate for a smoother viewing experience.

The iPhone 17 Air is expected to launch in September alongside its siblings, so it's too early to predict what to expect. But if this is the limit of the cuts Apple needs to make to slim down the phone, it's still pretty interesting. Experts expect the iPhone Air to outlast the discontinued iPhone mini.

Samuel Daniel

Update 05 March 2025