The day has finally arrived: Today at 1PM ET, Apple is all but certain to unveil the iPhone 17 line. This year is shaping up to be a departure from recent September product rollouts, with the strong possibility of an all-new superthin iPhone (dubbed "iPhone Air") expected to join the company's lineup. Also on tap could be new Apple Watch models — including the first truly new Ultra model in two years — and (maybe) the long-awaited AirPods Pro 3. Intrigued? You can watch the Apple iPhone 17 event unspool in real-time, livestreamed on YouTube from Cupertino. Even better, Engadget is liveblogging the iPhone 17 launch, with three team members on-site at Apple Park to provide their hands-on impressions.
Bloomberg Apple reporter Mark Gurman confirmed his expectation for all of the above products to arrive as expected today in his recent event preview story. Gurman had previously reported many of those details, including the expected battery and camera compromises of that rumored thin iPhone Air. You can hear him share his full analysis of the upcoming lineup — and even a peek at some 2026 iPhone models — during his recent guest appearance on the Engadget Podcast.
Expected to be roughly 5.55 mm thick, the iPhone Air would be the thinnest iPhone yet, besting 2014's iPhone 6 which, at 6.9 mm, was the previous svelteness champ. And they've only gotten chunkier since then. (The iPhone 16 Pro has a depth of 8.25 mm.) The Air would also give Apple a direct rival to Samsung's Galaxy S25 Edge, which we found to be more than a gimmick.
Apple (screenshot)
But the iPhone Air's thin design will likely lead to some compromises. It's rumored to have only a single 48 MP camera and a smaller battery — one that's about 16% less capacious than the iPhone 17's power source, if a late-breaking leak on X is to be believed. That said, Taiwan's TrendForce, a market research firm quoted in a recent MacRumors story, suggests that the Air will sport a high-density "silicon anode battery" that could theoretically provide more power from a smaller frame.
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The Pro lineup could offer some design tweaks and performance improvements. The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max are rumored to switch from titanium to aluminum. And that heat-mapped Apple logo featured in Apple's "Awe dropping" invitations may be indicative of better thermal cooling in the new Pro models, too. They could also see the rear camera array expand to an entire "island" that extends across most of the phone's backside. It's expected to house three cameras (as before), but multiple rumors have suggested it will have an improved telephoto one. The zoom lens could jump to 48MP, which would strengthen its digital zooming / cropping chops. The phones may also add an anti-glare coating, similar to those found on iPads.
The standard iPhone 17 could see some welcome display upgrades. At least one supply chain source claimed it will add a 120Hz variable refresh rate (ProMotion) display, which the Pro series has used since 2021.
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