The iPhone Air could be coming later this year

Apple may be settling on iPhone 17 Air as name for rumored thin iPhone expected this fall, reports BloombergIt’s Mark Gurman in today Power On newsletter. He writes that the phone will be “a testing ground for future technologies,” including the technology leading to the company’s first foldables.

The name would not be surprising – both the MacBook Air and the iPad Air were the slimmer versions of their lines when they were released. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to carry that forward by being “about 2 millimeters thinner” than current iPhones, Gurman wrote. Other recent rumors They put it between 5.5mm and 6.25mm thick, which is close to the depth of the iPad Pro M4 and less than the thinnest iPhone so far, the iPhone 6.

The thinness is not just a flex – realizing that will help Apple towards the future foldable iPad and iPhone, writes Gurman. And he says the phone could be one of Apple’s first test grounds for its home cellular modem, called Sinope, later. debuts in the iPhone SE this spring. This year’s iPhone lineup is also expected to debut Apple-designed Wi-Fi/Bluetooth chips, though Gurman wouldn’t go so far as to say that includes the 17 Air.