After four "off-peak years", the iPhone has finally witnessed three consecutive "peak years".
The iPhones with the most significant changes, I think everyone would agree, are these generations: iPhone 4, iPhone 6, iPhone X, and the well - selling iPhone 12 Pro.
You'll notice that there's a very fixed cycle for iPhone updates: there's usually a major revolution every two to three years. This is what's known as the "big and small years" for iPhones.
However, since the release of the iPhone 12 Pro, this cycle has become invalid. We've had four consecutive "small years": comparing the iPhone 16 Pro with the iPhone 12 Pro, apart from the notch upgrading from the "bang" to the Dynamic Island and the increasingly larger imaging module, there are almost no obvious changes in the overall industrial design of the iPhone's appearance.
Can Cook tell the difference between these two phones in 3 seconds? Image source: 9to5Mac
However, this tepid situation will end next month. Apple has a "three - year plan" for the iPhone: from 2025 to 2027, every year will be a big year - starting with the brand - new lightweight product, the 17 Air, in the upcoming iPhone 17 series to be released next month.
iPhone 17 Air: The testing ground for the iPhone family
The first big year is this year, to be precise, next month: With a body thickness of 5.5mm, the iPhone 17 Air will be the thinnest iPhone ever, and the feel will be significantly different from previous models.
The iPhone 17 Air, or the new "iPhone Air" series, clearly takes on the role of a pioneer. Apple will use it to verify whether it's feasible to make smartphones thin and light again, along with all the R & D breakthroughs, process innovations, industrial design, and other details involved.
The new technologies installed on the iPhone 17 Air - if they're proven successful - will gradually be implemented across the entire iPhone family. Even if other products aren't as thin as the Air, their body thickness will gradually be reduced.
iPhone 17 Air mock - up
The 2024 iPad Pro has already proven one thing: powerful devices can also carry the label of "thin and light".
The pursuit of "thin and light" has always been engraved in Apple's product design DNA. In the eyes of the company's key figures, Steve Jobs and Jony Ive, this isn't just about showing off skills but a more minimalist and elegant design concept: When the device is light enough and thin enough, what you feel during interaction isn't a cold machine but an almost imperceptible medium, making content and experience the only things that matter.
Although Apple rarely makes mistakes with its flagship products like the iPhone, we still need to be clear about one thing: the iPhone 17 Air is a "testing ground" and there will be obvious trade - offs. It definitely can't please everyone:
For example, the self - developed baseband C1 it's equipped with can save body space and reduce communication energy consumption, but its performance still lags behind the regular Qualcomm baseband; the single camera and single speaker are trade - offs for thinness; with a battery capacity of less than 3000mAh, battery life will be a pain point that can't be ignored.
And most importantly, a change that may have a significant impact on the industry: the cancellation of the physical SIM card slot and the full adoption of eSIM.
The iPhone 17 Air, with an expected price of over 7,000 yuan, has only one camera
From the US - version iPhones, to iPad products, and now to the iPhone 17 Air, the trend is obvious: in the future, all of Apple's mobile products won't have a place for the SIM card slot. This not only removes an unnecessary physical design but also further compresses the body space.
Previously, the official eSIM page of China Unicom leaked some iPhone - related content, which to some extent confirms the authenticity of the information. However, it's still unknown whether Apple can complete the negotiations with Chinese operators for the iPhone 17 Air generation, but it undoubtedly buys more room for negotiation for the full cancellation of the SIM card slot in future Chinese - version iPhones.
In Apple's eyes, unnecessary physical components may even include the USB - C port at the bottom of the phone - after all, Apple was forced by the EU to uniformly adopt the USB - C port.
If the thin and light route of the iPhone 17 Air is well - received by the market, perhaps the full transition of iPhones to a port - free and fully wireless era won't be far off.
On the iPhone 17 Air to be released next month, we'll also see some interesting cutting - edge technologies gradually appearing on more iPhones.
For example, fitting a Face ID module into an extremely compact body. A patent Apple disclosed this year can help, showing that they've redesigned the optical module to make it thinner and smaller.
It's worth mentioning that there are more than 39 authors listed in the patent document, which shows the level of importance Apple may attach to this technology within the company. And this technology also aligns with Apple's trend of making the front - facing notch on the iPhone smaller or eliminating it.
Meanwhile, the iPhone 17 Air is likely to be the iPhone with the highest titanium alloy content. By increasing the proportion of the titanium metal frame, the body rigidity is enhanced, and it also has the same "rib" design as the ultra - thin iPad Pro: although the latest iPad Pro is as thin as 5mm, its structure is quite strong, and there won't be a recurrence of a negative event like the "bendgate".
Apple is also exploring ways to improve the phone's battery life beyond just increasing battery capacity. A variable refresh rate screen is likely to become standard for iPhones other than the e - series this year. Apple is also developing an "AI Battery Assistant" to let AI dynamically manage the system's energy consumption. It's expected to be implemented in subsequent versions of iOS 26 - however, first, this function isn't new, as competitors like Pixel have already done it; second, with a battery capacity of only 2900mAh in the 17 Air, AI doesn't have much room to play in terms of power saving.
Apple uses the iPhone 17 Air to pave the way for the "thin and light" concept, verifying product and technology design. Next, it will start to transform the iPhone family. The iPhone 17 is likely to be the thickest generation of iPhones in the future, and there won't be as many compromises in the iPhone 18 Air.
The history of technological development is also the history of "compressing" computers. The essence of thin and light is lower power consumption, higher component integration, and more precise design.
However, the iPhone 17 Air is more like a key to the future, and the real highlight is yet to come.
The first foldable iPhone: How can a latecomer overtake on a curve?
Next year will also be a big year - provided you can accept the "niche" product form of foldable screens: Trial production of the foldable iPhone has already started this year, and the release is scheduled for next year.
The first foldable iPhone will most likely be a large - fold (horizontal - fold) phone: in the folded state, it's 5.5 inches, similar in size to an iPhone mini; when unfolded, it's 7.8 inches, becoming an iPad mini.
Image source: YouTube@Techranium
Why not a small - fold? This kind of "pretty but useless" product that doesn't provide new value and adds a cumbersome "unfolding" step in normal use doesn't conform to Apple's current product philosophy of pragmatism.
Although the price will exceed that of the iPhone 18 Pro Max, the iPhone Fold obviously also needs to make a lot of trade - offs. So the product closest to the iPhone Fold is actually the iPhone Air: it has the same self - developed C2 processor, the design without a physical SIM card slot, and a very thin body when unfolded to compete with the ultra - thin foldable phones on the market that are often 4mm thick when unfolded.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, 4.2mm thick when unfolded. Image source: Tom's Guide
The iPhone Fold may even abandon the Face ID that the iPhone has been proud of in recent years and re - adopt the Touch ID fingerprint unlocking solution, integrating it into the power button like the iPad series.
The iPhone Fold will be equipped with four cameras: two front - facing cameras for the inner and outer screens, and a rear dual - camera setup. The second camera besides the main camera will be an ultra - wide - angle rather than a telephoto lens because the ultra - thin body can't fit the largest - footprint telephoto sensor - so this foldable iPhone won't be an imaging flagship.
For Apple, the integrated design of the phone is very important. Even though the lens module of the iPhone Pro has been expanding every year, compared horizontally with Android flagships with very prominent Deco designs, Apple is still relatively conservative.
Image source: Xiaobai Evaluation
To solve the imaging problems of the Air and Fold and promote the thin and light design of the iPhone Pro series, the technical difficulty that Apple needs to overcome next is a more efficient lens structure design.
In June this year, Apple submitted a patent that uses an elastic diaphragm to replace the metal blades in the camera. The biggest advantage is that it significantly reduces the volume of the traditional variable aperture module, making it very suitable for use in compact phones.
Although Mark Gurman of Bloomberg has reminded us not to expect too much technological innovation from the foldable iPhone and that just catching up with the current thickness and crease level of Android foldable phones would be a victory, Apple still has considerable ambition.
The long - awaited birth of the foldable iPhone is related to Apple's perfectionism in crease control. Apple wants to create an iPhone that "has no crease when unfolded" and has been collaborating with the supplier Samsung to design the hinge and the screen.
In 2024, Apple even applied for a "self - healing" screen patent that can automatically repair the creases on the foldable screen.
When Jony Ive's team designed the iPhone and iPad, they believed that the core of these devices was the screen, and nothing should damage the screen's aesthetics.
