iPhone Air could be released later this year

Apple may have chosen iPhone 17 Air as the name for the rumored skinny iPhone expected to launch this fall, according to reports. bloombergMark Gurman Today Power on newsletter. He wrote that the phone will be a “testing ground for future technologies,” including technology that will lead to the company’s first foldable device.

The name comes as no surprise. The MacBook Air and iPad Air were the thinnest versions at launch. Gurman wrote that the iPhone 17 Air is expected to take this even further by being “about 2mm thinner” than the current iPhone. Other recent rumors suggest it will be between 5.5mm and 6.25mm thick, which is close to the depth of the M4 iPad Pro and smaller than the iPhone 6, the thinnest iPhone to date.

Gurman wrote that he realized that thinness was not just flexibility, but would help Apple develop future foldable iPads and iPhones. And he says the phone could be one of Apple’s first testing grounds for its own cellular modem, codenamed Sinope, after it launches in the iPhone SE this spring. This year’s iPhone lineup is expected to feature Apple-designed Wi-Fi/Bluetooth chips, but Gurman did not say that includes the 17 Air.