New rumours suggest the iPhone Air will launch this year

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple may be preparing to launch an iPhone 17 Air later this year. This new model, expected to be the thinnest iPhone yet, will serve as a testing ground for future technologies, including foldable displays and Apple’s in-house cellular modem.

Read: Blue Origin scrubs the launch of New Glenn

The iPhone 17 Air is rumoured to feature a 6.6-inch ProMotion OLED display, a 48-megapixel rear camera, and a 24-megapixel selfie camera. It is also expected to be powered by the A19 chip and equipped with 8GB of RAM to support Apple Intelligence AI features.

Gurman suggests that the iPhone 17 Air’s focus on thinness will play a crucial role in Apple’s development of foldable devices. By achieving extreme thinness in a traditional smartphone form factor, Apple can gain valuable insights and refine the engineering necessary for foldable displays.

The iPhone 17 Air may also serve as a launchpad for Apple’s in-house cellular modem, codenamed “Sinope,” which is expected to debut in the iPhone SE later this year. While the iPhone 17 Air is not confirmed to feature this modem, it highlights Apple’s strategy of gradually integrating its own components into its flagship devices.

The iPhone 17 Air, if released, is expected to significantly impact the smartphone market, offering a compelling alternative to the existing iPhone lineup.