5 things on my wish list for the iPhone 17 Air

The next iPhone event is taking place in one week and rumours of an iPhone Air are so strong that it's a near certainty at this point. However, exactly what the phone looks like and what its features are is still very much (excuse the pun) up in the air.

I suspect that the phone will sit below the Pro versions, and therefore have a slightly reduced spec compared to them. Hopefully, it will match or better the iPhone 17, though, rather than sit below it, but then there's the price... how much is reasonable for a phone that's simply thinner?

With a little experience in how Apple manages its updates, and a little inspiration from the super-thin Samsung Galaxy Edge, I've put together five things that I really hope the Air features. It's certainly not based on anything other than my wants and needs, though, so don't hold me to it next week!

1. ProMotion display

ProMotion is Apple's adaptable refresh rate, offering 120Hz when required, and going down to as little as 1Hz for the screen lock. While previous Pro models have featured this, the standard iPhone 16 does not, and there's no guarantee that the 17 will either.

Ideally, all four (or five) phones this year will feature ProMotion, but it would certainly be a shame if any Air model didn't. ProMotion also allows for the always on display, which is one feature that I would really miss on any new device.

2. 50MP cameras

I'm secretly hoping that the iPhone 17 Pro models actually go beyond the current 48MP main and ultra-wide cameras, so I'm hoping we don't see any return to 12MP for the Air. While I'm guessing it won't have a telephoto camera, the same two 48MP cameras as the 16 Pro would be ideal.

3. An all day battery

A thinner phone is bound to have a shorter battery life than a thicker one – it's just physics – but I just hope that the battery life isn't too much less. Last year's iPhone 16 with its 22 hour video playback and 80 hour audio playback feels like a solid benchmark. That phone is still good for all day use, provided you don't sit gaming on it all day.

There is a possibility that a reduced feature set, such as no ProMotion and always on display, would allow the battery life to be extended, but these are features that I don't want to live without either. Apple engineers are clever, hopefully they can sort it out.

4. Some great colour options

The Samsung Galaxy Edge comes in three colours, which include a silver, black and a soft blue. I'd love to see a wider colour choice on the Air, as we have done with the iMac and we did on the iPhone 5c back in the day.

I suspect that like the Pro models, we are more likely to see muted colours here, though with a phone so thin, the likely hood ot it being used without a case is much bigger (as why would you buy a thin phone and put it in a case?), so let's see some colours we can show off.

5. Keep the screen size down

Even if the Air is incredibly thin, it misses the point if it then has a 6.9-inch screen, as you will still struggle to put it in your pocket. For that reason, I'm hoping the screen size is no more than 6.1-inch – the same as the iPhone 16, rather than the 6.3-inch of the iPhone 16 Pro. In fact, if we're wishing for things, I'd love it to be a return to the 5.3-inch of the iPhone 13 mini, but that's very unlikely.