iPhone 17 rumours: New leak suggests brand new colours
The iPhone 17 will arrive in the autumn with the slimmer iPhone 17 Air
With Apple’s WWDC behind us, and iOS 26 now in beta, the countdown to Apple’s next iPhone is officially on. Set to launch in September, the iPhone 17 is already being tipped as one of the tech giant’s biggest updates in years.
At its developer conference earlier this month, Apple unveiled iOS 26, showing off a major redesign with a new “liquid glass” look, plus a suite of Apple Intelligence features including live translation, smarter call handling and on-screen awareness.
But while Apple Intelligence dominated the keynote, the full Siri revamp was notably absent. According to recent reports, it’s still in the works, with many of Siri’s more advanced capabilities now expected to arrive in 2026.
Now, as the software continues to take shape, all eyes are turning to the iPhone 17 itself. From the ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air to upgraded front cameras, a matte finish and a possible purple colourway, here’s everything we know so far about Apple’s upcoming phones.
Apple iPhone 17 release date: When will the new smartphones launch?
Of all the things that are easy to predict about the iPhone 17, the release date is by far the easiest. While Apple’s release strategy has shifted in recent months, its iPhone launches still happen every September like clockwork.
Apple almost always announces its new line of smartphones on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday in the second week of September. To give you an idea, the iPhone 16 was announced on Monday 9 September 2024, the iPhone 15 on Tuesday 5 September 2023, the iPhone 14 on Wednesday 7 September 2022, and the iPhone 13 on Tuesday 14 September 2021.
The newest iPhone is always then available to pre-order on the Friday of that same week, before releasing on general sale a week later. To break it down easy, I’m expecting Apple to unveil the iPhone 17 in the second week of September, probably sometime between 8 and 10 September, with pre-orders going live on Friday 12 September. The iPhone 17 lineup could then be released on Friday 19 September.
Apple iPhone 17 price: How much could the new handsets cost?
iPhone pricing rumours are never all that reliable. Every year, leakers and analysts predict a price hike, and every year Apple tends to hold firm. But that might finally change in 2025.
In May, The Wall Street Journal claimed that Apple was planning to raise iPhone prices later this year. The tech giant reportedly intends to attribute the hike to new features and design changes, rather than tariffs, in a bid to avoid political backlash.
In the same month, Donald Trump threatened to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all iPhones manufactured outside the US. Apple has already shifted some production to India, helping it avoid earlier tariffs, but this latest threat could still affect global pricing by the time the iPhone 17 launches.
As for specifics, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported in March that the iPhone 17 Air, which is expected to replace the Plus model, will cost the same as the iPhone 16 Plus: $899 in the US and £899 in the UK. That could make it the most affordable of the new models, despite its slimmer design and potential battery trade-offs.
Apple iPhone 17 design and display
Majin Bu, a leaker with a mixed track record, claimed back in September 2024 that Apple was prototyping an iPhone with the volume and action buttons unified into one single button. It could work similarly to the capacitive camera control button seen on the iPhone 16 Pro.
The biggest design overhaul looks set to arrive with the iPhone 17 Air. In March, notorious leaker IceUniverse claimed that the phone could be just 5.5mm thick – thinner than any iPhone Apple has ever released.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said last year that it will feature just a single 48MP rear camera in a new horizontal pill-shaped camera bar, and unusually, Apple Track claimed in late April 2025 that it will feature a USB-C port that’s slightly off-centre to accommodate the slimmer chassis. The device is also rumoured to feature a 6.6in OLED display with ProMotion, Dynamic Island and Face ID.
As for the rest of the range, a really early rumour from Haitong International Securities analyst Jeff Pu, published in May last year, claimed that the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air and iPhone 17 Pro will use a complex aluminium design instead of the titanium frame found on the 16 Pro. The 16 and 16 Plus already use aluminium, but the 16 Pro doesn’t. Pu did suggest the iPhone 17 Pro Max could maintain the titanium frame, however.
It’s a downgrade in materials that I’m hoping won’t come to fruition, but another report published by The Information in September adds credence to the leak and suggests that all four handsets will have an aluminium frame. The report states that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max will also boast an aluminium upper back half, while the bottom half will be glass, reportedly because wireless charging doesn’t work with a metal rear.
Again, it would be a big downgrade from the all-glass rear on the iPhone 16 Pro line right now, depending on how it’s implemented. There will also be a larger rectangular camera bump, making the 17 Pro look more like a Google Pixel. In December, a semiconductor insider shared a render of what the new frame could look like on X.
In April 2025, Majin Bu reported that the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max may launch in a new sky blue colourway, a softer hue similar to the latest MacBook Air. This would follow last year’s desert titanium finish and pastel iPhone 16 colours like teal and ultramarine.
Most recently, on 20 June, Bu shared another leak suggesting that Apple is also testing two new pastel purple and green colours for the base iPhone 17 models. Both are reportedly still in contention, but only one might make the final cut. Purple is said to be the frontrunner, described as “a vibrant and modern hue crafted for those seeking a device with bold personality”, while green offers a more muted, natural tone. These could replace some of the iPhone 16’s brighter colour options, like pink or ultramarine.
Jeff Pu claimed in his May 2024 report that, with the exception of the iPhone 17 Air, the iPhone 17 lineup will feature the same display dimensions as the iPhone 16. If true, that means the iPhone 17’s display will measure 6.1in, the iPhone 17 Pro will feature the same 6.3in display, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max will still measure 6.9in. Pu claims that the iPhone 17 displays will be more scratch-resistant and boast a more anti-reflective coating, but that rumour has since been walked back due to reported production issues.
One early 2024 rumour from The Elec, a media outlet specialising in Korean electronics, claims that the non-Pro models will receive the Pro’s always-on display for the first time and that they’ll also get ProMotion LPTO technology, giving it a dynamic refresh rate.
Apple iPhone 17 specs
Leaks about the iPhone 17’s performance are beginning to trickle out. According to Bloomberg’s Gurman, all models (including the iPhone 17 Air) will feature an A19 chip, while the Pro and Pro Max will get an upgraded A19 Pro chipset. All four phones are also rumoured to ship with 12GB of RAM – a step up from the 8GB found in the iPhone 16 Pro to support future Apple Intelligence features.
The iPhone 17 Air will also reportedly include Apple’s own C1 modem (also found in the iPhone 16e) and won’t have a SIM tray – even outside the US. Wi-Fi 7 support is expected across the entire range. The Pro models could also feature a new vapour chamber cooling system to help with heat dissipation.
Apple iPhone 17 camera
In an August 2024 report, Jeff Pu claimed in a research note that all four iPhone 17 models will feature a 24MP front-facing camera – a better lens than the 12MP front-facing camera on the iPhone 16. It’s a rumour seconded by reliable leaker Ming-Chi Kuo in January 2024. In October 2024, Pu added that the iPhone 17 Pro would feature a 48MP telephoto snapper with 3.5x optical zoom and a redesigned triple camera array that runs horizontally across the rear.
According to a YouTube video from FrontPageTech released in April, the Pro models may also gain a new video recording feature allowing users to capture footage from both the front and rear cameras at the same time. It’s rumoured that it would let you overlay a selfie shot over outward-facing footage – a useful tool for vloggers or creators.
In February 2025, Majin Bu showed more renders of the iPhone 17 lineup, this time of the camera array. In the renders, the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max can be seen with a triple camera system placed horizontally across the top. The base iPhone 17 will stick to its two vertical cameras, and the iPhone 17 Air will feature just one single camera. Mark Gurman claimed in March 2025 that this will be a 48MP camera on the iPhone 17 Air.
Apple iPhone 17 battery life
While you might think that a thinner iPhone 17 Air would mean a worse battery life, Mark Gurman claims that the battery life in the iPhone 17 Air will be "on par with current iPhones”, presumably the entry-level iPhone 16.
This will be achieved, he says, thanks to some hardware and software optimisations, including the use of Apple’s C1 modem – found in the iPhone 16e – a higher-density battery and the removal of an ultrawide camera, providing more room inside the phone for something bigger.
According to a report in The Information, the iPhone 17 Air’s ultra-thin design will come at a cost to battery life, with only 60 to 70 per cent of users expected to make it through a full day without recharging. That’s a sharp drop compared to the 80 to 90 per cent average seen on other models. With a smaller battery packed into its slim chassis, Apple is reportedly preparing to offer a dedicated battery case, potentially an extra (and unwelcome) purchase.
But in May, Bloomberg reported that the iPhone 17 Air could adopt a new silicon-anode battery developed by Apple supplier TDK. The company is expected to begin shipping the upgraded cells by the end of June, ahead of schedule, potentially giving Apple enough time to include them in the slimmer handset. The new tech could help extend battery life despite the smaller physical footprint.
The verdict: Apple iPhone 17 rumours
With rumours pointing to a slimmer iPhone 17 Air, design tweaks across the line-up and potential upgrades like a 48MP front camera and ProMotion trickling down to non-Pro models, the iPhone 17 could mark one of the more exciting updates in years – if the leaks are true.
Pricing might not stay flat this year, with reports suggesting increases tied to new design costs and possible US tariffs. The move back to aluminium on the Pro models might feel like a step down, and while a new sky blue colour option could freshen things up, the iPhone 17 Air’s single camera and speaker might split opinion. A new silicon-anode battery could help balance out its slimmer build, but the biggest unknown remains Apple Intelligence, with many features still delayed until 2026.
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