Apple’s iPhone 17 lineup marks a bold departure from years of iterative designs, introducing three distinct models tailored to different users. The standout iPhone 17 Air, at a sleek 5.64 mm thick and nearly half an ounce lighter than the standard iPhone 17, redefines portability with its ultra-thin profile. Meanwhile, the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max boast a larger camera island and a new vapor chamber to boost performance and thermal efficiency. These design overhauls necessitated innovative internal components, including Apple’s custom C1X modem and N1 networking chip, ensuring enhanced connectivity and power across the lineup.
Bob O’Donnell for USA Today:
If you’re an iPhone fan, you can’t help but have noticed that the last few years of new iPhone introductions have all looked pretty darn similar. Sure, the technology inside has changed and improved, but from a physical perspective, the overall shape and form factor really hasn’t. Thankfully, after Tuesday’s big Apple product announcement event, things are now very different.
After enduring a stifling sea of sameness in the basic design of the iPhone since the iPhone X, Apple’s new line of iPhone 17s finally brings a very diverse and distinctive breadth of offerings to people looking for an iPhone.
The big attention getter at the event was the highly rumored iPhone Air, which shrinks the thickness of the phone down to just 5.64 mm (versus 7.95 mm for the new iPhone 17 and 8.75 mm for the iPhone 17 Pro/Pro Max). While the 2.3mm difference between the standard iPhone 17 and the iPhone Air might not sound like much on paper, in your hand it feels (and looks) dramatically different. Toss in the fact that even with a screen that’s 0.2” larger, the Air is also almost a half-ounce lighter than the 17, and, well, you will definitely notice.
On the other hand, the new iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max models have a camera island that stretches across the entire top, back side of the phone as well as a new unibody frame that makes the phones feel both more robust and larger than their predecessors.
The net result is three new, very distinct iPhone designs that not only make the various models easier to tell apart but also make the experience of using them very different… Apple’s latest models are a big departure and, in my view, a big step forward.
MacDailyNews Take: Does The Mother of All iPhone Supercycles
loom?
Approximately 452 million iPhone users worldwide currently have devices that are 3 or more years old. This estimate is based on recent market research indicating there are about 1.56 billion active iPhone users as of 2025. Among these, 29% own iPhones held for three years or longer, according to surveys from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) and other analysts. Applying this percentage yields roughly 452 million users (1.56 billion × 0.29). In the U.S., where iPhone penetration is highest (about 155 million users), the proportion is similar, suggesting around 45 million domestic users with older devices.
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