Technologies

My Hands-On With the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge Has Me Reconsidering a Thin Phone

This slim phone is similar to other S25 series phones, but the thin design leaves more of an impression than I expected.

I’ve used plenty of different phones in several form factors: large ones, small ones, phones that fold in ways that seem too fragile to work. But as I hold Samsung’s super-thin and light — yet surprisingly sturdy — Galaxy S25 Edge, the first word that comes to mind is «airy.» My next thought is: If I were the S25 Plus, I’d be worried.

In my early hands-on with the S25 Edge at a preview event in New York, I was struck by how much the new phone carries over from its S25 counterparts. It maintains the 200-megapixel wide camera from the S25 Ultra, the 6.7-inch display from the S25 Plus and the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor you’ll find across the other three S25 devices. But it does so within a sleek, 5.8mm titanium frame, clocking in at 163 grams. It feels like something I can throw in my bag or pocket and hardly notice.

In fact, the S25 Edge strikes me as exactly what a middle-of-the-line flagship phone should be: a fresh, elevated take on the baseline model, which pulls in premium features to justify its $1,100 price. The exciting design, Ultra-level wide camera and spacious display actually make this an enticing option for anyone who wants something a little out of the ordinary.

But that’s not to say there aren’t any compromises in store, the most notable being the battery; more on that later.

Preorders for the Galaxy S25 Edge are open now, and the phone will arrive on May 30. It comes in three colors: silver, jet black and icy blue.

What makes the S25 Edge stand out

The biggest question leading up to the release of the S25 Edge has been: Why would someone want a thinner phone anyway? After spending a little time with the device, I began to see the appeal.

While the S25 Edge’s thickness may not be visually striking at first glance, getting your hands on the phone is a different story. Comparing how the S25 Edge’s 5.8mm, 163g frame feels to the S25 and S25 Plus, I registered just how much thinner and lighter it really is. For reference, the baseline S25 is 7.2mm thick and weighs 162g, but has a smaller 6.2-inch screen. The S25 Plus has the same 6.7-inch display as the Edge, but is 7.3mm thick and weighs 190g. It’s a noticeable difference.

The moment of truth was applying some force to the phone to see if it gave at all. Impressively, it felt quite sturdy. (If not, I’d probably have gotten myself into some trouble with Samsung.) It touts a Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 display, along with a Gorilla Glass Victus 2 backing. My initial impression is that you shouldn’t have to worry about accidentally turning the S25 Edge into a foldable by keeping it in your back pocket, but that’s certainly something I’ll have to test in my review. The S25 Edge also maintains the same IP68 rating for dust and water resistance you’ll find on the other S25 series phones.

The biggest trade-off, at least on paper, appears to be battery capacity. The Galaxy S25 Edge’s 3,900 mAh battery pales in comparison to what you’ll get on the baseline S25 (4,000 mAh) and the S25 Plus (4,900 mAh). Samsung isn’t sharing how many hours you’ll get out of the S25 Edge’s battery, other than stating it’ll last you all day. That’s something else I look forward to testing. The S25 Edge supports 25-watt wired charging and 15-watt wireless charging.

With thinner phones, camera hardware can also be scaled back. But the S25 Edge boasts three cameras: a 200-megapixel wide, a 12-megapixel ultrawide and a 12-megapixel selfie camera. Megapixels aren’t everything, so I’m eager to see how that all translates into real-world photography. Samsung points to Galaxy AI for helping to boost camera quality and for powering photo editing features like Generative Edit.

Like the S25 Plus, the S25 Edge has 12GB of RAM and 256GB and 512GB storage options. It’ll cost a little more than the S25 Plus, though: $1,100 for 256GB and $1,220 for 512GB. But it’s still priced lower than the top-of-the-line $1,300 S25 Ultra.

You’ll find the same Galaxy AI features Samsung has been touting on the rest of its S25 phones, like Sketch to Image and Audio Eraser. Gemini features are also onboard, like Gemini Live and Circle to Search.

On the edge of a new trend

The launch of the Galaxy S25 Edge comes amid a thin-phone phenomenon. Earlier this year, Oppo released its super-thin Find N5 foldable, which it calls the «world’s thinnest book-style foldable,» measuring just 8.93mm thick when closed and 4.21mm thick when opened. Apple is also rumored to be developing a thinner «Air» version of the iPhone 17. And at MWC 2025, phone maker Tecno showed off its Spark Slim phone concept, which measures 5.75mm thick and weighs just 146 grams, according to the company.

Depending on how consumers respond, the S25 Edge could be the phone to help kickstart the thin phone craze. If people don’t have to compromise too much when it comes to camera, storage and battery — three of the biggest considerations when buying a phone, according to a CNET survey — they could be inclined to pay up for a fresh form factor. After all, phones have become rather boring and predictable, apart from a handful of foldable options. The S25 Edge could be a breath of fresh air.

I look forward to seeing how the S25 Edge holds up in the real world and whether it truly can maintain its edge (I had to do it).

Galaxy S25 Edge vs. Galaxy S25 vs. Galaxy S25 Plus vs. Galaxy S25 Ultra

	Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge	Samsung Galaxy S25	Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus	Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
Display size, tech, resolution, refresh rate	6.7-inch AMOLED; 3,200×1,800 pixels; 120Hz refresh rate	6.2-inch AMOLED; 2,340×1,080 pixels; 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate	6.7-inch AMOLED; 3,120×1,440 pixels; 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate	6.8-inch AMOLED; 3,120×1,440 pixels; 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate
Pixel density	548 ppi	416 ppi	509 ppi	501 ppi
Dimensions (inches)	2.98 x 6.23 x 0.23 inches	5.78 x 2.78 x 0.28 in.	6.24 x 2.98 x 0.29 in.	6.41 x 3.06 x 0.32 in.
Dimensions (millimeters)	75.6 X 158.2 X 5.8mm	146.9 x 70.5 x 7.2 mm	158.4 x 75.8 x 7.3 mm	162.8 x 77.6 x 8.2 mm
Weight (grams, ounces)	163g (5.75 oz)	162g (5.71 oz)	190g (6.70 oz)	218g (7.69 oz)
Mobile software	Android 15	Android 15	Android 15	Android 15
Camera	200-megapixel (wide), 12-megapixel (ultrawide)	50-megapixel (wide), 12-megapixel (ultrawide), 10-megapixel (3x telephoto)	50-megapixel (wide), 12-megapixel (ultrawide), 10-megapixel (3x telephoto)	200-megapixel (wide), 50-megapixel (ultrawide), 10-megapixel (3x telephoto), 50-megapixel (5x telephoto)
Front-facing camera	12-megapixel	12-megapixel	12-megapixel	12-megapixel
Video capture	8K	8K	8K	8K
Processor	Snapdragon 8 Elite	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy
RAM + storage	12GB RAM + 256GB, 512GB	12GB RAM + 128GB, 256GB	12GB RAM + 256GB, 512GB	12GB RAM + 256GB, 512GB, 1TB
Expandable storage	No	None	None	None
Battery	3,900 mAh	4,000 mAh	4,900 mAh	5,000 mAh
Fingerprint sensor	Under display	Under display	Under display	Under display
Connector	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C
Headphone jack	None	None	None	None
Special features	IP88 rating, 5G, One UI 7, 25-watt wired charging, 15-watt wireless charging, Galaxy AI, Gemini, Circle to Search, Wi-Fi 7.	2,600-nit peak brightness; 7 years of OS and security updates; 5G (mmWave); IP68 water and dust resistance; wireless PowerShare to charge other devices; 25W wired charging (charger not included); Galaxy AI; Wi-Fi 7	2,600-nit peak brightness; 7 years of OS and security updates; 5G (mmWave); IP68 water and dust resistance; wireless PowerShare to charge other devices; 25W wired charging (charger not included); Galaxy AI; Wi-Fi 7; ultrawideband	Titanium frame, 2,600-nit peak brightness; 7 years of OS and security updates; 5G (mmWave); IP68 water and dust resistance; wireless PowerShare to charge other devices; integrated S Pen; UWB for finding other devices; 45W wired charging (charger not included); Galaxy AI; Wi-Fi 7; Gorilla Glass Armor cover glass; ultrawideband
US price starts at	$1,100	$800 (128GB)	$1,000 (256GB)	$1,300 (256GB)
UK price starts at	TBA	£799 (128GB)	£999 (256GB)	£1,249 (256GB)
Australia price starts at	TBA	AU$1,399 (256GB)	AU$1,699 (256GB)	AU$2,149 (256GB)

Technologies

Everything You Need to Know About iOS 18.4 Before iOS 19’s Reveal

The update brought new emoji, controls and more to your iPhone.

Apple will hold its Worldwide Developers Conference on June 9, where we will likely get our first glimpse of the upcoming iOS 19 software for iPhones. When Apple released iOS 18.4 in March, the update brought some bug fixes and security patches to all iPhones, as well as a handful of new iPhone features, which included new emoji and a recipes section in Apple News.

Here are some of the new features iOS 18.4 brought to your iPhone. Just a reminder that only people with an iPhone 15 Pro, Pro Max or the iPhone 16 lineup can access any Apple Intelligence features for now. If you have any other iPhone, you won’t have access to those features.

All the latest emoji, and my new favorite

Look at that emoji. It’s called face with bags under eyes, and I love it. The tired expression, the bags under its eyes, it’s all just great. And you can use that emoji and others with iOS 18.4.

There are eight new emoji the update brings to your iPhone, including:

Google unveiled these emoji as part of Unicode 16.0 in September.

Priority Notifications with Apple Intelligence

People with an Apple Intelligence-compatible iPhone got a new feature in iOS 18.4 called Priority Notifications.

«Apple Intelligence can show you notifications that may be important in a separate section on the Lock Screen, so you can catch up on what you may have missed,» Apple writes in the feature’s description. «You can still swipe up to view all notifications.»

After I downloaded the update, priority notifications were turned off by default, but you can turn them on by going to Settings > Notifications > Prioritize Notifications and tapping the toggle next to Prioritize Notifications. Then you can select which applications to prioritize notifications from. So if you want to prioritize Messages and Mail, you can disable notifications from other apps, like Game Center.

Apple Intelligence in the Control Center and beyond

If you have an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone, you can now access Apple Intelligence features in more places with iOS 18.4.

The first place you can access these features is in your Control Center. To find these controls, swipe down from the top-right corner of your screen to open your Control Center, tap the plus (+) sign in the top-left corner of your screen and tap Add a Control. There is a new section in this menu called Apple Intelligence & Siri, and it has three controls: Talk to Siri, Type to Siri and Visual Intelligence. Tap one or all of these to add them to your Control Center.

You can also now open Visual Intelligence from your iPhone’s Action Button in iOS 18.4. Go to Settings > Action Button and you can assign Visual Intelligence to open when you press your Action Button.

You can also disable Visual Intelligence from the Camera Control button on the iPhone 16 lineup. To do so, go to Settings > Camera > Camera Control and tap the toggle next to Press and Hold under Launch Visual Intelligence. Now the Camera Control button will just open your camera.

Ambient music in Control Center

If you like playing music in the background while you work, do chores or relax, you can now easily access ambient music in your iPhone’s Control Center with iOS 18.4.

To find these controls, swipe down from the top-right corner of your screen to open your Control Center, tap the plus (+) sign in the top-left corner of your screen, tap Add a Control and you should see a new section of controls called Ambient Music. There are four ambient music options: Sleep, Chill, Productivity and Wellbeing. Tap one (or all) of these controls to add them to your Control Center. Once the controls are in your Control Center, tap control, and it will start playing music.

You can also change the playlist for each control. To do so, go into your Control Center, tap the plus (+) sign in the top-left corner of your screen, tap the ambient sound control you want to edit and then tap the playlist to the right of Playlist. If you’re in the Chill control, for example, the default playlist is Laidback Lo-Fi. Once you’ve tapped the playlist, you’ll see more options — Mellow Piano, Ambient Unwind or even the option From Library, which pulls from your music. Tap the playlist you want and it will be assigned to that control.

I love this addition to my iPhone because I always struggle with picking out a playlist at the beginning of my work day. Tapping the Productivity control makes it easy to play music when I’m waiting for my coffee to kick in and don’t want to make a musical decision yet. However, I do wish all these controls could be grouped into one control or widget.

This is also an interesting addition to your iPhone considering your phone can already be turned into a white noise machine with Background Sounds. It feels like Apple is trying to make your iPhone the first device you turn to when you need music to help you fall asleep or be more productive, potentially icing out other services offering similar playlists, such as Spotify or YouTube.

Sketch mode in Image Playground

Image Playground is the Apple Intelligence image generator. In iOS 18.4, Apple introduced an art style called Sketch to the app. The new style creates a fully colored image that looks like a sketch you might see in someone’s notebook. However, there are still plenty of imperfections in these photos.

Image Playground had two art styles before this update, one called Animation — which created 3D images — and the other called Illustration — which made cartoony images.

Preauthorized Payments menu in Wallet

If you use your Wallet app for multiple subscriptions and payments, you can now see them all in one menu in iOS 18.4. Open Wallet, then tap the three dots (…) in the upper right corner of the screen to open the dropdown menu. Tap Preauthorized Payments to see all your subscriptions and payment plans you use your Wallet app for. This also makes it easy to see a subscription you forgot you had so you can cancel it and save yourself some money.

In an early beta version of iOS 18.4, this menu in Wallet was called Subscriptions & Payments.

Recipes in Apple News

Apple News Plus costs $13 a month and gives you access to articles from major publications, puzzles and now — recipes.

In iOS 18.4, subscribers can access a new section in Apple News called Food, which is filled with recipes from publications such as Food & Wine, Good Food and others. Subscribers can save recipes to their devices to access them offline later, and a new cook mode will display instructions on full screen so you can easily follow along with recipes while in your kitchen.

The new Food section also has stories on restaurants, healthy eating tips and more, but let’s be honest — having access to all those recipes is a great addition. Apple’s inclusion of this feature is likely the tech giant trying to take on other publications’ cooking and recipe sections.

The New York Times, for example, launched its Cooking section in 2014, and the Times said it had nearly 600,000 Cooking subscribers by 2020. The section isn’t included in the publication’s basic subscription plan, so you must either pay an extra $6 per month or subscribe to a more expensive plan to access this section.

But Apple isn’t charging extra for access to recipes like the Times. That makes an Apple News Plus subscription more valuable to home cooks or anyone trying to become a better chef at no extra cost.

The new Vision Pro app

If you have a Vision Pro headset connected to your iPhone, you’ll get a new Vision Pro app in iOS 18.4.

Apple writes in the app’s description that the app can help you learn about new visionOS features, explore new content, spatial experiences and more.

I don’t have a Vision Pro but I can still download the app in the App Store. Because I don’t have a Vision Pro, I can’t do much with this app other than see what apps the Vision Pro can use. For example, if I tap into the section for new apps and games, I can’t buy or download any of the apps because they require a Vision Pro to use.

Good on Apple for not letting people buy or access apps they can’t use. I can see a company letting someone buy a similar app that needs specialized equipment and then the company shrugs when someone complains they don’t have the right device for the app.

More default app changes

When Apple released iOS 18.2 in December, that update let you change the default apps for messaging and calling. And with iOS 18.4, Apple is letting some people change more default apps.

One new default app category is Translation. With the update, you can change your iPhone’s default translation app — Apple Translate — to another third-party app, like Google Translate.

And according to 9to5Mac, people in the European Union can also change their default navigation app. Apple Maps is the default for this category, but people in the EU can change it to another app, like Waze.

Podcast changes

The iOS 18.4 update also brings a few new updates to the Podcasts app. If you want to add a Podcast widget to your home screen, you now have more options, including Shows and Library. Choosing a Shows widget will play episodes from a particular show you follow, and choosing a Library widget will play episodes from a list you specify in your library.

There are also two new ways to get to different settings in Podcasts in the update, Podcasts Settings and Notification Settings. You can find these by opening the Podcasts app and tapping your profile image in the top-right corner of your screen. Podcast Settings will take you to the Podcasts menu in Settings, and Notification Settings will take you to your Notifications menu in Settings.

Siri, Apple Intelligence and iPhone Apps

With iOS 18.4, Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhones can use Siri to learn more about first-party apps on the iPhone. To access this, go into an app such as Messages, Mail or Settings, then tap twice across the bottom of your screen to type requests to Siri. Siri will then show you a few suggestions based on the app you’re in.

So if you’re in Phone, Siri will display «What can I do in Phone?» Tap this suggestion and you will get a list of actions you can do in the app, like make a call or a FaceTime call and, strangely, open Phone. Thanks, Siri, I never would have thought I’d be able to open Phone after I opened Phone.

Apple Intelligence coming to more people

One of the hurdles to accessing Apple Intelligence is having a compatible iPhone, but for many people around the world with an appropriate device, those features are still walled off. But that changes with iOS 18.4.

Apple wrote in iOS 18.4’s update notes that Apple Intelligence is available in more languages, including French, Japanese and Spanish. The tech giant also wrote that people in the EU can access Apple Intelligence for the first time with the update.

Here are the full release notes for iOS 18.4.

Apple Intelligence (All iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max)

Priority notifications appear at the top of your notifications, highlighting important notifications that may require your immediate attention.
Sketch is now available as an additional style option in Image Playground, allowing you to create gorgeous sketch drawings.
Apple Intelligence features support eight additional languages and two additional English locales, including English (India, Singapore), French (France, Canada), German (Germany), Italian (Italy), Japanese (Japan), Korean (South Korea), Portuguese (Brazil), Simplified Chinese, and Spanish (Spain, Latin America, US).

Apple Vision Pro App

The new Apple Vision Pro app, automatically installed for users with Apple Vision Pro, helps you discover new content, spatial experiences, and quickly access information about your device.

Apple News+

Recipes from some of the world’s best recipe publishers are now available on Apple News+.
Recipe Catalog allows you to browse or search to find the perfect dish and save it to your Saved Recipes.
Cooking mode lets you easily follow step-by-step directions.
The Food section also includes stories about restaurants, kitchen tips and healthy eating.

Photos

New filters to show or hide items that are not contained in an album, or synced from a Mac or PC, in the Library view in Photos.
Reorder items in the Media Types and Utilities collections in Photos.
Consistent filtering options in all collections, including the ability to sort by oldest or newest first in Photos.
Option to sort albums by Date Modified in Photos.
Ability to disable «Recently Viewed» and «Recently Shared» collections in Photos Settings.
Hidden photos are no longer included for import to Mac or a PC if Use Face ID is enabled in Photos settings.

This update also includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:

Safari recent search suggestions help you quickly get back to previous search topics when starting a new query.
Setup Assistant streamlines steps parents need to take to create a Child Account, and enables child-appropriate default settings if parents prefer to complete setting up a Child Account later.
Screen Time App Limits persist even after a child uninstalls and reinstalls an app.
App Store includes summaries for user reviews so you can get helpful insights from other users at a glance.
Pause and resume of an app download or update on App Store without losing progress.
New widgets for Podcasts including a Followed Shows widget to track your favorite shows and a Library widget to get to your most used sections, such as Latest Episodes, Saved and Downloaded.
Ambient Music offers the ability to instantly play music from Control Center, giving access to a set of hand-curated playlists that offer soundtracks for daily life.
Apple Fitness+ Collections can now be added to Library.
Matter-compatible robot vacuum cleaners can be controlled in the Home app as well as be added to scenes and automations.
Support for 10 new system languages including Bangla, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.

Some features may not be available for all regions or on all Apple devices. For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit:

https://support.apple.com/100100

For more iOS news, here’s what features were included in iOS 18.4 and iOS 18.3. You can also check out our iOS 18 cheat sheet and what we hope to see in iOS 19.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for May 21, #444

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 444 for May 21.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle was a toughie for me. Even when I had the letters, I struggled to unscramble some of the answers. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Three’s a crowd

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: You and me.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

PLUM, MOLE, SOLE, COLT, BLOT, BOLT, SOUR, DOUR, RUDE, TINS, WINS, TORE, COUP, COLD, BLOW, BLOWS, SENT, TENS.

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you’ve got all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

PAIR, MATCH, TWINS, COUPLE, TWOSOME, PARTNERS

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is DOUBLETROUBLE. To find it, start with the D that’s three letters down on the far-left row and wind across and up.

Quick tips for Strands

#1: To get more clue words, see if you can tweak the words you’ve already found, by adding an «S» or other variants. And if you find a word like WILL, see if other letters are close enough to help you make SILL, or BILL.

#2: Once you get one theme word, look at the puzzle to see if you can spot other related words.

#3: If you’ve been given the letters for a theme word, but can’t figure it out, guess three more clue words, and the puzzle will light up each letter in order, revealing the word.

Technologies

Every iPhone 17 Air Rumor: What to Know About a Slim New iPhone

Speculation around a thinner iPhone raises questions about battery capacity and camera features. Here’s what we know so far.

Rumor has it, we may soon see an ultra thin iPhone. The rumored iPhone 17 Air — or it might be called the iPhone Slim — could potentially replace the current iPhone Plus amid Apple’s next iPhone release in the coming months.

The buzzed-about «Air» is getting a lot of attention in the iPhone 17 rumor mill, but the prospect also has people asking if Apple may have to sacrifice features to get a super thin phone.

Here’s the skinny on what we could expect with the newest iPhone.

iPhone 17 Air release date: Is the slimmer iPhone coming this year?

For nearly a decade, Apple has held an event in September to announce its new phones. This year we expect Apple to reveal the iPhone 17 series, including the rumored iPhone 17 Air.

If the iPhone 17 Air rumors are true, Apple would be the latest to join the ultra-thin phone trend this year. Last week, I got to try out Samsung’s new lightweight Galaxy S25 Edge after previewing it and a slew of shockingly thin phones at the Mobile World Congress in March.

The iPhone 17 lineup may be the last to follow this fall-release model, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and a report from The Information. Starting with the iPhone 18, Apple will reportedly split its phone releases so that lower-cost iPhones launch in the first half of the year (previously reserved for iPhone SE models) and higher-end pro models are announced in the latter half. That would likely mean a rumored iPhone 18 Pro, Pro Max, Air and new foldable iPhone model could debut in fall 2026. Keep in mind that an iPhone Flip or Fold has been rumored for years.

You’ll likely be able to preorder a new iPhone the Friday after the announcement, with the phone shipping a week later.

What will the iPhone 17 Air cost?

Early rumors about an iPhone 17 Air hinted that it could cost even more than the iPhone 17 Pro, but a March Bloomberg report suggested the phone could cost around $900. That price tag would align with the rumor that the «Air» could replace the Plus, which currently costs $899. For comparison, Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge starts at $1,100.

However, there’s also the question of how tariffs could affect the price of an iPhone. Amid President Donald Trump’s ongoing tariff drama, Apple has mostly escaped additional taxes by stockpiling inventory and getting most of its products on a tariff exemption list.

Apple has moved some production of US iPhones to India to avoid the steeper tariffs imposed on China. However, Trump recently said he pushed Apple CEO Tim Cook to move US iPhone production from India to the US. How much all of this could affect iPhone prices is yet to be determined.

Regardless of how tariffs play out, Apple is expected to raise the price of the iPhone. These price hikes are rumored to start with the iPhone 17 line, so prepare now to pay more for «Air.»

iPhone 17 Air camera: potential downgrade?

Among the rumored potential sacrifices Apple may have to make to get a skinnier phone is limiting the camera features.

The rumored iPhone 17 line is getting a new camera bar that extends across the width of the phone. But Front Page Tech shared an iPhone 17 Air video in February that showed a physical mockup of the phone based on rumors. One of the more surprising reveals was a smaller camera bar with one lens on the left, suggesting the «Air» phone has a single rear camera, similar to the iPhone 16E ($599). It’s not clear if the camera would be the same as the 16E or if Apple would go the route Samsung did and include the main camera from the iPhone 17 Pro.

The single camera theory is backed up by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and a Bloomberg report, which said that the rumored Air may not have the ultrawide and 5x telephoto lenses that have become staples of Apple’s premium iPhones.

In a bit of good news, it’s also rumored that the front-facing «selfie» camera on all iPhone 17 models, including the Air, will be upgraded to 24 megapixels, according to analyst Jeff Pu.

iPhone 17 Air vs iPhone 17 Pro

It may be getting a lot of attention, but the rumored Air appears to be less an advanced Pro model and more a replacement for the Plus.

However, rumors are that the Air would have a 6.6-inch display, according to analysts Jeff Pu and Ming-Chi Kuo. If accurate, that would mean the Air’s display is slightly smaller than the iPhone 16 Plus, with a 6.7-inch display, but larger than the iPhone 16 Pro, which features a 6.3-inch display. The iPhone 16 Pro Max leads with a 6.9-inch display. It’s unclear if the 17 Air’s screen would be a Pro Motion display like the one found on iPhone Pro models.

If the rumored Air lives up to its name, then the biggest potential advantage it could offer over a Pro is its size and weight. A Bloomberg report from March notes that the iPhone Air could measure 5.5mm thick, compared to the iPhone 16 Pro at 8.25mm.

Mac Rumors reported that a leaker on the Korean-langauge Naver blog, going by «yeux1122,» said that the rumored iPhone 17 Air weighs approximately 145 grams (5.11 ounces). Compare that to the iPhone 16 Pro, which weighs in at 199 grams (7.03 ounces). If this rumor proves true, the Air would be just slightly heavier than the iPhone 13 mini, which weighs 141 grams (4.97 ounces).

Bloomberg’s report also notes that the iPhone 17 Air is expected to have super slim bezels compared to the rest of the line, along with a Camera Control button and a Dynamic Island cutout in the display.

iPhone 17 Air battery life expectations

Among the challenges of slimming down an iPhone could be figuring out how to reduce the battery size without compromising battery life.

Initially, it was assumed that a skinnier iPhone would simply have a reduced battery life since there would be less space to house a large battery. But more recently, AppleInsider reported that a skinnier iPhone might use a silicon-anode battery that could help extend its battery life.

Yeux1122 said the battery capacity is 2,800mAh, based on details that originate with «mass production confirmed sample,» according to MacRumors. It added that a high density battery in the Air could increase its «actual capacity» by 15 to 20%.

If the rumored iPhone 17 Air does use the silicon battery technology, it would be the first iPhone to do so.

Are iPhone Air rumors and leaks to be trusted?

Rumors are just that. The speculation leading up to the iPhone’s release is often based on insider knowledge or leaked information from the teams working on the iPhone’s design, but those plans can continue to evolve and are not necessarily reflected in the final product. We’ll only be able to confirm these rumors with certainty when Apple officially releases the next iPhone and we can see it for ourselves.