As Apple’s highly anticipated ‘Awe Dropping’ event is now scheduled for September 9, a series of design and spec leaks for the upcoming iPhone 17 lineup has energised the tech world. It is now a publicly known fact that the iPhone 17 series is going to be a huge upgrade from the outgoing generation. The addition of a new iPhone 17 Air to the lineup alongside the regular and Pro variants could spice up the generic iPhone lineup.
Hence, similar to last year’s iPhone 16 series, the iPhone 17 series is bringing a host of substantial upgrades. While these upgrades may not warrant an upgrade for those on the year-old iPhone 16 or the relatively new iPhone 15 series, these models could compel a lot of other iPhone and smartphone users to make the switch.
With the clock ticking down, let’s quickly go through all the leaks and rumours that have shaped the iPhone 17 series in our minds.
iPhone 17 series: Major upgrade to design
One of the biggest design changes to the iPhone 17 series is the Air variant – a replacement of the iPhone 16 Plus. The iPhone 17 Air, as the leaks suggest, will have a slim 5.5mm thick body while retaining a 6.6-inch OLED display. The design is expected to retain the Camera Control key as well as the Action Button. A single rear camera sitting on a camera hump could mark the iPhone 17 Air different from the other models.
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, on the other hand, will have a largely familiar design, except for the new camera hump that engulfs the top half of the device. A bold new orange and dark blue colour variant could mark these models as different from the outgoing ones. Additionally, the Pro variants of the iPhone could also ditch Titanium for aluminium to keep the weight down.
Lastly, the iPhone 17 would continue to recycle the design of the standard iPhone 16, save for new colour schemes.
iPhone 17 series: Major spec bumps
One of the most notable spec bumps to the entire iPhone 17 series is the presence of a high refresh rate display. The vanilla iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Air will get 120Hz OLED screens, whereas the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max will get the variable 1Hz-120Hz refresh rate panels.
Then there’s the processor. The standard iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Air are expected to use the slightly upgraded A19 chipset with a five-core GPU and 8GB RAM to offer moderate performance upgrades. The iPhone 17 Pro variants, as usual, will gain the more powerful A19 Pro chips with a six-core GPU and possibly higher clock speeds.
All four models are expected to debut with a stable version of iOS 26, flaunting the Liquid Glass design theme in Apple’s best hardware.
As far as battery life is concerned, the iPhone 17 Air could make a notable sacrifice to gain a slimmer profile. The iPhone 17 Air may get a small 2900mAh capacity battery – a component that raises concerns about all-day stamina. The regular and Pro variants, however, are expected to observe gains in battery life due to a slightly bigger capacity cell.
iPhone 17 series expected prices
With the rise in component costs and a strained supply chain, industry experts say that Apple could bump up the prices to absorb the hike in manufacturing costs. The iPhone 17 may see its base price go up to Rs 89,999 – a hike of Rs 10,000. The new iPhone 17 Air, which replaces the ‘Plus’ variant, could be priced at Rs 99,999 for its base variant, thus marking it as a more value-centric yet premium alternative to the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge.
The iPhone 17 Pro may end up costing Rs 1,45,000 for its base model, which could finally see a 256GB storage variant as standard. The iPhone 17 Pro Max, on the other hand, could carry a price tag of Rs 164,999 for its base 256GB model.
