Apple Is Playing A Dangerous Game With The Iphone 17 - And It Might Just Pay Off

Kerry Wan/ZDNET

Follow ZDNET: Add america arsenic a preferred source on Google.

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• Apple is expected to motorboat nan iPhone 17 bid during this week's 'Awe-dropping' event.
• The lineup includes a caller iPhone 17 Air model, which features an ultra-thin and lightweight design.
• Notable upgrades crossed nan committee whitethorn make this 1 of nan much difficult buying cycles.

It's happening, Apple is astir to springiness nan crown jewel of its hardware portfolio its biggest remodelling since 2020. The iPhone 17 series, expected to beryllium announced wrong nan adjacent 24 hours, will person immoderate of nan biggest hardware changes we've seen complete nan past fewer years -- from nan guidelines level to nan Pro Max. Apple's moreover sidesplitting nan Plus model. Sort of.

Also: Apple Event unrecorded updates 2025: Last infinitesimal leaks connected iPhone 17, AirPods 3, Apple Watch Series 11, more

Going into this week's "Awe-dropping" event, nan anticipation is precocious for Apple to present each nan correct notes, particularly aft a summertime afloat of occurrence stories from its closest competitors, Samsung and Google. With nan iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max, nan Cupertino tech elephantine can't beryllium amended equipped to transportation its adjacent procreation of devices to nan masses.

But nan chances of backfiring are besides high. Conflicting prices, overlapping features, and a much discerning smartphone assemblage -- magnified by looming tariffs and economical uncertainty -- could unreality nan message. If Apple wants this motorboat to land, it needs to beryllium crystal clear astir what each iPhone offers and why it matters.

A caller Air to nan throne

Samsung launched nan Galaxy S25 Edge earlier this year, which sat awkwardly betwixt nan modular and Ultra telephone models.

Kerry Wan/ZDNET

Raise your manus if you've ever wished your telephone could beryllium thinner and lighter, suffer its telephoto aliases ultrawide lens, and person a smaller battery. That's nan joke. 

I tested Samsung's Galaxy S25 Edge earlier this year, and while nan instrumentality felt refreshing to clasp and burdenless to use, it was compromised and awkwardly priced, pinch a $1,099 introduction that felt for illustration a amended woody than nan much costly S25 Ultra but overpriced compared to nan S25 and S25 Plus. 

Considering nan sacrifices made to slim down nan phone, including a smaller artillery and less cameras, nan value for invention was, and still is, difficult to justify.

Also: If these iPhone 17 Air rumors are confirmed connected Tuesday, I'm saying goodbye to my phone

Apple whitethorn look a akin problem pinch nan iPhone 17 Air, which is rumored to section a $1,099 value tag, moreover though it will straight switch nan $899 iPhone Plus model. If true, nan iPhone equation becomes a small much complicated, arsenic consumers will person to determine if it's worthy paying hundreds of dollars much than nan guidelines iPhone 17 for a big-screen telephone that offers less.

At that point, should you walk much for a Pro telephone alternatively aliases settee for nan modular model?

In ways, Apple is trying to deed 2 birds pinch 1 chromatic pinch nan iPhone 17 Air. It's meant to clasp nan aforesaid customers who typically opt for nan larger non-Pro telephone while pulling successful caller users who are tired of handsets that consciousness for illustration bricks. Whether this overlap is wide capable to warrant a caller iPhone exemplary remains to beryllium seen -- but Apple appears assured it is.

The biggest threat to nan iPhone is itself

Kerry Wan/ZDNET

Steve Jobs erstwhile said, "If you don't cannibalize yourself, personification other will." No iPhone procreation embodies that mantra much than this year's lineup, pinch nan guidelines iPhone 17 expected to person its biggest upgrade yet. 

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and respective proviso concatenation analysts, nan iPhone 17 will yet person a 120Hz ProMotion show -- erstwhile a hallmark of nan Pro models, now trickling down to nan mainstream.

Also: Buy nan iPhone 16 aliases hold for iPhone 17? Here's really to decide

Having tested nan guidelines iPhone crossed nan past 3 generations, nan deficiency of a precocious refresh complaint has consistently been its astir evident shortcoming. If Apple yet closes that spread pinch nan iPhone 17, it won't conscionable propulsion users from rival brands -- it could commencement eating into Pro income arsenic well.

If Apple plays it right, nan iPhone 17 won't conscionable cannibalize Pro exemplary sales; it'll bargain marketplace stock from competing phones for illustration nan Google Pixel 10 and Samsung Galaxy S25, resulting successful a nett triumph for nan company.

With nan iPhone 17 series, Apple has nan imaginable to load each nan bases. Now let's spot if it tin deed a expansive slam aliases onslaught out.