iPhone 17 Air USB-C Port May Have This Unusual Design Quirk

Apple's 'Awe Dropping' iPhone 17 Event: Follow along with our live blog.

Apple is preparing to launch a dramatically thinner iPhone this September, and if recent leaks are anything to go by, the so-called iPhone 17 Air could boast one of the most radical design shifts in recent years.

iPhone 17 air

iPhone 17 Air dummy model alongside iPhone 16 Pro (credit: AppleTrack)

At just 5.5mm thick (excluding a slightly raised camera bump), the 6.6-inch iPhone 17 Air is expected to become the slimmest iPhone in the lineup by some margin. For comparison, the current iPhone 16 Pro measures 8.25mm thick.

Achieving this level of thinness is unlikely to come without compromise. Dummy models shared by AppleTrack suggest that Apple has made some subtle adjustments to accommodate internal components in the tighter chassis. Most notably, the USB-C port on the bottom edge is no longer centered front-to-back. Instead, it appears shifted closer to the rear of the device, which is likely to accommodate display components within the enclosure.

There are other signs of Apple's re-engineering efforts. The speaker grilles, for example, show a pared-back design, with only two holes on either side of the port compared to the typical five. That reduction reflects the same space-saving measures required to fit in a battery, processor, display components, and speakers within a much slimmer frame.

iphone 17 air appletrack
To save even more space, Apple is said to be equipping the iPhone 17 Air with a single rear camera. The company is also expected to remove the physical SIM card slot entirely, adopting eSIM-only support globally – a shift first seen in U.S. iPhones with the iPhone 14.

One of the most interesting internal changes is the inclusion of Apple's new custom-designed C1 modem, first introduced in the iPhone 16e. The ultra-efficient chip should play a big role in maintaining battery life in such a thin frame. Despite its size, sources suggest the iPhone 17 Air will offer battery performance on par with current iPhone models.


Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 17 series during its usual fall event, which may also see the debut of third-generation AirPods Pro.

Related Roundup: iPhone 17 Air
Related Forum: iPhone

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Top Rated Comments

mgmacius Avatar
19 weeks ago

At least the charge port isn't on the back.
Why would you say that aloud? Now Tim will hear you…
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TechWhisperer Avatar
19 weeks ago
Omg this is beyond insane. The USB-C port has shifted from its sacred central position. Save yourselves before it's too late, my beloved ones. The asymmetry is just the beginning of the end. I've seen what comes next, and it isn't pretty.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WarmWinterHat Avatar
19 weeks ago

EU regulation is the answer to why.
The EU directive allows for full wireless charging without a port, as long as it's not propritary.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
theluggage Avatar
19 weeks ago

USB-C is nice but flimsy in my experience, I always preferred the lightning connector, thinner, more secure and foolproof, they should have stuck with it, way easier to accommodate on a this design, 'F' the EU
Lightning doesn’t have enough pins to do 4k@60Hz DisplayPort, Thunderbolt or even full USB 3. It was at the end of its life anyway. It may be OK for the target users of the iPhone Air - but not for iPad Pros or top-end iPhones targeted at media creation, and ending up with different connectors across the iDevice range (not to mention Macs) would be stupid.

The Lightning plug might be thin but the socket has to have space for contacts above or below the plug, whereas USB-C keeps everything inside the shield of the plug. Any hypothetical Lightning 2 would need a true double-sided connector for the extra pins, so the socket would need contacts above and below the plug - so there’s no guarantee that the Lightning socket would take up less space than USB C. Then there’s the question of whether you can fit 2-3 times as many wires inside a Lightning plug without making it any thicker (and breaking backward compatibility).

The EU didn’t design USB-C - it was the USB-IF of which Apple is an influential member. Apple engineers played a major role in designing USB-C. Apple enthusiastically pushed USB-C (arguably, prematurely) on the Mac. If it was technically possible to make the new USB-C connector backwards-compatible with Lightning then Apple had every opportunity to make that happen.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DrJR Avatar
19 weeks ago
At least the charge port isn't on the back.

Edit: Also I was hoping that first image was of the new folding phone.... that would be dope.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mattopotamus Avatar
19 weeks ago
I'm honestly surprised they didn't just go full wireless charging being tight on space.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)