MacRumors

Rumors indicate that the lowest-end iPhone 17 model will have the same overall design as the lowest-end iPhone 16, so what is actually changing this year?

Below, we recap three key features that are coming on the regular iPhone 17, according to sources such as Ross Young, Ming-Chi Kuo, and Jeff Pu.

ProMotion Display

The regular iPhone 17 and the ultra-thin "iPhone 17 Air" are expected to feature ProMotion, for a variable refresh rate up to 120Hz.

ProMotion has been limited to the Pro models since it debuted on the iPhone 13 Pro and the iPhone 13 Pro Max back in 2021.

ProMotion support would result in smoother-looking scrolling and videos, and the technology contributes to longer battery life. It could also pave the way for an always-on display, so long as the refresh rate can ramp down to as low as 1Hz.

Upgraded Front Camera

All four iPhone 17 models are expected to have a 24-megapixel front camera, up from 12 megapixels on all iPhone 16 models.

With a higher 24-megapixel resolution, photos can maintain their quality even when cropped to a greater degree, providing more flexibility in post-processing.

Kuo said the upgraded camera will "significantly improve" image quality.

Apple-Designed Wi-Fi 7 Chip

Apple's first custom-designed Wi-Fi chip is expected to debut in all iPhone 17 models.

The chip is expected to support Wi-Fi 7, which allows for data transmission over the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands simultaneously, with a supported router. Benefits include faster Wi-Fi speeds, lower latency, and more reliable connectivity.

The entire iPhone 16 lineup already supports Wi-Fi 7, so the spec is not much of a surprise, but the fact that the chip will be designed by Apple is notable.

A19 Chip

The A19 chip in the regular iPhone 17 is expected to be made with TSMC's newer third-generation 3nm process, which is known as "N3P."

Expect year-over-year performance and power efficiency gains as usual.

Amazon has introduced even steeper discounts on the new M3 iPad Air, offering as much as $70 off these tablets, which just debuted last week. Prices start at $549.00 for the 128GB Wi-Fi 11-inch M3 iPad Air, down from $599.00. Some of these deals are beating last week's launch discounts by as much as $10.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Most of the deals in this article require you to clip an on-page coupon on Amazon in order to see the final sale price. You can find matching prices at Best Buy, but you'll need to be a My Best Buy Plus/Total member, whereas on Amazon the deals are available to everyone.

One of the most notable new discounts is on the 1TB Wi-Fi 13-inch M3 iPad Air, available for $1,229.00, down from $1,299.00. This one is only available in Space Gray, and it's the deepest pre-order discount we've tracked so far on the M3 iPad Air. Amazon also has the new 13-inch iPad Air Magic Keyboard for $299.99, down from $319.00, which is the accessory's first discount.

11-inch M3 iPad Air

• 128GB Wi-Fi - $549.00, down from $599.00
• 256GB Wi-Fi - $649.00, down from $699.00
• 512GB Wi-Fi - $847.00, down from $899.00
• 1TB Wi-Fi - $1,049.00, down from $1,099.00

13-inch M3 iPad Air

• 128GB Wi-Fi - $747.00, down from $799.00
• 256GB Wi-Fi - $849.00, down from $899.00
• 512GB Wi-Fi - $1,049.00, down from $1,099.00
• 1TB Wi-Fi - $1,229.00, down from $1,299.00

If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.

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In a research note with investment firm GF Securities on Monday, analyst Jeff Pu said both the iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a 48-megapixel Telephoto rear camera, up from a 12-megapixel Telephoto camera on iPhone 16 Pro models.

This means all three Fusion, Ultra Wide, and Telephoto cameras on the iPhone 17 Pro models would be 48 megapixels.

The devices are expected to have a new rectangular camera bump.

He also expects the iPhone 17 Pro models to be equipped with 12GB of RAM, up from 8GB in iPhone 16 Pro models. This increase in memory would contribute to improved performance for Apple Intelligence and multitasking.

The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max will have familiar 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch screen sizes, respectively, he said.

The devices will have an A19 Pro chip made with TSMC's newer third-generation 3nm process, N3P, according to the analyst.

Apple has worked to increase the power efficiency of its first foldable display, a new rumor claims.

According to the latest post from the Weibo user known as "Phone Chip Expert," Apple's first foldable display prioritizes power efficiency. To achieve this, the company has successfully reduced the display driver integrated circuit (IC) from 28nm to 16nm—a significant advancement. This may help prolong battery life.

According to analyst Jeff Pu, Apple's first foldable recently entered the New Product Introduction (NPI) phase at Foxconn, with mass production slated to begin in the second half of 2026. Reports suggest Apple could launch the device either late next year or in early 2027.

The Weibo user has a number of accurate previous claims, including that the iPhone 7 would be water-resistant, the standard iPhone 14 models would continue using the A15 Bionic chip (with the more advanced A16 chip being exclusive to the iPhone 14 Pro models), and Apple would build servers to support Apple Intelligence using Apple Silicon hardware. These predictions were later corroborated by multiple credible sources and subsequently proven to be correct.

Apple's iconic Fifth Avenue store in New York City is normally open 24/7, but it will be closed overnight on some days this week.

According to Apple's website, the store will be closed between the hours of 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. local time starting Wednesday evening until Saturday morning.

The store already closed briefly on Monday.

Apple is closing the store to complete maintenance on the store's glass cube entrance, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Apple's official explanation is "cube preservation."

Opened in 2006, Apple Fifth Avenue features a street-level glass cube entrance, leading to an underground store. Apple's CEO Tim Cook and other company executives often attend the store for major new product launches.

The store's cube has been outfitted with everything from a giant Apple Vision Pro headset outline to colorful Siri glow in recent years.

Apple on Tuesday lost its appeal in Germany's Federal Court of Justice against a regulatory assessment that subjects the company to heightened antitrust scrutiny in the country (via Reuters).

The German court ruled that the Federal Cartel Office (FCO) was correct in its April 2023 decision to classify Apple under the "extended abuse control" regime of the country's Competition Act. The designation gives German authorities expanded powers to intervene against potential anti-competitive practices by Apple.

The judges affirmed that Apple's economic position across markets meets the threshold for increased oversight, citing the company's extensive financial resources and vertically integrated ecosystem. "The products and services that Apple offers are highly vertically integrated, closely interconnected and largely reserved for users of Apple devices," the court stated. "This is the basis for what the company itself calls the Apple ecosystem."

German regulators had argued that Apple's two billion device active install base gives it a "strong power" to create rules for third parties, and allows Apple to exert control over customers and access to those customers.

Apple contested the decision and claimed that the FCO misrepresented the competitive landscape it faces in Germany. In a statement, Apple said the ruling "discounts the value of a business model that puts user privacy and security at its core."

The extended abuse control designation remains valid for five years and joins Apple with other tech giants including Google, Meta, and Amazon that are already subject to special controls in Germany.

The FCO is currently investigating Apple's App Tracking Transparency framework, which requires apps to get explicit user consent before tracking them. Regulators are examining whether this privacy feature acts as a form of self-preferencing by Apple.

FCO president Andreas Mundt welcomed the ruling: "This means that the highest court has confirmed that Apple is subject to stricter abuse control," he said. "Our ongoing review of Apple's tracking regulation for third-party apps is therefore on a solid footing."

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Apple has debuted "Someday," a short YouTube film by Spike Jonze that serves as a 5+ minute ad for AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancelation.

The film stars actor Pedro Pascal, best known as the character Joel Miller in the HBO post-apocalyptic drama series The Last of Us. Pascal has also appeared in in the Netflix crime series Narcos and Disney's The Mandalorian.

AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancelation launched in September priced at $179. The model also has a Transparency mode, Adaptive Audio, and Conversation Awareness.

Capcom's Resident Evil 3 has debuted on Apple devices, making it the fifth Resident Evil title to arrive on Apple's mobile platforms.

The survival horror shooter is available as a free download with a limited part of the game being playable, after which players must purchase the full game to continue. The good news is that Capcom is running a promotional discount of 67% off the usual price for a limited time.

We're having trouble accessing the US App Store right now. But in the UK App Store, from now until April 16, the base game can be purchased for £8.29, while all in-game rewards can be unlocked for £1.69. After that date, the game will be sold for £24.99. Expect approximately equivalent US prices.

Here's Capcom's plot description for the game:

A series of strange disappearances have been occurring in the American Midwest within a place called Racoon City. A specialist squad of the police force known as S.T.A.R.S. has been investigating the case, and have determined that the pharmaceutical company Umbrella and their biological weapon, the T-Virus, are behind the incidents—though they've lost several members in the process. Jill Valentine and the other surviving S.T.A.R.S. members try to make this truth known, but find that the police department itself is under Umbrella's sway and their reports are rejected out of hand.

However, soon reports of a grisly "cannibal virus" begin to surface, and vicious dogs begin roaming the streets. With the viral plague spreading through the town and to her very doorstep, Jill is determined to survive.

However, unbeknownst to Jill, an extremely powerful pursuer has already been dispatched to eliminate her.

Resident Evil 3 requires an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 16 series model to run, along with iPads and Macs equipped with an M1 chip, A17 Pro chip, or later. The game supports cross-progression across supported Apple devices, so players can continue their progress whether playing on iPhone, iPad, or Mac. It's also a universal purchase, meaning a single purchase grants access across all compatible Apple devices.

Capcom says the app is approximately 31GB in size, and that the installation process requires the target drive to have at least twice the size of the app in storage space available. An internet connection is also required to start the game. Resident Evil 3 can be downloaded from the App Store.

Volvo has released software updates for its EX90 and EX30 electric SUV models that enable support for Apple's Car Keys feature that's available on iPhones and Apple Watches.

Car Keys allows an iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock a vehicle through the Wallet app. A digital version of a car key is stored in Wallet, and unlocking can be done by holding an Apple Watch or ‌iPhone‌ near a compatible vehicle's NFC reader.

A tap on the door handle is enough to initiate an unlock, and while Face ID authentication is a security option, Apple offers an Express Mode that eliminates the need to authenticate for a faster unlocking process. Volvo has setup instructions for Apple Car Keys on its website.

Apple introduced ‌Car Keys‌ in 2022, and car manufacturers like BMW, Rivian, Kia, Audi, and Hyundai have all implemented support for ‌Car Keys‌. Apple maintains a full list of vehicles that support ‌Car Keys‌ on its CarPlay model availability webpage.

Apple today announced that Tap to Pay on iPhone is available in Poland, Bulgaria, Finland, Liechtenstein, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Hungary, providing a way for independent sellers, small businesses, and larger merchants in these countries to use an ‌iPhone‌ as a contactless payment terminal.

Tap to Pay first arrived in February 2022 in the US, and allows iPhones to accept payments via Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards, and other digital wallets‌‌‌. All transactions are encrypted, and Apple has no information about what is purchased or the person who made the purchase.

No additional hardware or credit card machine is required‌ to use Tap to Pay on ‌iPhone‌. The feature uses NFC technology to securely authenticate the contactless payments, plus the feature also supports PIN entry, which includes accessibility options.

The following payment services will support Tap to Pay on iPhone:

• Bulgaria: Adyen, myPOS, Revolut, Viva; SumUp (soon)
• Finland: Adyen, Mollie, Nets, Revolut, Stripe, SumUp, Viva; Surfboard Payments (coming soon)
• Hungary: Adyen, Global Payments, myPOS, Revolut, SumUp, Viva, Worldline
• Liechtenstein: Adyen
• Poland: Adyen, eService, PKO Bank Polski, Mollie, Stripe, SumUp, Viva, Worldline; Planet Pay (soon), Revolut, PeP (part of the Nexi Group)
• Portugal: Adyen, Mollie, myPOS, Revolut, Stripe, SumUp, Viva
• Slovakia: Adyen, Global Payments Slovenská Sporitel'ňa, Revolut, Worldline; SumUp (soon)
• Slovenia: Adyen, Revolut, Worldline; soon SumUp, hobex
• Switzerland: Adyen, Mollie, myPOS, Nexi, Stripe, SumUp, Worldline; hobex (soon)

Tap to Pay on ‌‌‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌‌‌ requires ‌‌‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌‌‌ XS or newer models, and works for customers as any normal ‌‌‌‌‌Apple Pay‌‌‌‌‌ transaction would. Sellers just need to open up the app, register the sale, and present their ‌‌‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌‌‌ to the buyer, who can then use an appropriate contactless payment method.

Apple's website maintains a list of countries where Tap to Pay on iPhone is available.

All four iPhone 17 models launching later this year will feature an upgraded 24-megapixel front-facing camera, according to analyst Jeff Pu.

In a research note today with investment firm GF Securities, Pu shared a chart in which he reiterated that the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max will each be equipped with a 24-megapixel front camera. By comparison, all four iPhone 16 models are equipped with a 12-megapixel front camera.

Another analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, also claimed that at least one iPhone 17 model would be equipped with a 24-megapixel front camera, so this upgrade has been rumored by multiple sources. Kuo said it will "significantly improve the image quality."

With a higher 24-megapixel resolution, photos can maintain their quality even when cropped to a greater degree, providing more flexibility in post-processing.

Pu reiterated other iPhone 17 rumors, including an increased 12GB of RAM and a 48-megapixel Telephoto camera for the Pro and Pro Max models. He also expects the A19 and A19 Pro chips to use TSMC's newer third-generation 3nm process, known as N3P.

All four iPhone 17 models are expected to launch in September.

Apple debuted its custom-designed C1 modem in the iPhone 16e last month, as part of a multi-year plan to transition away from Qualcomm modems. And per the latest rumor, the C1 modem will continue to roll out later this year.

In a research note with investment firm GF Securities today, analyst Jeff Pu said the ultra-thin "iPhone 17 Air" will be equipped with the C1 modem. Fellow analyst Ming-Chi Kuo was first to reveal that this was Apple's plan last year.

Pu believes Apple's second-generation C2 modem will debut in the iPhone 18 Pro models next year, which is also something that has already been rumored previously. Look for the C2 modem to be faster overall, and for it to gain mmWave support in the United States. Further power efficiency improvements are likely too.

iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to have Qualcomm modems still.

Apple's modem supply agreement with Qualcomm runs through March 2027, so the company still has time to transition to its own custom-designed modems. Apple develops chips several years before they ship, so it should come as no surprise that the company is reportedly already working on its next-generation C2 and C3 modems.

Apple said the C1 modem is already the most power-efficient iPhone modem ever, and it held up fine in both real-world and simulated 5G speed test results.

Update — March 20: GF Securities has retracted this information, and it expects the A20 chip to be manufactured with TSMC's 2nm process. The original story follows.

While the iPhone 17 series is still around six months away, a rumor pertaining to next year's iPhone 18 series has already surfaced.

In a research note with investment firm GF Securities today, analyst Jeff Pu said the A20 chip for the iPhone 18 models will be manufactured with TSMC's third-generation 3nm process, known as N3P. That is the same process that is expected to be used for the A19 and A19 Pro chips coming in the iPhone 17 models, so the iPhone 18 models could have relatively small overall performance improvements compared to the previous generation.

Pu does expect the A20 chip to have one upgrade that he said will benefit Apple Intelligence capabilities. Specifically, he said the chip will use TSMC's so-called Chip on Wafer on Substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology, which would allow for tighter integration of the chip's processor, unified memory, and Neural Engine.

If this information is accurate, the first iPhone chip to use TSMC's 2nm technology would be the A21 chip in 2027 at the earliest.

Yesterday, analyst Jeff Pu said Apple's first two foldable devices will enter mass production in the second half of 2026. Today, he provided some additional details about these devices, which are expected to launch in 2026 or 2027.

In a research note with investment firm GF Securities, Pu said the two devices will include a foldable iPhone with a 7.8-inch inner display, along with a larger foldable device with an 18.8-inch display. He described the larger foldable as a MacBook-iPad hybrid, and he believes that the device will likely run macOS, rather than iPadOS.

This is a very bold prediction, as it implies that the 18.8-inch foldable device could end up being a touch-screen Mac. In his Power On newsletter over the weekend, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that Apple's rumored design changes coming with iOS 19 and macOS 16 should set the stage for new hardware designs, including "foldable devices and touch-screen Macs." However, there have not been any rumors indicating that a touch-screen Mac will launch as early as next year, so some skepticism is warranted for the time being.

Pu does cite a recent report from The Wall Street Journal as the basis for some of his foldable information, so it is possible that his macOS prediction is simply based on that report having said that the 18.8-inch device is "intended to serve as a laptop." But, until we hear otherwise, we can dream about the intriguing possibility of a touch-screen Mac.

All four iPhone 17 models will feature an Apple-designed Wi-Fi 7 chip, according to Jeff Pu, an analyst who covers companies within Apple's supply chain.

In a research note with investment firm GF Securities today, Pu said he believes that the Wi-Fi 7 chip's design was finalized in the first half of 2024. He expects the chip to debut in the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max later this year.

The entire iPhone 16 lineup already supports Wi-Fi 7, so the spec is not much of a surprise, but the fact that the chip will be designed by Apple is notable. Last month, Apple debuted its custom-designed C1 modem in the iPhone 16e, for cellular connectivity like 5G and LTE, and now the company is expected to make its own Wi-Fi chips too. By designing more of its own chips, Apple can reduce and eventually eliminate its reliance on external suppliers, including Qualcomm for modems and Broadcom for Wi-Fi chips.

Apple's plan to use its own Wi-Fi chip in iPhone 17 models this year was also mentioned by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Wi-Fi 7 allows for data transmission over the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands simultaneously, with a supported router, resulting in faster Wi-Fi speeds, lower latency, and more reliable connectivity. Wi-Fi 7 can provide peak speeds of over 40 Gbps, a 4× increase over Wi-Fi 6E, provided a device supports the maximum specifications.

All four iPhone 17 models should launch in around six months from now.

Over the years, there have been rumors suggesting that Apple eventually wants to make an iPhone without any ports, allowing for a completely wireless charging experience. An iPhone without ports has been speculated about, and Apple has even published patents for an all-glass iPhone with no ports or buttons.

Apple apparently considered making its dream a reality with the upcoming iPhone 17 Air, but ultimately decided not to do so. In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says that one of Apple's ideas for the ‌iPhone 17‌ Air was to design it without a USB-C port, which means it would only charge via MagSafe.

Apple did not end up going in that direction, because there were internal concerns that eliminating the USB-C port in the ‌iPhone 17‌ Air would get the company in trouble with regulators in the European Union.

With the iPhone 15 lineup, Apple transitioned away from Lightning and adopted USB-C for iPhones because of an EU law that passed in 2022. The law requires technology companies to use a "common port," aka USB-C, for charging purposes. Technically, the law only applies in the European Union, but it was easier for Apple to make the change worldwide than to develop a special USB-C iPhone in Europe and continue using Lightning elsewhere.

Along with potentially angering the European regulators, getting rid of the charging port on an iPhone entirely would undoubtedly upset customers. When Apple eliminated the headphone jack from the iPhone 7, there was a lot of pushback from iPhone users, and other smartphone brands like Samsung spent plenty of time making fun of Apple's choice before ultimately following Apple's lead and removing headphone jacks from Android smartphones.

The iPhone 16 models now support ‌MagSafe‌ charging at up to 25W, and can fast charge with ‌MagSafe‌ and a 30W power adapter. Fast charging allows an iPhone to charge to 50 percent in 30 minutes, and the faster ‌MagSafe‌ charging puts wireless charging on par with fast charging over USB-C. With fast charging available with ‌MagSafe‌, there wouldn't be a downside to eliminating the USB-C port in terms of speed, but there would be far less flexibility because USB-C chargers and cables have become so universal.

Though Apple isn't adopting a port-free design for the ‌iPhone 17‌ Air, it's not an idea the company is abandoning. If the new super thin iPhone sells well, Apple will revisit portless iPhones and slim down the rest of the iPhone lineup, too.

The iOS 18.3.2 update that Apple released last week appears to have broken iCloud Mail for some users. There are multiple complaints on Reddit and the MacRumors forums from users who say that ‌iCloud‌ Mail is not able to push new ‌iCloud‌ emails to their iPhones after the iOS 18.3.2 update.

Affected users say that despite having the correct settings enabled, new ‌iCloud‌ emails are not showing up in their inboxes until a manual refresh. From a Reddit user:

I'm experiencing an issue with iCloud Mail on my iPhone after updating to iOS 18.3.2. New emails are not being pushed to my device, even though all the correct settings are enabled and it had been working fine on 18.3.1. Manually refreshing the Mail app does retrieve new emails, but they do not arrive automatically via push.

Given this issue appears to be tied to the iOS 18.3.2 update, I assume it's a bug. Is anyone else experiencing this issue?

Push is a feature that's available for some email services like ‌iCloud‌ Mail. It is meant to deliver incoming emails as soon as they arrive, so users see new messages right away. Other accounts use Fetch, which means that the iPhone checks the email server every so often for new emails. It appears neither Push nor Fetch is working for some ‌iCloud‌ Mail users, based on the complaints.

Push email from other providers like Microsoft appears to be working with no problem, so the issue is limited to ‌iCloud‌ Mail. Some users have also seen the same lack of Mail push with iOS 18.4. Given the number of users affected, Apple is likely aware of the issue, and hopefully a fix will be coming in the near future.

Snap, the company behind the Snapchat social network, has been quietly working on AR glasses for the last several months, and this week, the developer-only AR Spectacles were updated with some new features.

Developers can now build GPS-based experiences for things like creating interactive walking paths, getting directions, tracking fitness metrics, and playing games.

Snap also added updated hand tracking capabilities for grabbing items and improving typing with the AR keyboard, plus new features like leaderboard support and opening links to Lenses from message threads.

Snap's fifth-generation Spectacles came out last September, and like the prior-generation version, the Spectacles are more of a test product for developers than a consumer-focused device. Developers have to pay $99 per month to use the Spectacles, with a 12 month commitment, so it's about $1,200 to test them.

The Spectacles are heavy and bulky right now, and clearly too expensive for Snap to bring them to consumers. They are standalone AR glasses, though, similar to what Meta is working on. The Spectacles use Snap OS and the Snap Spatial Engine, allowing for augmented reality experiences or Lenses that overlay the real world.

When the Spectacles were announced, Snap said they were the result of a decade of research and development. The glasses have four cameras, two Qualcomm Snapdragon processors, and tiny micro-projectors, with a 45 minute runtime before charging is needed.

Apple was working on augmented reality smart glasses too, but canceled a version that was in development in January. Apple is presumably still working on an AR glasses project of some kind, but companies like Meta and Snap that already have hardware available in some capacity will likely beat Apple to a consumer product.