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With August already two-thirds out the door, it means we’re getting closer to the Apple iPhone event<\/a>, which typically takes place in September. During that event, we’ll finally get to put our eyes on the iPhone 17 lineup. The latest iOS 26 features<\/a> will come preinstalled on the new models, as well as any additional features Apple reveals at the launch event. But since we still have to wait a few weeks (presumably) until the iPhone event, we can at least speculate what the new phones will look like. As with most unreleased iPhone models, rumors and leaks have trickled in about the hardware side ahead of the official introduction. Here’s what we’re expecting and what we can reasonably assume we’ll get from Cupertino in September.<\/p>\n Could new “TechWoven” cases be introduced with the latest iPhone 17 lineup? That’s what leaker Majin Bu claims<\/a>, per a MacRumors<\/em> report<\/a>. The cases match the rumored design on the iPhone 17 models, with the wide camera bump. MacRumors<\/em> says this could be a revamped version of the much-maligned FineWoven case, which was discontinued<\/a> due to being susceptible to scratches and stains.<\/p>\n The leaker noted there are two lanyard holes for “convenient and secure carrying,” so it could be worn around your neck.<\/p>\n This is just a rumor and we won’t know what the actual iPhone 17 models or accessories will look like until Apple’s iPhone event next month. That said, the shared photos (including the one embedded above) are more convincing than usual.<\/p>\n Apple’s announced plan to expand US-based manufacturing partners<\/a> seems to give it at least some shielding from the steepest Trump administration tariffs that have already triggered price increases on everything from Switch consoles<\/a> to high-end cameras<\/a> to Sonos speakers<\/a>. But given that President Trump’s trade policies can change from week to week, and Apple’s continuing reliance on Asia-based supply chains, price shocks remain an ongoing possibility. The bigger question is: Will Apple absorb any higher costs, or pass them on to consumers?<\/p>\n If prices do creep up, Apple may choose to pair it with an “upgrade.” Consider this recent rumor posted by MacRumors<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>from a leaker known as “Instant Digital<\/a>,” suggesting that the default storage of the iPhone 17 line may start at 256GB, doubling the current 128GB baseline. While that could be accompanied by a price increase of $50<\/a>, Apple could at least pitch it as a “better value.” That said, the company doubled the default RAM of its Mac computers<\/a> from 8GB to 16GB at no extra cost in 2024 \u2014 but that was before the current Trump tariff cycle started.<\/p>\n Most years, the flagship smartphones are introduced in September. MacRumors <\/em>highlighted<\/a> a story originally reported by iphone-ticker.de<\/a> that the Apple iPhone 17 event could be Tuesday, September 9, according to information gleaned from German mobile phone providers.<\/p>\n It’s still too early to have the specific dates; some years, Apple only gives a week or two of lead time between sending invites and hosting the event. But years of past precedent show that sometime in September should be when the 17 models make their debut. This family of smartphones may be the last to follow that trend, however. There have been hints that the introduction of the iPhone 18 collection in 2026 will be split<\/a> into a pro-tier announcement in the fall and a standard model announcement the following spring.<\/p>\n Design leaks suggest that Apple is building an ultra-thin smartphone<\/a>, likely to be named the iPhone 17 Air to match Apple’s ultralight laptop designation. Bloomberg<\/em>‘s Mark Gurman, often a solid source of advanced intel about Apple, reported<\/a> in January that the iPhone 17 Air will be equipped with a basic A19 chip and will only have a single camera lens. It may also use Apple’s new in-house modem, which was introduced in February on the iPhone 16e<\/a>. More details about this development may leak ahead of September, but that’s what we know for now.<\/p>\n An investor note from Apple analyst Jeff Pu indicated<\/a> that the Air will have a titanium frame. If his reports are accurate, the lightweight smartphone will be the only entry in the iPhone 17 lineup to use that metal; the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max are expected to be made of aluminum, which is oddly a lighter material than titanium. Other speculation had suggested that the Air would use a blend of aluminum and titanium, so the exact materials may not be known until the official announcement.<\/p>\n Additionally, an August 4 MacRumors <\/em>report<\/a> says the internal battery pack of the iPhone Air is just 2.49mm thick \u2014 half the thickness of the iPhone 17 Pro battery. The leak was posted on the Korean-language Naver blog<\/a>, where they show the alleged batteries of the iPhone 17 Air and 17 Pro side by side. The same account claimed the 17 Air’s battery capacity was a mere 2,800 mAh, MacRumors<\/em> notes. (That’s below the battery capacity of current iPhone 16 models.)<\/p>\n On a similar topic, an iPhone 17 Pro production leak appears to have revealed an all-aluminum chassis, according to MacRumors<\/em><\/a>. Originally posted by leaker Majin Bu<\/a>, the image shows a shell that has a large round hole on the back (where the Apple logo typically is) to allow for MagSafe charging. MacRumors<\/em> says this could just be a molding but notes that the aluminum frame (versus the current titanium in Pro iPhone models) would yield a significantly lower weight.<\/p>\n That same leaker (Majin Bu), whom MacRumors <\/em><\/a>classifies as a “hit-or-miss leaker,” suggests the iPhone 17 Pro will have better wireless signal strength thanks to an updated antenna design. The individual posted a render on X<\/a> that shows a new antenna system that wraps around the iPhone 17 Pro’s supposedly wider rear camera bump. Again, this is a render, not a real-world photo. That said, we can’t knock the goal of better wireless reception, so we’re hoping this one has a degree of truth to it.<\/p>\n Each new roster includes a base model, but over the years, Apple has shaken up the variety of phones it offers. Most likely there will be an iPhone 17 and an iPhone 17 Pro. Apple has also committed to the size matters philosophy, and has been building an iPhone Pro Max option with an even bigger screen and better battery life; the 17 roster will almost certainly have one as well.<\/p>\n The new Pro iPhones are said to have a full-width “camera island” on the rear, which would mark the first time an Apple model opted for that design. This feature can be seen in the purported iPhone 17 “spotted in the wild.”<\/a> The pics, highlighted on MacRumors<\/em><\/a>, show a black cased iPhone (17 Pro?) with the distinct back panel. Is it the real deal? The dual angles lend a degree of credibility in a social media landscape increasingly polluted with AI-enhanced fakes, but your guess is as good as ours.<\/p>\n The iPhone 17 Air seems primed to take the place of a potential iPhone 17 Plus. Since the iPhone 16e was only just introduced in February at a surprisingly high price point<\/a>, it seems unlikely that there will be a new addition to that lower end of the spectrum, the models that were previously called SE.<\/p>\n At the very least, it sounds like the iPhone 17 Air won’t take away the charging port and rely only on wireless connectivity. Bloomberg<\/em> said that while Apple had investigated making the iPhone 17 Air without a single port, the company (fortunately) changed plans. He also says that the rumored phone will have a 6.6-inch screen and include the Dynamic Island and Camera Control button. Finally, the price is rumored at $900 \u2014 likely more than the standard iPhone 17 but less than the Pro.<\/p>\n We’ve also gotten what seems to be a reliable look at what the color lineup will be for the new smartphones. Macworld<\/em><\/a> reported that the iPhone 17 will be available in black, white, steel gray, green, purple and light blue. The iPhone 17 Air will reportedly have four color options: black, white, light blue and light gold. While the Air colors will be less saturated, the visuals for the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max will go bold. The options for the Pro models are expected to be black, white, gray, dark blue and orange.<\/p>\n On July 30, Tom’s Guide<\/em><\/a> highlighted an X post from Sonny Dickson<\/a> \u2014 a longtime and generally reliable leaker of unreleased iPhone information \u2014 showing “dummy” iPhone 17 models in the new colors that were the source of the aforementioned Macworld<\/em> story. While these are literally just mock-ups \u2014 not real, leaked iPhones \u2014 it’s interesting to see how the design and color rumors translate into a real-world look and feel.<\/p>\n To add the the rumors, a Weibo leaker known as Digital Chat Station<\/a> suggests the iPhone 17e will come equipped with a new design that includes the Dynamic Island, MacRumors<\/em> reports<\/a>. According to the post, the new phone will have the A19 chip and could have a 6.1-inch OLED display with a front-facing 12-megapixel camera and a rear-facing 48-megapixel camera. However, it’s important to note this report refers to the 17e model that would be expected to launch no earlier than February 2026, if it followed the same release pattern as the iPhone 16e<\/a>.<\/p>\n Apple upended its numbering conventions with WWDC 2025, and will match the name of each new operating system to the year it’s released. So when the next wave of iPhones hits, they’ll be running on iOS 26<\/a>.<\/p>\n On the design side, the smartphone OS introduced during the big developer showcase took a contentious approach dubbed Liquid Glass. Apple has been scaling down<\/a> the amount of transparency effects in the subsequent beta tests of iOS 26, but it will still have a glass-like visual.<\/p>\n The feature list includes big and small updates. On the more impactful side, the Phone and Photos apps have been redesigned. There will be several features leveraging artificial intelligence, such as live translation capabilities coming to Phone, FaceTime and Messages. Apple is also currently testing a sensitive content warning for child accounts that will freeze FaceTime video<\/a> if nudity is detected by on-device machine learning tools. And the company is also launching Visual Intelligence, which will use AI to search for elements in an image.<\/p>\n iOS 26 also has a litany of minor, quality of life improvements. Group texts are getting support for polls. And for the slow risers out there, iOS 26 will finally let you escape the tyranny of the nine minute snooze alarm<\/a>.<\/p>\n The next iOS is now available as a public beta<\/a>. Here are our initial impressions of the Liquid Glass design<\/a> and other new features. iOS 26 is compatible<\/a> with all models back through iPhone 11.<\/p>\n If Apple follows its usual pattern, the iPhone 17 will be announced alongside new Apple Watch products. That would be the Apple Watch Series 11 (if Apple sticks to the same naming scheme), and maybe an Apple Watch Ultra 3 and\/or an updated Apple Watch SE. (They’ll all run watchOS 26<\/a>, of course.) Other possibilities \u2014 and this is, again, speculation \u2014 could include refreshed Apple AirPods Pro (which received its last big update in 2022<\/a>) and maybe new AirTags trackers<\/a> (first released in 2021).<\/p>\n The Apple rumor mill got a big shot in the arm this week thanks to the reported inclusion of product ID numbers in recent beta software builds. Per MacRumors<\/em><\/a>, it’s a laundry list of new hardware, including long-rumored product updates like the Apple TV<\/a>, HomePod mini<\/a>, new Apple Studio Display monitor and two fresh iPads.<\/p>\n Of course, even if that list is totally accurate, we may not see those products until 2026 \u2014 if ever. So don’t expect all of products to share the stage with the iPhone 17, especially since Apple likes to keep its star performer at the center of attention.<\/p>\nWhat are the latest iPhone 17 rumors?<\/h2>\n
How much will the iPhone 17 cost?<\/h2>\n
When will the iPhone 17 series be announced?<\/h2>\n
What will the new iPhone 17 lineup include?<\/h2>\n
What will iOS 26 be like?<\/h2>\n
What other products are expected to be released alongside the iPhone 17?<\/h2>\n