Rumor Replay: iPhone 17 Air leaks, Apple’s spring products, and more

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This is Rumor Replay, a weekly column at 9to5Mac offering a quick rundown of the most recent Apple product rumors, with analysis and commentary. Today: an iPhone 17 Air leak, Apple’s spring product details, iOS 19 redesigns, and more. Here are this week’s Apple rumors.

iPhone 17 Air’s camera bar design leaks

We got the first possible glimpse at this fall’s iPhone 17 Air via a leaked image that lines up with CAD drawings seen by 9to5Mac. It shows a full-width ‘camera bar’ on the back of the device, a big change from the current iPhone models’ corner bump.

My takeaways

This iPhone 17 Air leak represents a fairly big change for iPhone design, but it’s not out of step with prior reports. The 17 Air and also 17 Pro models have both been expected to feature some sort of rectangular bump. It’s especially curious on the Air though, since the device will only feature a single rear camera.

The size of the ‘camera bar’ does help explain Ming Chi-Kuo’s curious claim that the 17 Air would be 5.5mm at its ‘thinnest part.’ A tapered design was one possibility to explain the ‘thinnest part’ reference, but with such a prominent camera design, Kuo’s words make more sense even without such a radical change.

Apple’s spring product details

Choice of alternative iPhone web browsers | iPhone 15 Pro Max shown

Several different rumors this week concerned two expected spring products from Apple.

First, a leaked asset for the new iPhone SE shows that it may feature a Dynamic Island. Additionally, Mark Gurman reported that inventory of the current SE model is growing thin at Apple Stores—a sign not only of the upcoming revision, but also that Apple will likely retire the model altogether.

Finally, while we’ve seen varying reports about whether the new iPad Air would include an M3 or M4 chip, a code reference this week supported the notion of an M3 update.

My takeaways

The two iPhone SE happenings this week are especially intriguing to me.

If the new SE truly will boast a Dynamic Island, the base iPhone 16 will lose one of its only remaining advantages over the cheaper model. That doesn’t make a ton of sense, even if it’s great news for budget-conscious buyers. At this point I still think a standard notch is more likely.

The diminishing inventory of current iPhone SE models indicates Apple doesn’t plan to keep the old SE around at a cheaper price. Perhaps not a big surprise, though the company could still sell it in developing markets.

As for the iPad Air, either an M3 or M4 wouldn’t have made a huge difference, but sticking with the M3 at least means there’s a little more differentiation for the iPad Pro line. I’m just wondering what the point of such a quick, minor update is—unless this new Air has a secret upgrade we haven’t heard about yet.

iOS 19 Camera app redesign, macOS 15.4 Mail update

Jon Prosser shared on YouTube that Apple is planning to redesign the Camera app in iOS 19, and possibly other system apps too. The redesign has a visionOS-style translucency theme.

Also on the note of software, Mark Gurman explained that the iPhone’s big Apple Mail redesign would be coming to the Mac and iPad soon. It’s expected to arrive in macOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4 in April.

My takeaways

I love the idea of a visionOS-style visual refresher for iOS 19. However, if it does arrive, it’s unlikely to impact more than a small number of apps.

The days of Apple shipping major iOS redesigns have long been behind us. Apple’s practice now is to make smaller refinements to select apps and system elements iteratively over time.

That said, I hope Prosser is right and Apple has some nice design refreshes coming this year.

On the note of Mail changes coming to the Mac and iPad, it’s good to hear that we won’t have to wait long. While I’ve personally disabled some of iOS 18.2’s updates for Mail on iPhone, I’m all for continuity across devices.

Improved iPhone 17 cooling system

Finally for today, a new rumor from Chinese tech site MyDrivers indicates that Apple’s making changes to the full iPhone 17 lineup to improve device cooling.

Ming-Chi Kuo previously reported the 17 Pro Max would see a vapor chamber added to the device’s graphite sheet cooling method, but it seems it won’t be the only model with upgrades.

My takeaways

The source is a bit unproven, but this report makes a lot of sense. Apple Intelligence is pushing Apple to make significant hardware changes to its devices that it may not have otherwise. Boosting RAM across iPhones, iPads, and Macs, special Apple silicon upgrades, and now improved cooling are all setting the stage for big AI advancements yet to come.

What are your takeaways from this week’s Apple rumors? Let us know in the comments.