Apple confirmed last Tuesday that its iPhone 17 event will be on Tuesday, September 9 at 1PM ET. We’re getting excited because that means we’ll finally get to put our eyes on the iPhone 17 lineup. The new smartphones will come equipped with the latest iOS 26 features preinstalled — and any new features Apple reveals that day. But since we still have to wait a couple of weeks until the iPhone event, we can only speculate what the new devices will look like. As with most unreleased iPhones, 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 Apple in September.
What are the latest iPhone 17 rumors?
When it comes to deep reporting from inside Apple, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman is the go-to journalist — and he was the guest on the latest Engadget Podcast. In his sit-down with Engadget’s Devindra Hardawar and Igor Bonifacic, Gurman said the rumored iPhone Air will be rough around the edges at first. He believes the 17 Air will “lag in both” when it comes to camera and battery performance. “The battery life is going to be subpar compared to a base-level 17 or Pro model,” he says. The ultimate goal, he notes, is to get all the functionality of the Pro models into the Air models.
Gurman also noted that the iPhone Air is less of a destination and more of a waypoint on the path to that long-rumored foldable iPhone. “The Air is a stepping stone toward that foldable… we’ll get that next year.”
These rumors haven’t been confirmed by Apple and we won’t know what the actual iPhone 17 models will look like until the iPhone event next month.
How much will the iPhone 17 cost?
Apple’s announced plan to expand US-based manufacturing partners seems to give it at least some shielding from the steepest Trump administration tariffs that have already triggered price increases on everything from PlayStations to Switch consoles to high-end cameras to Sonos speakers. 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?
If prices do creep up, Apple may choose to pair it with an “upgrade.” Consider this recent rumor posted by MacRumors from a leaker known as “Instant Digital,” suggesting that the default storage of the iPhone 17 line may start at 256GB,…