When it was first revealed Apple was working on an ultra-thin smartphone — unofficially dubbed either the "iPhone 17 Slim" or "iPhone 17 Air" as a holding name — there was an unpleasant sting in the tail. The Information, one of the first sites to break the news, added it could be the most expensive iPhone ever, even eclipsing the $1,199 of the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Apple being Apple, this didn’t seem implausible, but as more details emerged about the handset, it began to feel a bit far-fetched. This was, after all, a phone expected to replace the $899 iPhone 16 Plus in the lineup — and one that would apparently only pack a single rear camera, compared to the Pro models’ three. How could it possibly cost so much?
