Once again, the cool cats at iFixit performed a quick teardown of one of Apple’s newest products, and have reported on the new iPhone 17 Air, Apple’s thinnest iPhone to date and the first major redesign seen in several years.
To fit all of the necessary components in a 5.6mm frame, Apple designed a camera “plateau.” The iPhone Air’s logic board is partially inside of the camera bump, providing space for a large, metal-encased battery. The position of the logic board also ensures that it’s protected from bending stress if the iPhone 17 Air happens to flex, though the public has seen in several tests that the titanium frame of the device is almost bend-proof.
iFixit tried bending the iPhone 17 Air’s frame with none of the components inside and noted that it wasn’t quite as durable as when it’s fully packed. The frame easily bent during these tests given that the are weak points where Apple has to add plastic gaps to prevent cellular interference.
Prior to this, iFixit also took apart the new MagSafe Battery that Apple designed for the iPhone 17 Air, and speculated that it was the same battery for the handset. This has been confirmed and the MagSafe Battery Pack has a 12.26 watt-hour capacity, wherein the user can take the battery out of the MagSafe Battery pack and put it in an iPhone Air with no issue.
iFixit also noted that while the handset’s design is thinner than usual, it’s surprisingly easy to repair. The company noted that there isn’t room for layers of components, and that the thin chassis keeps parts from getting buried. Apple is using a clipped-in display and back glass that’s easier to remove. For the battery, Apple is using an adhesive that can be loosened with low-voltage electrical current. The design was introduced last year with the iPhone 16, and now it’s expanded to other models.
Apple also 3D-printed the USB-C port of the iPhone 17 Air to allow it to better fit in the chassis, and iFixit noted that the part is a 3D-printed titanium alloy that’s not as scratch-resistant as the frame, but is “structurally robust.” The USB-C port is glued in place, but it is modular and can be removed if needed.
Finally, the iPhone 17 Air logic board includes the C1X 5G modem, the N1 networking chip, and the A19 Pro, all of which Apple designed. The other iPhone 17 models also have the A19 and the N1, but the iPhone Air also gets the C1X instead of a Qualcomm modem.
iFixit awarded the iPhone 17 Air a provisional repairability score of 7 out of 10, because it’s easier to get to the battery and not too difficult to replace a screen. The design also shows that Apple has made an effort to release spare parts and manuals for iPhone repair, and has scaled down software locks and restrictions on parts pairing, improving its iPhone repairability scores.
If you’ve had a chance to snag an iPhone 17 Air, please let us know about your experience with it in the comments.
