Report: iPhone 17 Air to be the only titanium model, all four will have 35W charging

2025-02-19

This year will see a major shakeup in iPhone design. Yesterday, we looked at the new visor-style camera island for the iPhone 17 Air and the taller version on the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max (the vanilla model will use the old design, apparently). Apple may also be changing the materials used for the four models and it is allegedly giving them a boost in wired charging speeds.

The Apple iPhone 17 Air will be replacing the Plus this generation. And it will have a titanium frame instead of aluminum (like on the Plus), according to a report by analyst Jeff Pu for GF Securities. Titanium is heavier and more expensive than aluminum, but it is stronger, which is why Apple may have chosen it – the Air is supposed to be only 5.5mm thick and aluminum may have been too weak to resist bending.

Speculative render: iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPhone 17 Air

A while back, another analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, reported that the Air will use a mix of titanium and aluminum for its frame – with a lot less titanium than something like the iPhone 15 Pro Max. This could help keep costs and weight down, while still adding enough strength to the frame.

As for the others, the iPhone 17, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max will have aluminum frames, according to Pu. That’s a major change since previous Pro models used titanium (and before that stainless steel). Note that this report is disputed and some claim that the Pros will stick with titanium.

Here is one possible explanation for going back to aluminum – it’s more eco-friendly than titanium and has a lower carbon footprint. The iPhone 17 series could become Apple’s first carbon-neutral smartphones (Apple wants to make all of its products carbon-neutral by 2030).

Speculative render: iPhone 17 Pro

Apple never revealed the official charge rating for the iPhone 16 series, but tests show that the phones top out around 30W. For the 2025 generation, Apple allegedly wants to bump that up to 35W for all four models.

It’s a modest bump, but Cupertino has always been conservative when it comes to batteries. And even a small bump will be appreciated as iPhones have some of the slowest charging among flagships – even Samsung and Google, which are similarly conservative, get to 100% faster.