A new iPhone 17 Air leak just called out a major Apple rumor - who's mistaken?

Reputable tipster IceUniverse has shared a CAD drawing of what appears to be an earlier version of the iPhone 17 Air, casting doubt on previous rumors that it was originally planned to be a portless phone.

While some believe Apple intended to go fully wireless but had to keep a port due to EU regulations, this early design suggests a portless iPhone may not have been in the plans after all.

IceUniverse shows this early CAD drawing having a port on the iPhone 17 Air. The tipster mentions that the design has fewer speaker holes, but it is, of course, not clear if this will be the final design. After all, IceUniverse does mention that this drawing is an early version, indicating the screen size on this one is 6.9 inches.
Apparently, initially, Apple considered a 6.9-inch iPhone 17 Air, then changed its mind, going for a more compact 6.6-inch display, reportedly.

It seems to me that this X post argues against the rumor that the iPhone 17 Air was initially planned to be a portless phone. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman claimed that Apple had an idea of making the Air portless, meaning without a charging port.

It's worth mentioning that Gurman said one of the things considered was a portless iPhone, so he's not claiming the 17 Air would be portless.

Yep, a portless phone does sound interesting and futuristic, and maybe it is the future awaiting us, but this time, it won't happen. Rumors about a portless iPhone have been surfacing online for years, yet to materialize, just like the long-rumored Apple foldable iPhone (although this one is becoming more real as we speak).

In the meantime, the iPhone 17 Air has been in the tales for a while too. But it's early (new flagship iPhones show up in September and Apple is usually quite good at keeping info under wraps), and you should know that maybe none of these talks would be the real deal.

First off, quite a lot of rumors claim the iPhone 17 Air may come with a strange new Pixel-inspired design with a 'camera bar'-like camera island said to add 4mm to the thickness of the phone at the top. However, it doesn't necessarily align with Apple's design approach and the entire lineup is looking rather mismatched in leaks.

Meanwhile, the Air is said to replace the iPhone 17 Plus in the upcoming iPhone 17 lineup and may be very thin in comparison to the rest of the series (and phones in general): the latest rumors say a 5.44mm thinness for this bad boy (excluding the camera island, that is).

The iPhone 17 Air's new design (if true) may be a love-it-or-hate-it type of thing (and I'm more on the hate-it side, unfortunately) but there are some exciting things to look forward to with this phone.

For one, it's said to eliminate battery worries with a new battery technology (high-density energy cells), and also, it will sport a comfortable display size - 6.6 inches, or as some other rumors claim, 6.7 inches. Not too big like the iPhone 16 Pro Max, not too small.

Yet again, rumors are confusing about the iPhone 17 phones, so it's better to take everything with a grain of salt at this point.

The iPhone 17 Air is set to face the upcoming Galaxy S25 Edge (if it makes it to the U.S.) in a battle of thin beauties. It's a fad that I'm not entirely sure will be up to everyone's liking, but there's no denying that a slim-chic runway-ready flagship may look exquisite. I'm still hoping without that 'camera bar' though, but it seems like this design may actually be happening... Oh, well!