With Nvidia’s (NVDA) earnings officially in the rear view, the tech world now turns its attention to Apple (AAPL), which will host its annual fall event next week. Set for Sept. 9, the showcase is expected to include the launch of the company’s much-anticipated iPhone 17 Air.
A slimmed-down version of the iPhone, the Air will bring some of the biggest changes to Apple’s most important product in years, according to Apple soothsayer Mark Gurman. It could also help boost iPhone sales in the near term.
But Apple’s flagship product faces a number of headwinds, ranging from an expected price increase to a lack of premium camera features.
Apple’s iPhone Air is expected to be about 2 millimeters thinner than current iPhones, according to Gurman. That seems rather insignificant, but it should provide a noticeable difference for longtime iPhone owners.
The iPhone Air’s weight-loss journey could prove to have downsides, though. The phone is expected to come with just one camera rather than the two found on the standard iPhone and three on the Pro models, which could keep consumers from making the switch to the Air. After all, would you rather have a single camera or two or three with varying optical zoom options?
A skinnier frame could also mean the iPhone Air will have a smaller battery, another strike against the smartphone, unless Apple can get more juice out of a charge via software tricks.
Apple is also widely expected to raise the prices of its devices, with projections ranging from a $50 to a $100 price hike on iPhone 17 Air, and a $50 jump on iPhone Pro and Pro Max models.
That would put the price of the iPhone 17 Air, which is set to replace the $899 iPhone Plus, between $949 and $999. The iPhone 17 Pro would now cost $1,049, while the Pro Max would come in at $1,249.
Despite those potential downsides, Deepwater Asset Management managing partner Gene Munster says Apple should see a solid upgrade cycle with its latest generation of iPhones.
“The vast majority of sales, about 80% of sales, are going to be from people upgrading,” Munster told Yahoo Finance.
“And for them, it’s largely not about what the features are in a given year, it’s about what they were compared to the phone that they had, which is on average four years old. So they’re comparing it, in this case, it would be an iPhone 13 versus an iPhone 17,” he added.
Generally, new iPhone designs help drive a surge in consumer interest and overall sales. But according to BofA Global Research analyst Wamsi Mohan, that may not be the case for the iPhone 17 lineup.
Source link
#Apples #iPhone #coming #headwinds #abound