Apple's rumored iPhone 'Air' sounds like a smart idea

• The iPhone 17 lineup, expected in 2025, might feature a model with a thinner design.
• Apple's biggest iPhone upgrade cycles occurred alongside "visible changes to the phone," Gene Munster told BI.

Apple is carefully laying a road map of innovations that could fuel iPhone sales for years to come.

The iPhone 16 is less than a month away, and its rollout will be mostly centered on its ability to support Apple Intelligence, the company's official entrance into the gen AI race.

But as with most tech firms, Apple has its eyes set on the more distant future — and a noticeably slimmer iPhone that could stand out from previous years' models and convince more people to upgrade.

Apparently, thin is in at Apple and it's working on an iPhone 17 "Air" model for 2025, Bloomberg reported.

It could turn out to be a smart play. It sounds like Apple plans to debut this iPhone Air in a single model, instead of across the entire iPhone 17 lineup, as the technology and large-size screens of the Pro lineup still aren't ready to be crammed inside such a slim form factor.

That means the alleged new model will most likely fall between an iPhone 17 and the iPhone 17 Pro, with a thinner design that we haven't seen from Apple before, Bloomberg reported.

"The sales pitch will probably go like this: If you want something snazzier than a standard iPhone — but don't really need the performance, screen size or cameras of a Pro model — you can get something that looks much cooler while still having the specifications of a regular iPhone," Bloomberg reported.

In the past, Apple's attempts at changing up the size, like the iPhone 12 mini and the iPhone 14 Plus, haven't paid off, but a thinner, sleeker-looking iPhone (outfitted with the new Apple Intelligence features) might turn heads and be just what the company needs to stimulate sales.

"The biggest upgrade cycles that the iPhone has had have been when there's been visible changes to the phone," Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, told Business Insider.

Eventually, the most powerful cameras and interns found in the "Pro" lineup will reportedly trickle down to the slimmer form factor.

Munster added that he believes the thinner iPhones could be a successful hardware refresh for Apple as it continues weaving AI into its software. After sluggish iPhone sales last quarter, Apple is betting on its upcoming changes to be big hits.

"They've got a case for four strong years of the iPhone in front of them," he told BI.

Over the next few years, Munster said he expects iPhone sales to grow and push Apple into a "sweet spot of iPhone demand."

In the short term, Apple will likely convince plenty of iPhone users to upgrade to the iPhone 16 lineup, which won't feature the new slimmer design, come September in order to experience Apple Intelligence.

But for a company known for its sleek, futuristic designs, it's significant that Apple is planning a redesign that will stand out visually, regardless of whether the first model to feature it requires some compromise in what's under the hood.

There's a good chance a lot of people would be willing to forego Pro-level features if it means being one of the first to own a new iPhone design.

After all, looks matter in the smartphone wars.