Apple's iPhone Plus models are the only selling iPhone in Apple's lineup. That obviously doesn't sit well with a billion-dollar company, so a plan B has been devised. The model may be replaced by an ultra-thin iPhone called the iPhone Air.
Apple surprised friend and foe last May by announcing the impossibly thin iPad Pro 2024. At 5.1 millimeters, the thinnest Apple product ever. No one asked for it, and yet there it is. Sort of a far peeing contest to show the rest of the industry what they are capable of.
The thin iPad is proof that Apple cares more about copy-cats than it does about its users. Because a thinner iPad comes at the expense of battery life and durability (think bending/breaking). As long as other manufacturers don't manage to copy this, only then will the goal be achieved.
Ending iPhone Plus
Back to the iPhone. After all, what Apple succeeds with iPads, it surely succeeds with iPhones. And what model is better to apply that same strategy to than the iPhone Plus. The less expensive big-screen model doesn't really sell well. That leaves room for experimentation. And so the cheese slicer goes.
iPhone Air
We already have a name, too; the iPhone Air. Just like the laptops. Previously the name iPhone Slim was singing around, but that name really fits the final product. After all, the iPhone Air should cost almost as much as an iPhone Pro but with lesser specs, and then you might wonder if a purchase is very "smart.
Starting in 2026, we may see the first iPhone Air, called the iPhone 17 Air. The iPhone Plus will then have lasted three generations, still one generation longer than the iPhone mini.
(via)