Several new iPhone 17 leaks, including models of the alleged design, have surfaced in the last week. Together with a clearer picture of the iPhone 17 lineup, we’ve seen Apple shift its marketing focus to Apple Intelligence. Especially as it relates to its current iPhone 16 family. The company has also sped up its efforts to diversify its supply chain and shield itself from tariffs. And just a couple of days ago, Apple celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch. Get the full scoop in this week’s Mission CMD 🚀
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CMD / Start 🏁
iPhone 17 lineup takes shape
It’s hard to believe, but the iPhone 17 lineup is just five months away now. That means that rumours are increasingly more believable, supply chain leaks are more and more likely, and the models we’re now seeing may closely resemble the final designs. Nothing is ever guaranteed, of course. We’ve seen red herrings before in previous years, but let’s examine what we’ve got.
Firstly, the entire lineup maintains a similar, somewhat boxy design with flat sides and gently curved edges. Apple isn’t transitioning to a meaningfully different design language. At least not on the front or sides. We’re expecting to see the Dynamic Island remain and ultra-thin display bezels. Button positions look to be similar too. Most of the design changes are confined to the back of the phones. At least on the 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max. The 17 seems to be largely unchanged.
On the back of the Pro lineup, we’re seeing the long-rumoured camera bars. They’re taller than the camera bars seen on the Pixel line. And it isn’t clear yet what their purpose is. Hopefully, this isn’t just an aesthetic change and serves a functional purpose, such as enhanced camera hardware. On the subject of aesthetic changes, these latest models also appear to have a two-tone design. With the lower portion said to be a glass window for wireless charging. While the rest of the back of the phone is rumoured to be metal, including the camera bar.
These designs, while interesting, aren’t as interesting as the iPhone 17 Air. The 17 Air doesn’t have a materially different design language. But what it does have is a significantly thinner design. So much thinner that it’s pretty hard to believe. But the models taken at face value are impressive, futuristic, and you can bet that the 17 Air is going to sell like hotcakes. The latest model measures in at just 5.6mm. For some context, the iPhone 6, Apple’s thinnest iPhone model to date, was 6.9mm. The Air is about 19% thinner than the iPhone 6. And it’s 32% thinner than the iPhone 16 Pro Max, Apple’s current flagship (8.25mm).
At around a third thinner than Apple’s current flagship phone, the 17 Air will be a highly impressive technical achievement if it can offer comparable features to the 17 Pro. The Air, like the Pro, is rumoured to have 12GB of RAM, a comparable 6.6″ OLED display with 120Hz ProMotion, a 24MP front camera, and a similar primary camera. It’ll have the standard A19 chip from the regular iPhone 17 however and is expected to use high density battery technology along with Apple’s new C1 modem to provide good battery life even in such a thin form.
Apple Intelligence Marketing Shift
Last week we saw Apple update its marketing slogan for Apple Intelligence across its website. Best illustrated by the fantastic comparison by Basic Apple Guy below. But this week it was also revealed that the US National Advertising Division (NAD) completed an inquiry into Apple’s advertising practices as it relates to Apple Intelligence. The NAD made multiple recommendations to Apple to modify its claims surrounding features listed as ‘available now’ which have not yet been released, such as on-screen awareness and Siri actions in apps. Or even discontinue them in some instances.
Apple claims that it’s still working on these previously announced and advertised features. But that it will take longer to bring them to market than it originally planned. As the age-old adage goes, buy a product for what it does today. Not for the promise of what it may do tomorrow.
Run / Update ⚙️
Mac features coming to iPad and iPhone
In recent days, we’ve seen suggestions that Apple aims to bring several Mac-like features to the iPad and iPhone. For the iPad, Apple is said to be bringing a menu bar to iPadOS 19 when the device is docked with a keyboard. Meanwhile, on the iPhone, Apple plans to bring its Stage Manager feature across from both the Mac and iPad to iOS 19.
Bloomberg analyst Mark Gurman stated a couple of weeks back that Apple intends to make iPadOS more capable. Gurman was light on specifics but claims that Apple will be enhancing multitasking, window management, and productivity features. Now these latest rumours start to bring some clarity with the suggestion of the menu bar coming to iPadOS. In some ways, this isn’t surprising. Only last year, Apple launched a new in-app design language for the iPad with a unified floating ‘tab bar’. The tab bar can expand into a sidebar in order to provide more space and functionality as needed. But not all apps use this, and adoption in third-party apps is somewhat limited. A system-wide menu bar, built in at the OS level like macOS, might help to address this.
On the iPhone, should Apple bring across its Stage Manager feature from the Mac and iPad, a user could plug in their phone to an external display and be able to access full-screen apps with window management. This would be similar to Samsung’s Dex feature and bring even greater utility to the iPhone. If paired with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, the iPhone could become a fully fledged replacement for a PC or Mac for many users. Appreciably, iOS is simpler than macOS. But over time, it’s possible that this gap narrows with enough will and investment from Apple.
Launch / CTRL 👨🚀
2026 iPhone to be made in India (for the US at least)
Apple has been working hard to plug the gaps in its supply chain, diversifying where it makes its products in an effort to shield itself from disruptive economic events. The most recent event, of course, is the tariffs introduced by the Trump administration on imports into the US. China remains Apple’s primary location for final assembly. But tariffs on goods made in China are significantly higher than anywhere else.
Trump’s government would prefer that Apple bring the majority of its manufacturing to the US. Apple would likely prefer that too. But it’s not a realistic option. The necessary skills aren’t available in the US in the volumes required to meet Apple’s needs. It also isn’t realistic for Apple to shift all of its iPhone manufacturing in one go.
Considering these challenges, Apple is going to shift manufacturing of US iPhones to India. At least according to the Financial Times. Tariffs on products made in India are much lower than those in China. And this would be much more achievable since Apple only needs to relocate part of its iPhone final assembly. Of course this is just hearsay for now but it would make total sense.
Celebrating 10 years of Apple Watch 🎉
On the 24th of April 2015, the Apple Watch was finally released to the world. First announced at Apple’s September event in 2014, the Apple Watch enjoyed a long marketing cycle with plenty of hype and anticipation. When it first launched, the product focused heavily on fashion and functionality. But over time it became clear that while its design was important, Apple hadn’t necessarily communicated the features and benefits of the watch in a clear and coherent way.
With successive versions of the Apple Watch and updates to watchOS, the product became much more focused. New health sensors and advanced tracking capabilities transformed the watch into what Apple describes as an ‘intelligent guardian for your health’. And new models such as the rugged Apple Watch Ultra, the wallet-friendly Apple Watch SE, and a high-end Hermes line helped the product to appeal to a wide audience.
Now at its 10th birthday, the Apple Watch is not only the most popular smartwatch. It’s the best-selling watch in the world, period. I’m excited to see how Apple develops the watch over the next decade. New sensors to track blood pressure are heavily rumoured, and of course, the elusive unicorn, non-invasive glucose tracking. If Apple can continue to introduce new breakthroughs such as these, the Apple Watch has a bright and exciting future ahead.
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