The iPhone 17 line up comes into focus – and it seems Apple is thinking different this year

It's almost May, which means the trees are getting greener, flowers are in bloom, the sun is (sometimes) shining, and the Apple rumour mill is reaching fever pitch with regard to the latest generation of iPhone. Yes, the iPhone 17 is now just four months away, and we've just been given our most comprehensive glimpse yet at all four models.

New dummy units have surfaced online, revealing the shape and size of the iPhone 17 line up. These give strong credence to rumours that Apple is doing away with the 'Plus' iPhone this time around, instead replacing it with a brand new 'Air' model that could be its thinnest ever. But with only a single camera lens, it might not be shooting to the top of our best camera phones line up.

Shared on X by Apple leaker Sonny Dickson (below), the dummies show one standard iPhone 17 that closely resembles the current iPhone 16. At the other end of the spectrum is the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max – both rumoured to feature a controversially large camera array. But it's the Air that suggests Apple is planning to take more heed of its famous 'Think Different' tagline in 2025.

We've already heard that the iPhone 17 Air will be thin, but when seen next to the other models, it looks almost impossibly svelte. So it's a little surprising to see that the dummy still includes a SIM tray slot, something which has been rumoured to be getting nixed from that model. It also features the Camera Control button from the iPhone 16 line up, which too is surprising – although in this case it takes up the entire edge of the device.

Also wildly different is the iPhone 17 Pro's rumoured giant camera array. Remember when we said the iPhone 15 Pro might take things too far with its rumoured larger camera bump back in the day? With the iPhone 17 Pro's taking up the entire width of the phone, it could make the iPhone 15 Pro camera look tiny. Of course, it's possible that enormous camera array could have its uses. Apple has form when it comes to turning unsightly design touches into 'features', such as the Dynamic Island – might we see a second display hit the back of the phone? Unlikely, but not impossible.

Time will tell exactly what Apple has in store with the iPhone 17 line up, but with the iPhone 16 leaving us seriously underwhelmed, we're heartened to see the company apparently thinking differently from a design perspective.