Apple is shaking things up again with its upcoming iPhone 17 lineup-and not everyone’s going to be thrilled.
After hyping up the switch to titanium with the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max (and continuing it with the 16 Pro models), Apple has reportedly decided to scale that back. According to a new report from The Information, only one model this year-the ultra-slim iPhone 17 Air-will keep the titanium frame. The rest of the series will fall back to aluminum.
The standard iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max are all expected to feature aluminum frames, including their rear rectangular camera housings. The lower half of the rear panel will still use glass to support wireless charging, keeping that familiar Apple aesthetic-but the premium feel of titanium will now be reserved for the Air.
This move raises eyebrows, especially since Apple made a big deal about titanium just two years ago. Titanium gave the 15 Pro models a noticeable weight reduction compared to their older stainless steel frames. But durability took a hit-many users found the titanium frames easier to dent after drops, so maybe this is Apple’s quiet way of admitting that titanium wasn’t the ultimate upgrade they wanted it to be.
Still, this selective use of materials may feel like a step backward for some, especially if pricing doesn’t reflect the switch to cheaper aluminum. As with many Apple decisions, what’s positioned as an “upgrade” or “refinement” might really be about production costs-or pushing users toward more expensive models.
Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 17 lineup in early September. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman suggests the likely announcement will happen the week of September 8, with Tuesday the 9th or Wednesday the 10th being the strongest contenders. And beyond that, Apple is prepping the more affordable iPhone 17e for early 2026, following the yearly update cycle kicked off by the iPhone 16e-both expected to continue using aluminum frames.
As usual, Apple is mixing marketing magic with material shifts, and we’ll see just how well the latest changes land when the keynote rolls around.