Apple's new iPhone 17 models are proving to be more popular than their predecessors over the first pre-order weekend, both in terms of production and delivery times, but major questions remain about the success of the iPhone Air, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
In a new post on X, Kuo said that preorder demand for the iPhone 17 lineup has outpaced last year's iPhone 16 models. iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max production for the third quarter of this year is approximately 25% higher than their predecessors last year, alongside stronger pre-order demand across all three models. The iPhone 17 Pro Max remains the most in-demand model; production is approximately 60% higher than that of the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
The iPhone Air is the only model of the four new devices that is readily available at launch. While this superficially suggests even weaker demand than the iPhone 16 Plus saw last year, Kuo noted that production of the iPhone Air is set to be approximately 3x higher than that of the iPhone 16 Plus.
He added that there is no direct historical comparator for its positioning in the lineup, making it hard to assess how it will perform at this early stage. Kuo speculates that while the iPhone Air "doesn't look compelling on paper," the in-store hands-on experience could succeed in convincing customers to buy the device.
