Rumor Replay: iPhone 17 Air colors, Apple’s 2026 lineup, and more

3 hours ago 1

This is Rumor Replay, a weekly column at 9to5Mac offering a quick rundown of the most recent Apple product rumors, with analysis and commentary. Today: iPhone 17 Air rumors for colors and more, Apple’s early 2026 product lineup, the M4 Vision Pro, and Apple Vision Air. Here are this week’s Apple rumors.

iPhone 17 Air colors, A19 Pro, and other lineup rumors

A slew of rumors arrived this week for the iPhone 17 line, with iPhone 17 Air a particular highlight.

First, Fixed Focus Digital indicated the 17 Air would come in a “very light” shade of blue. This was followed up by Majin Bu sharing a render (seen above) of four expected colors:

Black
Silver
Light Gold
Light Blue

Additionally, the iPhone 17 Air is said to include a modified A19 Pro chip rather than the A19 previously expected.

Finally, Digital Chat Station claimed that all iPhone 17 models will get the thinner bezels that first debuted on last year’s Pro models. He also said there’s a new Dynamic Island UI coming.

My takeaways

When the M4 MacBook Air arrived earlier this year, Sky Blue seemed like it could prove popular. Now, it seems like Apple plans to use a very similar color with the iPhone 17 Air too. The A19 Pro rumor is especially intriguing, but also adds potential confusion to the lineup since it’s rumored to have one less GPU core than the Pro models.

Perhaps most interesting is the claim that a new Dynamic Island UI is coming. Digital Chat Station is one of the only leakers still claiming a smaller Dynamic Island will hit the iPhone 17 Pro Max. It’s unclear, though, how someone with supply chain sources would know about a significant software change.

New Studio Display, iPads, Macs, more in early 2026

Just today, Mark Gurman at Bloomberg outlined Apple’s plans for early 2026 product launches, and they sound significant.

New products include:

M5 MacBook Air
New external display, likely the Studio Display’s successor
iPhone 17e
M4 iPad Air
Base iPad with faster chip
and possibly the ‘HomePad’

Gurman also says the M5 MacBook Pro was planned for this fall, but might get pushed into 2026 too. Apple is “considering” the change, per the report, but nothing seems finalized yet.

My takeaways

Many of these products were assumed to be coming in early 2026 already, but Gurman’s report makes that seem even more likely. I’m personally most excited about Apple shipping a new Studio Display—or whatever new name they might have for it. It could pair nicely with my iPad Pro running iPadOS 26.

Outside of that, these reported launches show Apple moving more than ever to a consistent annual cycle for a wide array of products. Whereas iPad Air and iPad releases have historically been more sporadic, Apple seems to very intentionally be shifting to annual updates near the start of the year, alongside its other lower-cost products.

Vision Pro 2 coming this year, Vision Air in 2027

Apple describes a way to make Vision Pro much lighter | Current model shown

Mark Gurman also provided updates this week on two forthcoming Vision products.

An M4 Vision Pro is in the works for release before the end of 2025. Not much is expected to change except the M4 chip, possibly an improved Neural Engine, and a brand new strap. This strap will aim to make the device more comfortable to wear.

Gurman also referenced a lighter-weight Vision product that’s targeted for release in 2027. This new device, potentially called Apple Vision Air, “significantly reduces the weight of the headset” per Gurman.

My takeaways

Apple going with an M4 chip for the new Vision Pro rather than the expected M5 is a surprise. I’m not sure how much difference it will actually make though. What most excites me, as I wrote yesterday, is the idea of a new Vision Pro strap.

If we have to wait until 2027 for a Vision Air product that should actually be more mass market-friendly, then I very much hope this new strap can make a big difference in the meantime.

What are your takeaways from this week’s Apple rumors? Let us know in the comments.