Big trouble, big changes for Apple’s iPhone 17

You’ll see Apple’s C-series 5G modems begin to proliferate across the iPhone range, potentially with a C2 variant with slightly wider 5G band support. Software improvements will include iOS 19, which is also being billed as a huge change in the system and the introduction (we hope) of contextually aware Apple Intelligence. 

Roll it all together and you have the biggest iPhone redesign for years, including the introduction of iPhone Air, all supported by new modems and Apple AI. With new folding iPhones anticipated for release in the next year or so, the stage is set for a new generation of iPhone sales, with new designs and reinvigorated operating systems all supported by an AI that means you can get more done with the computer in your pocket.

Trouble at the mill

Except for one thing: component supply. Now, it’s easy to mistake the iPhone as comprising solely the components inside those devices, but that’s to miss the parts included elsewhere in the ecosystem. That includes incredibly expensive and hard to get tools for component manufacture (including processor manufacturing) and also includes the components and rare earth materials used across the supporting ecosystem — all those Apple Intelligence servers need components too.