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 It’s not expected to be released until September, but speculation is mounting regarding Apple’s upcoming iPhone 17.

Now, newly-leaked imagery gives us the best idea of what the flagship device could look like – and it reveals a radical design change.

On X, Apple tipster Majin Bu posted digital renders of four handsets in the iPhone 17 family, including a slimmed down iPhone 17 Air.

Three of the models have rectangular camera bars across the back – which fans have noticed is very reminiscent of Google’s Pixel phones.

One X user said: ‘can you term “Apple” (the company) as innovative. Especially with their iPhone 17 lineup that’s simply a copy of thegoogle pixel 9 lineup?’

Another posted: ‘Still don’t understand the design choices by Apple, specifically with the Air model and why they chose to copy the Google Pixel.’

It comes just days after Apple’s announcement that it is releasing a new ‘budget’ smartphone – the iPhone 16e.

The £599/$599 gadget has a 6.1-inch display, runs Artificial Intelligence, and brings back the controversial ‘notch’ at the top of the display.

On X, Apple tipster Majin Bu posted digital renders of four handsets in the iPhone 17 family. From left, slimmed down iPhone 17 Air, the basic iPhone 17 model, the iPhone 17 Pro Max and the iPhone 17 Pro

Google’s Pixel phones are notable for their horizonal camera bar along the back. Pictured, the Google Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro XL released in 2024

The new renders are CAD (computer-aided design) files, which are given to third-party manufacturers of iPhone cases ahead of a device’s launch.

‘iPhone 17 Lineup CAD’, Bu said in his X (Twitter) post, which has more than 400,000 views and 200 comments.

The image was published by MacRumours, which said authenticity of the renders is backed by ‘Weibo-based leakers’ in China – where iPhones are produced.

Apple plans to ‘significantly revamp the camera design’ on its upcoming iPhone 17 Pro models,’ MacRumours claims, citing recent reports.

‘[The company is] moving away from the familiar square camera bump to a distinctive aluminum camera bar that spans the device’s width.’

From the image, it seems the iPhone 17 Air – the slim variant set to replace the Plus model – is expected to have a single rear camera.

Meanwhile, the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max will both have three camera lenses in an ‘arrow’ alignment – much like previous iPhone Max models.

The difference is that the ‘camera bump’ – the raised section on the back – will stretch across the width of the device, rather than being a square shape.

One X user said: ‘can you term

iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max will both have three camera lenses in an ‘arrow’ alignment – much like previous iPhone Max models. Pictured, iPhone 16 Pro

It suggests Apple is needing more space on the back of the phone to pack in camera components for its high-end models.

According to the renders, the standard iPhone 17 model, featuring two rear camera lenses, will be the only one not to have the Pixel-esque bar.

The Pro and Pro Max models also have bizarre red areas – which denotes a glass section for the logo area integrated into an overall metal frame, MacRumours suggests.

One commentator on X posted: ‘Pro lineup actually looks horrible, I hope they blend in the materials together for a uniform texture and looks.’

MailOnline has contacted Apple regarding the rumour, although the tech giant is notoriously tight-lipped about any upcoming product.

Fans already know Apple is likely to release a new slimmed-down iPhone model to go alongside the Pro and Pro Max variations this year.

Veteran Apple analyst Mark Gurman says the ‘iPhone 17 Air’ or ‘iPhone 17 Slim’ is expected to be a lighter, thinner option with less powerful hardware.

It will tie in with Apple’s range of ‘Air’ MacBook computers, which are touted for their light and thin design.

It has the Action button – a little button above the volume controls on the edge of the phone that can turn a chosen setting on or off

Apple’s newest smartphone, the iPhone 16e, is due for release on February 28 – offering a cheaper option for Apple fans.

The device runs Apple Intelligence features, including a ChatGPT integration with smart assistant Siri and the ability to make ‘Genmoji’ (AI-generated emoji).

It also includes a 6.1-inch display, a two-in-one camera system, an ‘extraordinary’ battery life, and the return of the ‘notch’ at the top of the display.

iPhone 16e costs £599/$599 – making it £200 cheaper than the flagship iPhone 16 which was released last autumn.

Apple Intelligence: The best features

Apple Intelligence is essentially a snazzy brand name for Apple’s new-found focus on AI, triggered by the huge success of the ChatGPT.

Here’s a look at some of the best features of Apple Intelligence, which comes to the UK via the new iOS 18.2 operating system.

ChatGPT-Siri integration

Surely the biggest part of Apple Intelligence is the integration of OpenAI’s hugely popular chatbot ChatGPT with Siri, Apple’s in-built virtual assistant.

With better ‘language-understanding capabilities’ enabled by ChatGPT, Siri will help you across multiple apps and ‘accelerate everyday tasks’, Apple said.

You’ll be able to press and hold the side button to activate Siri as normal, but with ChatGPT behind it Siri will be able to ‘answer thousands of questions about how to do something’ that it couldn’t before.

iOS 18 users will be asked before any questions are sent to ChatGPT, along with any documents or photos, and Siri then presents the answer

For example, you could say, ‘Play that podcast that Jamie recommended’ and Siri will locate and play the episode, without the user having to remember whether it was mentioned in a text or an email.

Or you could ask, ‘When is mum’s flight landing?’ and Siri will find the flight details and cross-reference them with real-time flight tracking to give an arrival time.

AI-generated emoji

If you can never quite find the emoji you’re looking for during chat conversations, Apple has the answer.

One of the more fun parts of Apple Intelligence is AI-generated emoji, which Apple has called ‘Genmoji’ (a mix of ‘generated’ and ’emoji’).

In the Messages app, you can type a short description of the emoji you want – such as ‘smiley relaxing wearing cucumbers’ or ‘squirrel DJ’.

AI-generated emoji: In the Messages app, users can type a short description (e.g. ‘smiley relaxing wearing cucumbers’) to get a unique emoji to send to someone

Similar to AI tools that just need a few words to create weird artworks, from that single prompt Genmoji returns an AI-generated approximation of what you had in mind.

If you don’t like what the AI has made for you, there are a few back-up options for you to choose from.

Clean Up

Apple’s Clean Up tool for the Photos app makes ultra-clean edits to photos – without any telltale signs that the snap has been tampered with in any way.

It lets users remove ‘distracting objects’ from the background of a photo – for example a photobomber in the background of a family snap.

Clean Up is very similar to Google’s photo-editing technology ‘Magic Eraser’ for its Pixel phones, heavily promoted in Google adverts in recent years.

The new Clean Up tool in Apple’s Photos app can identify and remove ‘distracting objects’ in the background of a photo

But the technology has been described by some as ‘Orwellian’ as it can distort reality and ‘create a false memory’.

Referring to Clean Up, one commenter said it ‘can be misused’ because it ‘makes deleting evidence easy’.

Image Playground

AI also powers a new image-generating tool called ‘Image Playground’, which is available on multiple apps, including Messages and Pages.

With Image Playground, users can create images in a few seconds, choosing from three styles – ‘animation’, ‘illustration’ and ‘sketch’.

Image Playground allows users to create fun images in seconds, choosing from three styles – Animation, Illustration and Sketch

A promo image appears to show a photo of a person being turned into a video game-style 3D avatar wearing a spacesuit in the ‘animation’ setting.

Rather like Genmoji, this ‘exciting’ image creation tool will help iPhone owners ‘communicate and express themselves in new ways’, the company says.

Movie Memories 

The vast media storage capabilities of an iPhone means its always tempting to look back through your photos and video for a burst of nostalgia.

Recognizing this, Apple has come up with ‘Movie Memories’, an AI tool that creates the perfect home movie to watch on your device.

By typing a short description – for example ‘last summer in our garden’ – the AI can search your media library and and arrange photos and clips into a movie ‘with its own narrative arc’.

Movie Memories picks out the best photos and videos based on a user’s description and arranges it all into a movie with its own narrative arc

Read more

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