A purported screen protector for Apple’s rumored ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air suggests Cupertino is about to tinker with the Dynamic Island’s geometry again. An image posted by serial leaker Majin Bu shows the selfie-camera punch-hole on the left side of the pill-shaped cut-out, the opposite of every Dynamic-Island iPhone released since 2022. The photo, shared by Apple leaker Majin Bu, appears to depict protectors for all four iPhone 17 models, but only the Air variant swaps the camera position.
The rest of the 2025 line-up, the 6.1-inch iPhone 17, the 6.3-inch Pro, and the 6.9-inch Pro Max, keep the camera on the right. That difference has analysts guessing Apple needed to rearrange Face ID hardware to squeeze components into what is rumoured to be the thinnest iPhone ever built, measuring just 5.5 mm at its slimmest point, roughly the thickness of two stacked USB-C ports.
Thickness is not the only spec change in play. Supply-chain watchers say Apple plans to double selfie resolution to 24 megapixels across the board this year. Because the other screen protectors still drill their holes on the traditional side, the megapixel bump alone is unlikely to explain the asymmetry. Instead, engineers may be juggling depth sensors, an A19-class chipset, and a redesigned motherboard that reportedly uses stacked metal-injection-molding layers to distribute heat more efficiently.
Today’s leak also dovetails with earlier imagery of a rear camera bar centred near the top of the chassis, another break from Apple tradition, but one that could free up extra space behind the display for a new cooling system or a larger silicon-anode battery. If both leaks prove accurate, the Air could end up being Apple’s most radical physical overhaul since the iPhone X.
We won’t have to wait long for confirmation. Apple’s iPhone launches almost always land in the first half of September, and mass production of front-glass components typically begins in July. With screen protectors already circulating among accessory makers, that timetable seems intact. Should the camera relocation make the final cut, expect executives to frame it as an ergonomic win, perhaps better eye-line alignment for FaceTime or a cleaner status-bar layout.
Either way, the iPhone 17 Air is shaping up as 2025’s headline hardware story: an ultra-thin, ProMotion-equipped handset that quite literally turns Apple’s Dynamic Island on its head.
