Apple’s ultra-thin iPhone Air may be a standout piece of engineering, but early market signals suggest it isn’t connecting with most shoppers the way Apple likely hoped. While the rest of the iPhone 17 lineup is driving the brand’s sales momentum, the iPhone Air appears to be struggling badly—so much so that reports indicate Apple has paused production due to weak demand.
That lack of interest is showing up clearly in resale and depreciation trends. New data from SellCell indicates the iPhone Air has dropped 47.7 percent in value within just the first ten weeks after launch. That’s the steepest early depreciation seen for any iPhone released since 2022. Even more concerning for owners: higher-capacity models are taking the biggest hit, with the 1TB iPhone Air losing value the fastest.
In contrast, the iPhone 17 Pro models are holding up best, showing the lowest depreciation rates of the current generation. Overall, the iPhone 17 family averages a 34.6 percent value drop after ten weeks. That performance is actually stronger than the iPhone 16 and iPhone 14 at the same point, which saw depreciation of 39.0 percent and 36.6 percent, respectively. The iPhone 15 series still leads the pack for resale strength, though, with an average dip of 31.9 percent over the same time period.
Looking at the iPhone 17 lineup beyond the Air, the remaining models are retaining noticeably more value—about 9.7 percent more, on average, compared to the iPhone Air. The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max sit at the top for resale value, which isn’t surprising given their popularity and broader appeal.
Storage size, however, tells an interesting story. The iPhone 17 Pro Max with 256GB storage depreciated 26.1 percent, while the 512GB model fell 30.3 percent. But the biggest surprise is the 2TB iPhone 17 Pro Max, which dropped 41.2 percent—an unusually sharp fall that suggests ultra-high storage tiers may not be attracting enough buyers in the wider market to stay resale-friendly.
Even so, the iPhone Air remains the biggest depreciation outlier. The only models that lost value faster than the 2TB iPhone 17 Pro Max were higher-storage versions of the iPhone Air itself. Averaged out, the iPhone Air is depreciating at about 44.3 percent in ten weeks, with the 1TB version bottoming out at 47.7 percent in under three months. For anyone hoping to resell or upgrade soon, that’s a rough position to be in—and it could get worse as newer models arrive.
This matters even more looking ahead to 2026, when Apple is expected to introduce the iPhone 18 and an iPhone Fold. Apple’s yearly trade-in program will almost certainly continue, but iPhone Air owners may be disappointed if trade-in offers reflect this rapid value decline, especially for high-capacity models.
For buyers who already own an iPhone Air and plan to upgrade to the iPhone 18 in 2026, switching earlier to a different iPhone 17 model—particularly a lower-storage option that tends to depreciate less—could help protect long-term value and reduce the financial hit of upgrading later.
