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New data from an Evercore consumer survey shows a clear trend: many iPhone shoppers are prioritizing RAM upgrades when choosing between the iPhone 17 models, while the new iPhone Air has struggled to attract buyers.
Survey results: Pro models dominate buyer interest
Evercore polled roughly 4,000 U.S. consumers about their intent to buy one of Apple’s iPhone 17 devices. More than half of respondents—about 56%—said they plan to purchase either an iPhone 17 Pro or iPhone 17 Pro Max. In contrast, fewer than 10% of those surveyed expressed plans to buy the iPhone Air; under 400 people in the sample chose that model as their likely daily driver.
Analysts note that the sample is U.S.-centric and not large enough to represent global demand, but the figures align with other signals in the market. Earlier estimates suggest Apple could ship near 100 million iPhones this year, with the Air reportedly slated for the smallest production run, hinting that Apple may be treating the Air as a low-volume test for a slimmer design.
Why the iPhone Air is lagging despite some strengths
One of the survey’s clearest takeaways is the importance buyers are placing on RAM increases in the Pro models—many see extra memory as a practical upgrade for multitasking, gaming, and future-proofing their phones. While Apple added notable hardware updates across the lineup, the RAM bump appears to be a decisive factor for a sizable portion of shoppers.
At the same time, skeptics pointed to perceived weaknesses in the iPhone Air: concerns about battery life and the limitations of a single rear camera seem to dampen enthusiasm. That perception persists even though Apple’s own comparisons list the iPhone Air as offering longer runtime than the iPhone 16 Plus and iPhone 16 Pro in certain tests. The Air’s extreme thinness and minimalist camera setup may appeal to some, but for many buyers those trade-offs aren’t worth it.
Ultimately, the Evercore results underline two things: buyers are weighing practical performance upgrades (like RAM) more heavily than design novelties for now, and Apple may be intentionally keeping Air supply conservative while it evaluates demand for a slimmer form factor.
Source: wccftech
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