The second iOS 26 beta, which just released today, contains a new asset featuring the iconic clownfish wallpaper that Apple included with the original iPhone, and last remastered back in 2022 with iOS 16. But what makes today’s appearance notable is that this new wallpaper comes in a resolution that no other device currently has, strongly hinting at an all new device, like the rumored iPhone 17 Air.
The new clownfish wallpaper assets are for a device with a screen resolution of 420 x 912 points, which translates to 1260 x 2736 pixels in 3x retina mode. That resolution, which is greater than the iPhone 16 Pro and less than the iPhone 16 Pro Max, fits comfortably between those two devices.
Of course, the iPhone 17 Air is rumored to have a radically different design, focusing more on curb appeal – more specifically, a super-thin design. Earlier reports suggest that the resolution would be 1260 x 2740, which is very close to the resolution of the clownfish assets found in iOS 26 developer beta 2.
The actual display size of the 17 Air is said to be 6.6-inches, which again, places it right between the current iPhone 16 Pro (6.27-inches) and iPhone 16 Pro Max (6.8-inches). It’s also largely expected that the iPhone 17 Air will feature a 120Hz-capable ProMotion display, which will further separate it from the baseline models like the iPhone 16e.
The following mockup compares the existing iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max to the upcoming iPhone 17 Air. As you can see, it fits right between each device in terms of screen resolution, but given the fact that Apple will be focusing on a svelte design, it’ll be interesting to see how closely it resembles the smaller 16 Pro
What are your thoughts? For more details on Apple’s upcoming new iPhone hardware, be sure to stay tapped in to 9to5Mac’s iPhone 17 Air Guide, which provides all of the latest information.
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