hdmi out with iphone air

From the Technical Specifications for the iPhone Air:

Charging and Expansion

There's no mention of DisplayPort – and DisplayPort Alt Mode is what USB-C adapters depend upon to get a video signal. The iPhone 16e suffers from the same limitation.

If you look at the Charging and Expansion section for the iPhone 17, you'll see DisplayPort listed, and if you look at the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, it will also say "USB 3 (up to 10 Gb/s)." Apple seems to be reserving the most fully-functional USB-C ports for the most expensive models.

Re: “same cpu as pro model and priced above iphone 17”

Whatever the reason, the iPhone Air doesn’t include this feature, and that is something you can figure out from the Technical Specifications before buying.

It also has a limited camera system compared even to the regular iPhone 17. You are paying a premium in part to get an extremely thin phone.

Irrelevant. The iPhone air does not support video out on the USB-C port.

The iPhone Air does not support HDMI. The other iPhone 17 models do.

The iPhone Air is a "budget" model, so it does include the same features and options as the regular iPhone 7 Models.