iPhone 17 Air might not be as thin as we hoped
Rumors say the iPhone 17 Air will be about as thin as an iPhone 6
📏 The iPhone 17 Air could still be the slimmest iPhone to date, but not as slim as we thought
🔋 Issues with creating a battery and spiralling costs are to blame
🤏 The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be 6mm thick
🤷♂️ That’s slimmer than the iPhone 6 but thicker than the new iPad Pro
The thought of a super slim iPhone 17 Air piqued my interest when it was first reported, but it sounds like it might not be as thin as I hoped.
According to the news aggregator account “yeux1122” on Naver who cited industry sources (thanks, MacRumors), Apple has encountered problems making the new iPhone 17 model thin enough. The main issue appears to be the cost of creating a new battery, which will use a thinner substrate, and the technical compromises Apple has to make to deliver a razor-thin iPhone.
If the reports are true, it means the iPhone 17 will probably be 6mm thick, which is 0.9mm thinner than the iPhone 6 and 1.8mm thinner than the iPhone 16 Plus, which is the model the Air will replace.
A thickness of 6mm would also mean the iPhone 17 Air will be thicker than the new iPad Pro, which is just 5.1mm thick for the 13-inch model. However, Apple has far more surface area to fit a battery in, and the company will have less concerns about the bendgate controversy that plagued the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
The iPhone 17 Air could launch next year with the new “A19” chip, a single rear camera and an 120Hz refresh rate display. Apple is also planning to bring its 120Hz ProMotion display to the base iPhone 17 for the first time and it should sport a new Wi-Fi chip.
Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.