iPhone 17 'Air' May Not Be Much Thinner Than iPhone 6

[j26]

I think this could be a precursor to a foldable/flip phone. Not this generation, but maybe one or 2 generations down the road.

Make it thin, then when it's folded - "Look how thin it is even when folded!"

I don't know if it'll work though - competitors are already getting ahead on that - the Honor v3 Magic is 4.35mm thick when unfolded (9.2mm folded). The "thick" Z Gold 6 is 5.6mm (12.1mm folded).

 

[Shirasaki]

If I wanted iPad in my hand I would have already had Mini 7, BUT I DON’T. Why Apple cannot understand you need A PHONE, and not a phone from 1990s. Phablet is truly the worst invention of the modern society.

Unfortunately way too many people want iPhone for LITERALLY EVERYTHING, including using it as an iPad despite the obvious screen size deficiency.

“Progress”! And “sustainability”. Apple should be proud of how efficiently they use lithium).

lol lmao “the sustainability” “carbon neutral” and then pump out devices that is destined to go to ewaste bin As they fail to last.

replace a phone that doesn't sell with another phone that doesn't sell?

at least they are trying something new....

They don’t sell because Apple didn‘t try hard enough compared to their normal size counterparts. Also I think those customers are to blame too By not buying enough.

iPhone 16, 16 Pro, 16 plus, 16 Pro Max and Upcoming iPhone SE. Already 5 different iPhones, and we gonna have a ’Air’ version too? There are already differences between these phones both in HW and SW. Isn’t it why Steve Jobs said that Androids are fragmented?

Apple is truly its Own worst enemies: become the very thing they despise, just like samsung.

Nobody wants a thinner iPhone. Or MacBook Pro.

I don’t understand where they are getting their market research. We’ve already been down this road, gone too far, and turned back.

I think Apple just doesn’t know what to do with the iPhone anymore. Hard to make it actually do a new thing at this point, so they just keep messing with the physical design.

It seems that Apple has run out of ideas, and there’s little breakthrough elsewhere. Hmm I wonder why.
People still want thin iPhone but putting a case on it defeats the entire purpose. So maybe people don’t want a thin iPhone? Or the silent majority just doesn’t care?

 

[apveenstra]

We need a thinner iPhone so we can use a thicker protective case...

 

[Rayansb]

Words have no meaning anymore. Didn't they call the iPhone 16 built from the ground up or something when it's literally a copy-paste from like the last 7 iPhones?

 

[turbineseaplane]

Probably, but I'm wondering how they will position this model.
Will it replace an SE ?
Will it be positioned between an SE and a regular iPhone ?
Will it replace the regular iPhone ?

All we know is it won't be a Pro model, and it will sport a 120 Hz display, which current iPhone 16s don't even have yet.

They'll just add it in somewhere and it will have an odd and hard to comprehend compromise or two and just add to buyer confusion

I swear it's like Tim's big plan to just confuse every buyer, for all Apple products, until they just relent and buy whatever the more expensive option is for theoretical future/feature proofing

 

[MrRoberto]

I have no doubt it'll be a technological marvel to behold, but still don't get people's obsession with having a credit-card thin phone

 

[turbineseaplane]

I think Apple just doesn’t know what to do with the iPhone anymore

I think you are 100% correct

It's just rearranging the deck chairs every year now

 

[Victor Mortimer]

I don’t think that many people will want to carry a > 300 g brick around.

I absolutely would.

That's nothing compared to my first cell phone, just its battery weighed almost double that.

 

[klasma]

I wouldn't mind, if I could get a full week on a charge.

Sure, but I don’t think there are that many of you. And to get a full week, it’d probably have to be twice as heavy as the 13” iPad.

 

[CrysisDeu]

How did huawei triple fold do it?

 

[turbineseaplane]

Hard disagree on that, the rounded edges just feel better. The 5 needs a case, with the 6 a case is optional.

I hear ya -- I was more referring to general size/shape/thickness/weight vs edges
I always have used a case anyhow, so it's probably why it never bothered me

All of my SE1s are in cases of some form (leather, silicone and bumper cases all in the rotation)

 

[klasma]

I absolutely would.

That's nothing compared to my first cell phone, just its battery weighed almost double that.

I used to carry a Palm Pilot which was about as heavy as a current iPhone, but whose batteries lasted a month. That’s what I would like to see. Or make it two weeks for half the weight. Unfortunately none of that is remotely feasible with today’s tech.

 

[MrRoberto]

Capacity. The iPad Pro is much larger and allows a much larger battery in the X and Y direction. The Z direction, the thickness, can be reduced but still have reasonable capacity. There is not a lot of real estate in the phone for a thin battery. People would be complaining about battery life.

That's why Apple will be offering the Air-Wingman external battery pack to address such deficit and it'll only make the phone ever so slightly thicker than last year's regular iPhone but you won't notice a difference.

 

[klasma]

How did huawei triple fold do it?

Price.

 

[snowcrash]

"Thinner" is a bizarre goal. Is anyone asking for a thinner phone?

Exactly. Literally no one I know with an iPhone (or without) has ever said out loud “you know I’d really like to get the new iPhone but it’s so thick”. I don’t understand Apple’s obsession with thinner devices. If you got the tech to make the components thinner do that but keep it the body same size (which is fine as it is) and just double the battery for us. Way more people would be excited about 2x the battery over being barely noticeable thinner, especially if you’re adding a case.

“Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should”

 

[Biro]

If the iPhone 17 Air will only be 1mm thinner than the current regular 16 series, I don't see much point to it, since it will end up compromising on battery size and number of cameras.

Unless Apple can pull one out of the hat, they should just postpone it until they can make it significantly thinner than any iPhone they've ever made. It needs to have that "wow" factor to bring some excitement back onto the smartphone market.

The current iPhone 16 Plus is 7.8mm thick. So, if this rumor is correct, the 17 Air would be even less than a single mm thinner. That definitely falls into the “why bother?” category.

 

[rymc02]

I'd love to see a mini and slim iPhone go head to head in sales. My wife loves the mini because it fits in women's pockets and is easy to use in her hands. A large, but slim phone doesn't fix these issues.

 

[switz]

Those cell phones of yester-year were basically cell phones. My iPhone 16 Pro Max 1TB has the computing power of some of the bigger iPads and some base model laptops along with the programs and cameras that can create movies. All of these "features" require both power and generate size and weight.

Why are folks surprised that both size and weight have increased when all these features are added?

Apple has done a masterful job of making smaller components, but it takes ever more of them for all the "necessary" features of today. Not sure how many folks wanted all of these features, so Apple makes the "SE" model for them....

 

[DrJR]

My guess is it will exceed iPad Pro, barely, coming in at 5mm.

 

[Wowfunhappy]

instant buy if its as thin as this article claims it will be (6.9)

current iPhone SE is 7.3. which is a great, and very thin design.

We're talking about millimeters.

How does it effect your life if your phone is 0.4 mm thinner?

By the way, this is what objects look like when they're filmed from one whole millimeter away.

I completely respect your choices, and you're clearly not alone, since Apple keeps prioritizing this. But I don't get it at all!!!

We already had an iPhone which was actually smaller in a meaningful way, it was called the iPhone Mini and Apple killed it. 🤷‍♂️

 

[twolf2919]

How did huawei triple fold do it?

With triple the horizontal/vertical space for battery? It's not like the folded phone is very thin.

 

[Z∆K]

Next year's iPhone 17 "Air" model may not be as thin as Apple planned, according to a rumor originating in Korea.

According to the news aggregator account "yeux1122" on Naver, citing industry sources, Apple has run into problems making the new iPhone 17 model sufficiently thin. The device's reduced thickness is apparently dependent on manufacturing a battery with a thinner substrate, but Apple is now facing technical compromises. One of the main problems is cost and Apple is now reportedly falling back on its existing battery technology.

As a result, the iPhone 17 Air's battery will not be able to be as thin as Apple first intended for the device's new design. Now, the iPhone 17 Air battery will purportedly be around 6mm thick, suggesting that the device itself will be thicker than this. Apple's thinnest ever iPhone was the iPhone 6 at 6.9mm, meaning that the iPhone 17 "Slim" is unlikely to be much thinner than the 2014 flagship.

Likewise, the 13-inch iPad Pro and seventh-generation iPod nano could continue to lead as Apple's thinnest ever devices at 5.1mm and 5.4mm thick, respectively. The iPhone 16 Plus, the device that the iPhone 17 Air will apparently replace in the lineup, is 7.8mm thick.

The iPhone 17 Air is expected to launch in the fall of 2025 with the "A19" chip, a single rear camera, a ProMotion display for refresh rates up to 120Hz.

Article Link: iPhone 17 'Air' May Not Be Much Thinner Than iPhone 6

I'm not worried about a thinner phone. I'd love for the camera array to be flush with the back of the phone. I know that would make the iPhone thicker, but I loved the 5/5SE design. I don't like that the phone wobbles when laid on its back because of the camera bump. I only have a phone case to make the back side flush.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

iPhone Slightly Airier

 

[turbineseaplane]

My iPhone 16 Pro Max 1TB has the computing power of some of the bigger iPads and some base model laptops along with the programs and cameras that can create movies. All of these "features" require both power and generate size and weight.

I think what folks are saying is:

"We don't all need or want a Mac in our pocket"

 

[jjwwqq]

Heaven forbid.