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

turbineseaplane said:
Not a great example

Just about nobody actually enjoys buying cars or any part of the process of figuring out the options, pricing, comps, specs, etc
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It doesn't matter whether people enjoy it or not. Either make an informed decision before spending thousands of dollars or don't and just roll the dice and pick randomly.

Personally I think it's worth investing just a little time to make the right decision.
 
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SanderEvers said:
I do hope Apple someday makes a phone that is a full cm thick and has better batterylife.
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Everybody ends up buying a big clunky protection case so the defect size of the phone is always very thick regardless.

I also would much prefer a thicker phone with more battery capacity
 
SanderEvers said:
I do hope Apple someday makes a phone that is a full cm thick and has better batterylife.
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Quixotic3 said:
I can not lie, I want an iPhone Phat built like a brick nice and thick with battery for days
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Just hang on in there, guys.

They made a smaller one and it didn‘t sell.
They made a larger one and it didn‘t sell.
They are now making a thinnrt one and it won‘t sell (for its mediocre specs, high prices… and really, nobody asking for it).

👉 There‘ll be only one more dimension to go and try.

Victor Mortimer said:
Double the current thickness would be about right, with a quick-swappable battery please!
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No worries, the EU is working on appropriate legislation:

 
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I still fail to understand the "thin over all else" mentality with Apple here in Modern devices. Why not provide a mm or 2 for better battery life? Made sense for Apple to prioritize on phones feeling thin during the early days when batteries and phones were bulky and SOC sizes / efficiencies were definitely an issue. Here and now, phone's don't need to be so big period. Imagine an iPhone 4 or 5S device with modern SOC, batteries, cameras, and OLED. Sign me up!!


Regarding older devices, and thickness.

  • The thickest iPhone I have was a 2nd hand iPhone 3G. Never had a complaint, but 12.3MM would be a bit much here and now!
  • My first true iPhone was the iPhone 4, that device was near perfect in size in all dimensions. Though 9.3mm would also be a bit chunky here and now
  • The iPhone 5s (shown in the article) was great. 7.7mm is a great compromise of thin v.s. battery room.
  • The thickness of the Xs Max (7.7MM) would likey be fine for most users, especially if battery life was at or above the Pro series.
 
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CrysisDeu said:
But the battery cell is still very thin
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Yes, but a, say 3mm, think battery cell taking up whatever x-/y-space is available in an iPhone 17 probably won't give the phone the required day-long operation. A Huawai foldable is the size of an iPad Mini.
 
840quadra said:
I still fail to understand the "thin over all else" mentality with Apple here in Modern devices. Why not provide a mm or 2 for better battery life? Made sense for Apple to prioritize on phones feeling thin during the early days when batteries and phones were bulky and SOC sizes / efficiencies were definitely an issue. Here and now, phone's don't need to be so big period. Imagine an iPhone 4 or 5S device with modern SOC, batteries, cameras, and OLED. Sign me up!!


Regarding older devices, and thickness.

  • The thickest iPhone I have was a 2nd hand iPhone 3G. Never had a complaint, but 12.3MM would be a bit much here and now!
  • My first true iPhone was the iPhone 4, that device was near perfect in size in all dimensions. Though 9.3mm would also be a bit chunky here and now
  • The iPhone 5s (shown in the article) was great. 7.7mm is a great compromise of thin v.s. battery room.
  • The thickness of the Xs Max (7.7MM) would likey be fine for most users, especially if battery life was at or above the Pro series.
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I agree totally, especially on thickness

I've always found the slightly chonkier devices (like iPhone 4/5/5s/SE1) to fit very nicely and appropriately "in hand".

Maybe that doesn't translate well when these phones are all so physically tall and wide now though?
 
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MacRumors said:


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

iphone-6-thickness.jpg

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
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I’m really confused who is really going to buy this? The battery is gonna be horrendous
 
Howard2k said:
Sorry, but I think that's total nonsense - customers should never have to do analysis? Why on earth should a customer be relieved from doing even 5 minutes of research?

If we follow that train of thought to its logical conclusion, then we should have only one iPad right? And only one phone? And only on laptop? And only one desktop? Base configurations only, that way customers don't need to think about such complexities as storage and RAM too. And remove all colour options.

Let's relieve customers from making any decisions at all before they throw their hundreds or even of thousands of dollars at Apple.

What about cars? Get rid of all options there too right?
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I agree with you, options are a good thing, but unfortunately this is how society has become. People want instant gratification, and all purchasing decisions handed to them on a plate and not have to think about anything at all.
 
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The article would have been better with a table, IMO.

1731348598925.png


The iPhone 16 is 7,8mm.
The iPhone 16 Pro 8,25mm.
 
Howard2k said:
Sorry, but I think that's total nonsense - customers should never have to do analysis? Why on earth should a customer be relieved from doing even 5 minutes of research?

If we follow that train of thought to its logical conclusion, then we should have only one iPad right? And only one phone? And only on laptop? And only one desktop? Base configurations only, that way customers don't need to think about such complexities as storage and RAM too. And remove all colour options.

Let's relieve customers from making any decisions at all before they throw their hundreds or even of thousands of dollars at Apple.

What about cars? Get rid of all options there too right?
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You didn't get my point. It's not about removing options.

I'll try to rephrase that. A customer needs to know easily, without doing any research, what's better than what.
Then he might be tempted to know why something's better than something else, and ultimately of course he'll need to verify if he needs that or not.

Imagine for a minute if Apple called their different iPad lineups iPad A, iPad B, iPad C. Would you be confused? Of course you would. You'd have to analyze each of them to know what's better than what. You want to remove this step from your customers, as it creates a buying barrier. Marketing 101.
 
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twolf2919 said:
Yes, but a, say 3mm, think battery cell taking up whatever x-/y-space is available in an iPhone 17 probably won't give the phone the required day-long operation. A Huawai foldable is the size of an iPad Mini.
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The battery used in the Huawei is a Silicon Carbon battery instead of a typical Li-ion, and Si/C batteries are much denser. A better comparison though is the Honor Magic V3, it's 9.3mm thick closed (vs 8.3 for the iPhone 16 Pro Max) but has a 5150mAh battery (vs 4685mAh on the iPhone). Or the OnePlus 13 which is 8.5mm thick and has a 6000mAh Si/C battery.

I think the fancy new battery tech this article is about is Apple dipping their toes into Si/C. Android phones are trickling out with them this/last year, and I think Apple switching too is inevitable (even if it's 2026 instead of 2025). I just hope they go for bigger capacity and keep the phone size the same for non-Air models.
 
To be fair the iPhone 16 was already very thin.
I don't get this slim new iPhone, but I'd assume Apple did its market research.
 
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krspkbl said:
at least they are trying something new....
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infinitejest said:
At least there's something new this year.
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Wrong nothing new here.

This is a giant nothing burger. This new iPhone 17 Air is not going to be significantly thinner or lighter. “Air” is just a new marketing label for the iPhone “Plus”. Except with one less camera and an experimental Apple modem chip.
 
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Bring an iPhone with a full week battery life! That would be a real thing.
Why bother for a millimeter?
 
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abatabia said:
I’m struggling to see the point behind making this change. If no one is buying the plus just drop the model entirely.

Can someone enlighten me?
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Sales for the other models aren't doing so hot so they think changing the name will bring more sales. The "air" makes 0 sense, especially seeing as the rumors said it would be priced more like a pro.
 
PsykX said:
You didn't get my point. It's not about removing options.

I'll try to rephrase that. A customer needs to know easily, without doing any research, what's better than what.
Then he might be tempted to know why something's better than something else, and ultimately of course he'll need to verify if he needs that or not.

Imagine for a minute if Apple called their different iPad lineups iPad A, iPad B, iPad C. Would you be confused? Of course you would. You'd have to analyze each of them to know what's better than what. You want to remove this step from your customers, as it creates a buying barrier. Marketing 101.
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No, iPad A being the premium model, iPad B being the mid model, iPad C being the budget model. It's not rocket science.

If you're suggesting that Apple make iPad B the premium model, iPad A the mid model, and iPad C the budget model, then I agree that would be both confusing and deliberately obtuse.

Personally I want choices when purchasing. I want to chose from options. I don't mind spending a few minutes doing a base amount of research and I don't think that's unreasonable.

If you don't want to bother doing any research just buy the most expensive product every time, you have that option too. Then you don't need to think, you know it will be the best product.
 
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Howard2k said:
No, iPad A being the premium model, iPad B being the mid model, iPad C being the budget model. It's not rocket science.

If you're suggesting that Apple make iPad B the premium model, iPad A the mid model, and iPad C the budget model, then I agree that would be both confusing and deliberately obtuse.

Personally I want choices when purchasing. I want to chose from options. I don't mind spending a few minutes doing a base amount of research and I don't think that's unreasonable.

If you don't want to bother doing any research just buy the most expensive product every time, you have that option too. Then you don't need to think, you know it will be the best product.
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Was just reading a news article on Apple news yesterday about this very issue. Too many choices when shopping. It's overwhelming, leads to fatigue and some people just abandoning their purchases altogether. I agree with it. I don't need 50 different milk choices. Nor do I need 6 different phone/ipad choices. Don't get me started on car trim levels and their crappy naming schemes. LX, SX, Limited, Ultimate, Limited Ultimate, Touring, EX, GS, Black Edition, blah blah blah.
 
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