Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
'iPhone 17 Air' Rumored to Feature 'High-Density' Battery
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Galaxy brain idea. What if the Air is to test out a new form factor for the foldable phone. I.E. the foldable will be two 'Airs'. But Apple needs to test runt he production first, and maybe get a bigger order in for parts to save on manufacturing costs.
I'm not sure Apple can do that yet in an iPhone this thin, until thin metalenses are good enough for Apple's use in the front-facing and Face ID cameras. Those appear to be two of the things that will occupy some of that space in the new longer bump.
A phone that's thicker than the current lineup, to make room for a physically larger battery, would have significantly more mass, so that if you drop it onto a hard surface, that would increase the chances of greater damage.
Technologies' Tick-Tock: Introduce more features so the device becomes bigger, then improve those existing features to make it smaller.
“Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 17 Air in September. Kuo previously said the device will measure just 5.5mm at its thinnest point.”
And 10mm thick at the camera end!!
And 10mm thick at the camera end!!
Really curios if they do that or not. I wouldn't be shocked either way (17e or just skip it and started yearly with the 18e).
I think the level of awkwardness depends a lot on the individual usage. The low overall volume will be beneficial to most, and the protruding bump can be a non-issue to some and problematic to others. I could see how a thicker phone with no bump would feel less obtrusive in some situations than a slim phone with a significant bump (e.g. carried in pants pocket, bump poking noticeably against the fabric).
Regardless, I think Apple should be more honest about the dimensions. Generally I think a device is only as slim as the thickest part. We do not measure the height of a car at the hood. If only a single thickness spec is to be used, then the iPhone 17 Pro is 12.7 mm thick, not 8.25 mm as Apple claims. But it is quite hard to find the bump thickness spec, not sure if Apple actually publishes it anywhere at all.
Back in the day of the first Macbook Air with its pronounced wedge shape, Apple used to provide two thickness measurements, at the slim front and at the thicker back. That was a lot more honest, albeit a bit weird maybe. My clunky laptop back then had a narrow little edge design element at the front, so measuring it Apple-style would have resulted in 2 mm thickness (small print: at the front; 30 mm at the back, and pretty much anywhere else).
I’m not aware of any huge breakthrough battery tech that has entered production for high volume that is claimed to be higher density as in more Wh/kg (Ah/g or whatever). Everything is 2-3 years away and still in the lab.
It could be 5-10% more, but let’s just wait and see (like we have any choice) before we judge.
It could be 5-10% more, but let’s just wait and see (like we have any choice) before we judge.
Yes, at this point it wouldn't be too surprising if Apple decides to keep making the 16e not just after the 17 series is released in the fall this year, but after Feb 2026 too, so that instead of a yearly update cycle for the "e" series that happens five months after the regular iPhones are released, it decides to go with a two year update schedule, like they did between the SE 2nd Gen and SE 3rd Gen.
But surprising or not, my hunch is that Apple will stick with a one-year update cycle for the new "e" series, updating a few things here and there each time as with the other iPhone models.
That might be because the first two iPhone 4 models, at 137 grams, were substantially lighter than current iPhones, and the 4s was 140 grams. The iPhone 16 has more mass at 170 grams, the Plus and Pro are 199 grams, and the Pro Max is 227 grams.
Last edited: