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iPhone 17 Air's Thickness and Price Range Revealed in New Report

CharlesShaw said:
Perhaps what happened to the iPhone mini is actually stirring your own pain about what happened to the 27" iMac. In your own special way, you're one of us. Hugs
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Yeah, the few times I've mentioned wanting a new 27" iMac is exactly the same as multiple people on MR commenting on how much they want a new iPhone Mini daily. If anyone needs a hug, it's clearly the iPhone Mini folks. So, go ahead and hug away! I'm sure they will appreciate it.
 
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CarAnalogy said:
Yeah but isn't that the one that infamously bends? And didn't they move away from that design because people liked flat edges better and didn't mind 1mm more thickness?
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If I had to take a guess I would say 1/3 of users prefer flat sides, 1/3 of users prefer rounded sides, and the other 1/3 don't care either way. I think they went with flat sides just to do something different for the sake of a design change. I fully believe they will switch back to rounded sides again for the same reason.
 
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CarAnalogy said:
It's not just weight but density and weight distribution, balance. Thinness is not the only way to achieve that. At some point thinness is not ergonomic. And if it's super thin with the same camera bump, as you point out, that doesn't seem to help much.
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Except that’s the one thing that every single rumor about this phone has agreed on.
They haven’t agreed on dimensions, they haven’t agreed on price point and they haven’t agreed on the name…
But they all agree that it will only have one, single back facing 48 megapixel camera. Just one.
So of course, the camera will be smaller, there will only be one of them instead of two or three.
The non-pro phones also don’t have lidar, so if there is a bump, it will literally only include one camera lens, the flash and a microphone. Which is obviously smaller than the current 16 series.
 
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ab2c4 said:
If I had to take a guess I would say 1/3 of users prefer flat sides, 1/3 of users prefer rounded sides, and the other 1/3 don't care either way. I think they went with flat sides just to do something different for the sake of a design change. I fully believe they will switch back to rounded sides again for the same reason.
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I thought that flat sides provided additional usable interior volume.
 
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CarAnalogy said:
Yeah but isn't that the one that infamously bends? And didn't they move away from that design because people liked flat edges better and didn't mind 1mm more thickness?
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The iPhone 6 came out in 2014.
The iPhone didn’t switch to a flat back again until 2020.
Plus anyone saying that bending will be a problem with this new phone don’t know what they are talking about, a glass back cannot bend. It can shatter, but it will not bend.
The iPhone 6, on the other hand literally had an aluminum back that could bend, not a glass one.
And even if they were switching back to aluminum, the latest iPad Pro is only 5.1MM thin as far as I can tell it’s the most durable iPad they have made in years.
 
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Chuckeee said:
The flash and the microphone don’t require a bump. For example, in the current non-pro iPhone 16 the flashes on the flat part of the back.
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True, so it’s very possible there will be no square bump whatsoever, and only a circle for the lens much like the 6+.
If this is the case, the weight reduction might be even more dramatic than most are thinking.
I am completely serious when I say that I expect Apple to announce this thing to be only 150-160G, which is only around 20G heavier than the 12 Mini.
But with a 6 1/2 inch screen, it will feel incredibly light due to the weight/size ratio.
I wouldn’t even be surprised to see Mini fans begrudgingly switch over to the Air just because of how light it will be.
 
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JohnRckr said:
None asked for these devices so what the hell is up with this trend of making the devices slimmer and slimmer at the expense of other things?
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iPhone's have actually been getting thicker since the iPhone 6 (which was released in 2014). They seem to be trying different things with the 1 out of 4 of the iPhone devices they release annually and this is the latest thing they are throwing at the wall since it doesn't seem like the plus iPhones have been big sellers.
 
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It was three years ago they undid the mistake to make Macbook thinner. Now they back at it again.
 
RowellE said:
I’d prefer they just even out the back to get rid of the camera bump.
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Even how? By making the camera a pill shape that goes across the entire rear? Even out by making the cameras far worse so they are about 2mm thinner and don’t protrude? Even out by making the entire remainder of the back of the device as thick as the camera which equates to around a 2mm thickness increase which equates to a device that is exceedingly uncomfortable to hold in your hand and any thickness increase means your thumb reaches even shorter distances on the screen.
 
Lounge vibes 05 said:
True, so it’s very possible there will be no square bump whatsoever, and only a circle for the lens much like the 6+.
If this is the case, the weight reduction might be even more dramatic than most are thinking.
I am completely serious when I say that I expect Apple to announce this thing to be only 150-160G, which is only around 20G heavier than the 12 Mini.
But with a 6 1/2 inch screen, it will feel incredibly light due to the weight/size ratio.
I wouldn’t even be surprised to see Mini fans begrudgingly switch over to the Air just because of how light it will be.
Click to expand...

Thinness is also a total reduction of volume. That extra 2mm will make a difference in making the phone easier to handle/grip with one hand.
 
Havalo said:
Given, generally speaking, most folks like myself will put the phone in a case which will make it more or less same approx same size as current iPhone.
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How is this so many of you people’s logic? LMAO.

You understand that a case has a set thickness. The case doesn’t magically get thicker.

A phone has a set thickness and doesn’t magically get thicker.

Okay?


Now what is a case thickness + a phone thickness? That equals the TOTAL THICKNESS

If you have an otter box case and it is say 3mm thick (the rear of the case’s thickness), and you have a phone that is 8mm thick you now have a 11mm object in your hand.

If you instead have a 6mm phone in that case you now have an 9mm object in your hand

NOT THAT DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND
 
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I don't understand the positioning for this design. Thin phone with a huge display, how is this more portable/easier to handle? In my personal experience, screen size matters a lot more than thickness in terms of how easy it is to use the device.
I was hoping there'd be a ~6in display in a thin design, that'd be my dream phone
 
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For everyone who doesn’t understand the need for this device (“who is this for?”), let me tell you who it’s for, ME potentially, and if that’s true, then it’s true for countless others.

This device is actually a pretty genius move, because it makes what was NOT a compelling device - the iPhone “Plus,” much moreso, and therefor opens up potential additional sales.

I have an iPhone Pro. I don’t have a plus or a max specifically because I don’t want a freaking massive brick in my pocket. I don’t want something the size and weight of those larger phones. I don’t need two days of battery life, I need one. Love the large screen, don’t love the rest - as well as the added difficulty of using a phone that size with one hand. I have said for years now that I wouldn’t consider a huge iphone unless they made one that was much thinner and lighter, and that’s exactly what they’ve done.

This means that anyone else who feels like I do, particularly the people in the market for a REGULAR iPhone (as opposed to the Pro), there is suddenly a slightly more expensive phone they weren’t considering before. And for those customers, who, like me, would love to have a larger screen without the additional weight and bulk that comes with it, this is an option that wasn’t there before. Which means Apple potentially sells either more phones, or more expensive phones, or both.
 
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Well, I believe something very different….

I’m pretty sure that the so-called iPhone “Air” is just an euphemism to let the market know that something different is coming, but not necessarily an ultra-thin and lighter iPhone than the current ones as many people have literally understood it.

Also, remember that ultra-thin phones tend to bend, plus I don't think the market is expecting a much thinner iPhone these days. In the other hand, larger screens have been a trend in the industry year to year.

Nowadays, a lot of people (millions) would like to have large screens in a very pocketable phone. Thus, a innovative improvement would be an iPhone with a large screen and a small footprint. Both features could co-exist only with a flip iPhone.

So my bet is that “iPhone Air” is just a coded denomination to refer to a flip or foldable iPhone. I really hope I’m right.

Just time will tell….
 
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I'm usually pretty cynical on some of Apples stuff, but not this.

Clearly a "we have thousands of engineers and designers and they are getting bored" and "they can do it because they've developed the tech and manufacturing so they do it" situation which is fine, and, pushing a device that provides a gateway to future manufacturing and internal and external design and tech updates for the next era of devices, such as foldables, for screen tech, battery tech etc.

It's not for everyone but who cares, there's plenty of other Apple choice. Put a case in it and it's not feeling much different. People who get it probably will also realize that one camera is enough for them day to day.
 
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