iPhone 17 Lineup Rumored to Feature All-New Slim Model Above Pro Max With 'Major Redesign'

[jmgregory1]

With the introduction of the latest M4 iPad Pros, the path forward with more premium “Pro” models will undoubtedly continue with future iPhones. Whether that means making a slimmer version that has more performance, maybe even more premium features, would be a great addition to the line, for those people who want something more from their iPhone. They could add in the learnings they made with heat dissipation and use an M series chip, even if it was overkill, as people are clearly willing to pay for more than they need, for all sorts of products.

 

[Tagbert]

Why can we not have a phone that lasts a full day instead of these thinner units? What's the point of a slim iPhone that has lots of apps, great screen but craps out after 10 or less hours of 'normal' use? It's OK if you are static and don't need to switch masts, connect to different wifi systems and don't even think of using it as a phone or checking emails.

My 15 Max Pro never lasts as long as I'd like. Thicker if it ups the battery life is OK with me.

For many of us the phone batteries do last a full day. It really depends on your specific use case. What do you do with the phone and how much of it do you do? There will always be things you can do with your phone that will use more battery. A phone that could run all day doing anything you can do all day would probably be literally the size of a brick. Most people don't want that and don't need anything like that. Apple has to balance the conflicting needs of different customers for weight and battery life. They have the data and presumably they make their decisions based on that. iPhones have had much longer battery life since moving to the X - 15 design. The older 6/7/8-style design had less battery. It seems to work for most of their customers but some will probably need to plug in the phone at some point during the day.

 

[MrRom92]

If it’s not better than the pro max in every aspect then who will want it? Also, how do you even market that a “pro slim” is higher up in the lineup than a “pro max”?? Seems like something that will be hard to effectively communicate to the average consumer

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

That's the type of thinking that got Apple into trouble in the first place. They had such a huge product line and were really unfocused. When Jobs came back, he stripped down the product line which brought with it a ton more focus. That's when the company took off.

No it's not. Before Jobs came back, tiny and shrinking Apple had too many products for that size of Apple. This current Apple is wealthiest company in the world on any given day.

And while we want to believe Jobs made those product cut decisions because he had choices, another take is that he focused what little cash & resources were available on a few products because HE HAD TO. I'm not saying he made a mistake... I'd happily say that was the right thing to do at the time... but I'm not sure it was genius decision vs. pragmatic reality: "we can no longer make all of this stuff, so lets prune it all down to a few things and bet our future on that little group of new products."

Modern Apple doesn't make "too many variations of iPad" because people only buy one best one... or 4+ iPhone models because everyone chooses one best one... or many varieties & configs of Macs because everyone chooses just one best one. In fact, I strongly believe Apple makes NOTHING that does't generate a profit for them... and by that, I mean enough profit to warrant the continued resource allocations, etc.

Wishing for the "good old days" of product simplification is probably wishing for the good old days when Apple was a tiny little niche player and much bigger dogs ruled the spaces where Apple now dominates or dominates on a profitability basis. When I read such posts, I suspect none of those posting wishes for a return to the days when Jobs had to borrow well short of a billion dollars from Gates to keep the doors open.

I suspect what we want is the Apple that is as successful as it is now with only a tiny group of products... as if "one size fits all" is a strategy that would work now with Apple at this gigantic size.

 

[kalafalas]

I would buy it.

 

[derdante]

That Dynamic Island better be tiny if they want people to fork over extra for it. Also I'd rather see the camera bump reintegrated to be flush with the case, rather than making the phone even slimmer.

 

[xpxp2002]

craps out after 10 or less hours of 'normal' use

My 13 mini made it through a full day of normal use. I brought a battery pack with me on vacations or when I knew I'd be out taking pictures and video all day. But that's above-normal use.

Likewise, my 15 Pro is usually at about 75-80% at the end of a normal workday. Likewise, I bring extra power with me when I plan to be using my phone more than normal, but I rarely need to use it with the 15 Pro.

The last time I had an iPhone that had inadequate battery life for normal use was the iPhone 7.

 

[azentropy]

Slim is nice, but we need something small please

And by small I mean "iPhone 13 Mini sized" (or smaller)

I'd settle for a smaller iPhone even it it wasn't quite mini small. I still believe a Pro 5.8" (about screen size of the X,Xs,11 Pro) in a modern frame with the slimmer bezels would be a hit.

 

[10anta]

I’m happy with the current slimness - the main improvements I want are a more scratch resistant screen, and multi-day battery life.

 

[Remy149]

Apple should alternate with mini and max.
one year mini, next year max.
there is market for both.
i like mini

The max is one of their best selling models.

 

[witchcult]

Lol even more expensive than the pro max?

 

[Remy149]

Technically, none of the phone or iPad updates need to be yearly. But they can't stop because they need "record profits" every year. I wish they would go 18-24 months between editions.... you would think that extra time could be used to actually make important updates and maybe some true innovation. But... maybe I'm also an idiot.

Most consumers don’t upgrade annually but with everyone on a different upgrade cycle they need a new device each year for those who are ready to upgrade. iPhone is also Apples primary revenue generator their stock would tank if they announced they were doing bi annual upgrades

 

[Remy149]

Exactly. Tim Cook's is a greedy MBA degree-holding corporate scumbag whose goal is not to provide customers with more value, but rather to provide as little value as possible while still selling enough to maintain huge profits. Cook likes to maximize profits by spending as little as possible on R&D and developing new designs. The current iPhone 15 has practically same design as the iPhone 11. The iPhone 16 will also have that iPhone 11 design. If the iPhone 17 continues that trend, then a more honest name for the iPhone 17 would be iPhone 11ssssss.

Why do you need a iPhones a product category that is very mature to have drastically different designs for no other reason just to change how it looks?

 

[Eggtastic]

Really... 16's are about to come out and they are dangling the potential of the 17's in our face?

Also can we ditch the number line up apple... just go with the year or something.

 

[dampfnudel]

That’s it! I’m now waiting on the 17 pro max

You may end up waiting for the 18 Pro Max.

 

[Remy149]

What is the point of having a thin phone if it still has a camera bump? The iPhone 17 will be released in 2025, which is 11 years after the first iPhone with a camera bump (iPhone 6) was released (2014). 11 years of lazy design. Welcome to Tim Cook's Apple.

What do you want an iPhone to look like? There is no reason to make drastic design changes just for some people to feel like it’s a completely new product

 

[Cirillo Gherardo]

I'm not sure the new Mac Pro and its price-tag was a raging success either?

Apple definitely keeps trying to test the waters to see how much people will pay for the "high end" gear, though.

Yes they do, and they mostly succeed brilliantly at it. I don't think the Mac Pro counts as such an attempt...that product only exists because they feel need to have it, to serve a very small niche. Vision Pro was their ultimate attempt and that failed miserably.

But they've succeed with multiple different attempts with iPhone and iPad. Heck, with 14 Pro they succeeded in making Pro sales higher than base sales for the first time ever. The continue to test what people are willing to pay and customers keep telling them "keep going".

 

[Jean Claude]

Queue all the "I don't care about thinness" tirades. Yawn ... a lot of folks DO care, including me. Another piece of design feedback I'd offer (that a lot of folks *also* never seem to care about) are the bezels. Can we finally get a true edge-to-edge phone that looks like a seamless piece of glass? Johnny Ive wanted this over a decade ago - I'm honestly a little shocked it hasn't happened yet. But when it does ... a truly thin, bezel-less phone ... it's going to make ALL other models look instantly old and obsolete just like it did when they finally got rid of the chins. Then everyone who "claims" they don't care about that stuff will be the first in line to purchase.

 

[dampfnudel]

I say this with the utmost respect, but: Ewww.

I hate the idea of a folding phone. The reason most phones are slabs is because it's pretty much the optimal form factor.

It may be the optimal form factor, but increasingly it doesn’t seem to be the optimal sales factor for Apple. Maybe rearranging the camera to ‘top center’ will work somewhat to rectify that with either the 17 Pro or 18 Pro???

 

[octopi]

iPhone 17? But the iPhone 16 isn't out yet.
****ing hell this is getting sad.

 

[DrWojtek]

iPhone 17 6.1inch is new low end / iPhone SE. No Promotion screen and only 1 camera on back.

Then 2 Pro models in different sizes.

Then 1 Ultra.

 

[Moonjumper]

I'm surprised the camera wasn't already top centre. So much of the iPhone design is about symmetry. It used to be possible to pick up mobile phones and know which way was up without even looking. Unless you touch the camera bump, it is impossible to tell front from back and top from bottom without looking. That is a compromise for the sake of symmetry. Having the camera central will surely be easier to use when holding in portrait orientation as there is no horizontal offset. Plus a phone will sit better on a flat surface with it central.

 

[subjonas]

I get that, but 4 different apple pencils, an ipad air that has to use the old keyboard and despite being "not pro" has to use the pro pencil. An Air that's actually heavier than the pro etc.... far too fractured and illogical.

There are really only 2 Pencils—standard USBC and Pro. The two other legacy Pencils are only offered for people with legacy devices and will stop being sold when demand dies down for them which should be soon (and remember, the reason Apple had to fracture compatibility between Pencil 2 and Pro was because an overwhelming number of users like us indirectly demanded it by demanding a landscape camera). The iPad Air can’t use the new Magic Keyboard because the new MK is specifically designed for the new ultra thin/light iPad Pro. Many devices have their own specific-fit accessories and rightly so because it makes the UX better. The Air doesn’t have to use the Pencil Pro, it can use the standard USBC Pencil too. The Air being heavier than Pro is a weird misnomer, though.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I'm surprised the camera wasn't already top centre. So much of the iPhone design is about symmetry. It used to be possible to pick up mobile phones and know which way was up without even looking. Unless you touch the camera bump, it is impossible to tell front from back and top from bottom without looking. That is a compromise for the sake of symmetry. Having the camera central will surely be easier to use when holding in portrait orientation as there is no horizontal offset. Plus a phone will sit better on a flat surface with it central.

Yep

Home button used to be a great way to tell what was bottom/top (even by feel alone)

 

[Joosst]

With everyone using cases, in real-life usage an iPhone is only as thin as the camera bump.

Cases correct for the difference between the phone's thickness and the camera bump. So let's hope the camera bump is flush (that won't happen) or at least also a LOT thinner, because that will dictate the actual real-life thickness when used with a case.