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Samsung Working on Super Thin 'Galaxy S25 Edge' to Compete With iPhone 17 Air
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HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
This rumored phone is not beginning to try to compete with pro max. Apparently, the goal is slug it in for plus.
I’m doubting those who paid way up for “max” will want to step way down to a new plus variant. Give up the best cameras? Give up the max battery? Etc? Maybe such people are abundant?
Else, isn’t the plus already lighter than pro max? Yes, 24 grams lighter.
Why didn’t frustrated pro max buyers already opt for plus for that relief?
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Sometimes it feels as if Apple and Samsung are working together and cranking out very similar products.
Just choose the OS you prefer.
Just choose the OS you prefer.
The plus weighs about the same as a xs max (9 grams lighter). I’d love to see a large iPhone get into 6 Plus territory again, another 20 grams lighter. I can’t speak for others but I mostly got the PM instead of Plus for ProMotion. The added battery and better cameras were just a bonus. If the air gets a 120hz display (which seems likely from rumors) and be around 170 grams or less I would seriously consider trading in my Pro Max for it.
Just to play devil’s advocate here, it’s an hour before I’m turning in for the night, and my Pro Max is at 57% - and this isn’t uncommon for me.
To be clear, I’m almost certainly not going to go for the thin phone for camera reasons, but battery life wouldn’t be an issue for me even if it was cut by 35-45%. So yeah, I’d love an ultra-svelt thinner phone.
I work 16 hour days and my 15 pro max is at <10% 12 hours in. No way would I want a smaller battery. But I recognize that many do.
This, in the fall I will be going to the Apple Store, to replace the battery.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
I’m not saying it’s for no one. Somebody else could write its end of day for them and they have 85% left. I went a whole day the other day without touching mine, and it had 99% left. Kick the whole battery out for “thinnest”! 😉
What I have observed from before Apple people started believing this rumor was tons of calls for “more battery” (and "thicker" to flush mount the cameras and kill the wobble) What I didn’t observe is people griping about “too much battery.” In fact, I wish I could have a dollar for each post written along those lines vs. $10 for each post griping about too much battery or "too thick" or "too much camera", etc.
In other words, the amount of battery seems just right when it is the battery in an Apple phone. And when it’s time to rationalize a new phone with less battery, then that battery can be “just right” too. Funny how that works- how our wants ebb & flow right in alignment with whatever Apple offers or wants to do... even when they are taking useful stuff away.
Rationalizations like this seem to start when we believe change is coming from Apple. I recall when people started believing Watch was actually coming. Suddenly “needs” to be able to get notifications when they couldn’t check the other screen on them became rationalization. Suddenly these very odd situations where both hands would be occupied but they needed to see that urgent text were springing forth.
If this phone is ideal for you, great! And others? Great! I just expressed my own disappointment at cutting some value out (through my lens) while keeping “the same great price” or perhaps higher. But, of course, that’s good for shareholders and “another record quarter” as building by subtraction often is. 💰💰💰
What I have observed from before Apple people started believing this rumor was tons of calls for “more battery” (and "thicker" to flush mount the cameras and kill the wobble) What I didn’t observe is people griping about “too much battery.” In fact, I wish I could have a dollar for each post written along those lines vs. $10 for each post griping about too much battery or "too thick" or "too much camera", etc.
In other words, the amount of battery seems just right when it is the battery in an Apple phone. And when it’s time to rationalize a new phone with less battery, then that battery can be “just right” too. Funny how that works- how our wants ebb & flow right in alignment with whatever Apple offers or wants to do... even when they are taking useful stuff away.
Rationalizations like this seem to start when we believe change is coming from Apple. I recall when people started believing Watch was actually coming. Suddenly “needs” to be able to get notifications when they couldn’t check the other screen on them became rationalization. Suddenly these very odd situations where both hands would be occupied but they needed to see that urgent text were springing forth.
If this phone is ideal for you, great! And others? Great! I just expressed my own disappointment at cutting some value out (through my lens) while keeping “the same great price” or perhaps higher. But, of course, that’s good for shareholders and “another record quarter” as building by subtraction often is. 💰💰💰
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Yes I did. Is the iPhone 17 Air an Apple product?
It’s nothing more than a rumour at this stage.
I wonder if the telephoto lens in this S25 Edge will be made using Samsung's ALoP technology (All Lenses on Prism), which reduces the thickness of telephoto camera modules. Samsung demonstrated ALoP at CES 2025, so it seems this technology will be commercially viable this year, so it would be interesting if Apple asks Samsung to make ALoP lens assemblies for iPhones to make the camera bump thinner, or if Samsung licenses the technology to others who actually make the lens assemblies for iPhones (not currently Samsung). If so, it probably won't make it into the first iPhone Air, since it's rumored the first Air won't have a telephoto lens at all, as one way to make the phone thin.
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Is the S25 Edge a product?
Double standards…
The Galaxy Edge mock-up in this shot just reinforces every doubt I've ever had about the iPhone Slim. Is the Edge thinner? Sure. Is it mind-blowingly thinner or even excitingly thinner? Not a chance! It's like seeing a friend who has lost 5 pounds: "Hey there, you look a little thinner!" But it's not like they dropped half their body weight. Is this a form factor people have been clamoring for? Nope. While I'm not a big folding phone proponent, I've heard plenty of iPhone fans say that they wish Apple would make one. What I have NEVER heard from anyone is this: "Hey, I really wish Apple would make an iPhone that's about a millimeter or so thinner than the current model." I guess we shall see.
The Samsung Galaxy Edge is on the right in this comparison photo
Sure, but this photo was taken from an angle, and the Edge is nearest to the camera, so I suspect the difference becomes more visually apparent when viewing all these phones edge-on, lined up close to one another instead of at a distance from each other. Also, even though the width might not look a lot different, it's the tactile sensations of how a slimmer phone feels in the hand that may be the more important factor for people who like that sort of thing.
But consider this: neither the Edge nor the Air have sold a single unit so far, so that's an ominous omen already.
Well, there have been rumors for a long time now that Apple is working on a thin "Slim" device but no such rumors for Samsung. Apple is also known to work on development up until they feel like they have perfected their creation while Samsung likes to release things early even if its not ready for primetime just so they're "first." Samsung has also been doing a copy paste on all their releases for a while now to be more like Apple right down to their OS and Unpacked presentations.
So you tell me, who copied who... ?
