It appears that Apple could break its prior record for the slimmest phone with the iPhone 17 Air.
There has been a fair amount of rumors about the iPhone 17 Air so far, also called the iPhone 17 Slim. The constant question is how thin the device will really be, with a recent leak indicating it could struggle to reach the same thickness as the iPhone 6. This was due to an issue with the battery, namely the cost of developing a thinner substrate. However, a recent leak has contradicted this information.
The leak in question comes from a recent research note from Hong Kong-based investment bank Haitong, obtained by MacRumors, in which Apple Analyst Jeff Pu agrees that the phone will be around 6mm thick. Pu wrote, "We agreed with the recent chatter of an 6mm thickness ultra-slim design of the iPhone 17 Slim model." For reference, the iPhone 6 has a thickness of 6.9mm while the iPhone 15 measures 7.8mm.
While this would make the iPhone 17 slim the thinnest iPhone, it certainly wouldn't be the thinnest Apple product on the market. Currently, the honor goes to the 2024 version of the 13-inch iPad Pro, which is just 5.1mm thick. However, the iPad has the advantage of being able to spread the battery out, something Apple can't do in the iPhone as there is only so wide a phone can become.
There have been a few rumors about the iPhone 17 Air outside of the dimensions. For instance, the phone is expected to feature a new type of OLED display that features a technology called touch and display integration.
This new display will reportedly be 6.6 inches in size with a Dynamic Island and set into an aluminum frame. The phone will also reportedly have a 48MP single rear camera and a 24-megapixel front camera. Finally, it looks like the iPhone 17 Air will featurs 8GB of RAM and the A19 chip, meaning access to Apple Intelligence.
The iPhone 17 Air is an interesting device, but the real question will be the cost. If the phone is too expensive it will likely turn some users away, especially with the limited camera options. We will have to wait and see what the final product looks like when it is officially announced, which is likely to happen around September 2025.
