A big rumored upgrade for the iPhone 17 may not be coming after Apple had trouble getting parts of a high-enough quality.
Coming from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, this rumor claims the iPhone 17 won't use resin-coated copper (RCC) printed circuit boards, as he had originally suggested back in October. The reason is simply that the parts couldn't be made to a high-enough standard, presumably by firm Ajinomoto that Kuo mentioned in his initial tip.
RCC PCBs were meant to allow the circuitry inside the iPhone 17 to be shrunken down, since the resin coating makes PCBs stronger and more resistant to heat. This would then allow more room for additional components, or let the phone's body be slimmed down, as we had heard in previous rumors.
A slim-to-zero chance
While it's now looking like plans for making the 2025 iPhone thinner have been scuppered, perhaps we'll still see RCC manufacturing used on the iPhone 18 in 2026. Equally, we may have to wait even longer, or never see iPhones use this tech, depending on if and when Apple can get these parts made to its specifications.
Even without the slimmer frame, rumors have already painted a pretty picture of the iPhone 17 series' capabilities. We could see the iPhone 17 series gain Apple-built batteries, 120Hz LTPO displays on all models, triple 48MP cameras and an upgraded telephoto lens on the Pros, and 2nm chipsets for even greater power and efficiency.
Jumping back to the present day though, we're likely less than than two months out from seeing the iPhone 16 series launch. This year's crop of iPhones, including the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, may not be tipped to get slimmer, but are claimed to gain upgrades like updated camera sensors, improved OLED screens, faster charging speeds and a new Capture button for easier photo and video-taking.
