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Apple’s upcoming iPhone 17 Air could be thinner than initially rumored. A new report today details many of the slim iPhone’s features, revealing several design compromises Apple would make for thinness.
This includes ditching the SIM slot and switching to eSIM, even in units sold outside the US.
Apple’s slimmest iPhone yet could be even thinner than initially rumored
Rumors surrounding the iPhone 17 Air suggest it could be Apple’s slimmest iPhone yet, at around 6mm. Due to the slim design, the phone will seemingly only feature a single rear camera.
A new report from The Information sheds more light on the development of the iPhone 17 Air. Apparently, some of the design prototypes of Apple’s upcoming slim iPhone measure between 5-6mm. This indicates the possibility of the iPhone 17 Air being even slimmer than 6mm.
Due to the slim design, the current prototypes lack a physical SIM card slot. The space constraint is also reportedly forcing Apple to include only a single speaker, positioned in the earpiece at the top.
As previously rumored, the phone will only house one rear camera, located in the center. Due to the thin design, the battery capacity will also be smaller than usual.
iPhone 17 Air’s Apple modem will focus on efficiency, not speed
Interestingly, the report says the iPhone 17 Air will not support mmWave connectivity. The company seemingly plans to use its in-house 5G chipset on the phone, which will be more power efficient than Qualcomm’s solution. However, it may not support as fast data speeds as other iPhones.
However, Apple has yet to finalize the design of the iPhone 17 Air, and it might decide to include a few more features by giving up on the thinness.
Reportedly, Apple is trialing the production of iPhone 17 Air with Foxconn in China. But they are struggling to fit so many components in such a slim frame. With the phone still nearly 10 months away from launch, there’s still time for Apple to overcome these challenges.
The iPhone 17 Air will supposedly replace the Plus model in Apple’s 2025 iPhone lineup. Given Apple’s obsession with thinness, it would be interesting to see how the device stands out based on its premium design.