It’s no secret that Apple wants to experiment with a new type of phone that focuses mainly on keeping the chassis thin. We have run into several leaks and reports about the alleged “Apple iPhone 17 Air” to the point that the possibility can’t be denied. From what we hear, this phone will test Apple’s innovative boundaries.
iPhone 17 Air will be a slim handset, though we can all guess the cost of this design choice: the battery. A thin chassis will have a constrained space for components, and the battery size is the easiest thing to cut in these cases. It’s been uncertain how low the battery capacity will fall.
Apple wants the iPhone 17 Air to have a 6.25mm profile. The thinnest they’ve ever realistically gone is 6.9mm with an old iPhone 6 (It had a terrible battery life at only 1810 mAh). The battery and design conflict is even more severe for iPhone 17 Air.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has reported that the Apple’s new iPhone model will be 2mm thinner than the all-new iPhone 16 Pro, which is 8.25mm thick. That puts the iPhone at only 6.25mm. The insider is the rumor mill’s most reliable source for Apple leaks, so this claim does have some gravity.
Other reports advise that Apple might reach this thickness by optimizing components on the PCB, making them even more compact. That would free up space for the battery. Apple’s first in-house 5G modem will also help with the iPhone 17 Air’s goal for a 6.25mm design.