We heard rumors before that Apple won’t be able to achieve the envisioned 6mm thickness goal for its next iPhone 17 Slim variant, which is hitting technical hurdles left and right. Despite that, a new report from MacRumors contradicted the previous statement.
Jeff Pu says in his latest report (as noted by MacRumors) that Apple is still moving ahead with a 6mm thickness goal for iPhone 17 even though it has the downside of featuring less battery. They want to release the iPhone 17 Air to take over for the 17 Plus, so a compromise involving battery life is risky.
A 6mm profile for 17 Air will be the thinnest Apple has ever gotten for its handset. Of course, we need to exclude iPads from the equation because Apple has devices in that category that even reach 5.1mm. iPhone 6 has been their slimmest device running for almost a decade with only 6.9mm depth.
Current iPhones, like the base 16 model are 7.8mm and the Pro versions from the series are 8.25 mm, which is quite chunky by today’s flagship standard. So, Apple's new iPhone model is a step in the right direction, and who knows, maybe it will standardize thin profiles for future iPhones.
There’s still some confusion about its title. It could be the iPhone 17 Slim, per the previous rumors, or the iPhone 17 Air per the latest. But one thing is certain: it will get Apple’s A19 silicon, a dynamic island, and the proprietary 5G modem we’ve heard about in several reports.
