Apple is expected to unveil an all-new iPhone 17 Air next year that will focus on form over function. The new iPhone 17 Air is described as “ultra-thin,” but a new supply chain report this week says Apple has hit a snag in making the device as thin as it originally hoped.
How thin will the iPhone 17 Air be?
The rumor comes from Naver account yeux1122 and claims that the iPhone 17 Air’s thinness is largely due to the battery. Apple had originally hoped to use a new type of battery for the iPhone 17 Air with a thinner internal substrate. However, the company reportedly ran into a number of issues with that plan, including component costs, manufacturing sequencing, and various technical compromises.
The report says that the iPhone 17 Air’s battery will now be around 6mm thick. There are no details on what that means for the thickness of the iPhone itself, and no details on how thin the battery would be if Apple were to succeed with its original plans.
As MacRumors notes, the iPhone 6 currently holds the title of Apple’s thinnest iPhone. It was 6.9mm thick, while the iPhone 6 Plus was 7.1mm thick. For further comparison, the 11-inch iPad Pro M4 is just 5.4mm thick, while the 13-inch iPad Pro is 5.1mm thick.
- iPhone 16: 7.80mm
- iPhone 16 Plus: 7.80mm
- iPhone 16 Pro: 8.25mm
- iPhone 16 Pro Max: 8.25mm
9to5Mac's Take
Even if the iPhone 17 Air isn't as thin as Apple initially hoped, it still has enough room to be noticeably thinner than the iPhone 16 phones. Apple has other ways to give the iPhone 17 Air the ultra-premium design that's been rumoured rumors.
The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be unveiled next fall. That means Apple still has plenty of time to change its plans, for better or worse.
You can check out all the iPhone 17 Air rumors in our dedicated guide.
