According to The Information, Apple’s requirement to create an iPhone 17 «ultra-thin» (5-6 mm) has put the company’s engineers in a difficult position
Difficulties arise, in particular, with the installation of the battery and thermal materials. Previously, Apple hoped to solve them by use of a new type of battery with a thinner inner lining, but here the cost of components prevented the company’s main challenges are production consistency and the need to make certain technical compromises.
The iPhone 6 is currently considered Apple’s thinnest iPhone (its thickness is 6.9 mm, and the iPhone 6 Plus is 7.1 mm). For comparison, the 11-inch iPad Pro M4 is only 5.4 mm thick, and the 13-inch iPad Pro is — 5.1 mm.
The report also notes that the iPhone 17 prototype currently lacks a physical SIM card slot — the device is likely to rely entirely on eSIM (The iPhone 14, iPhone 15, and iPhone 16 sold in the United States have already made this transition — while the same iPhones in other countries still support a physical SIM card). The device also has the potential to will get only one speaker, as there is obviously not enough space for the second one on the bottom edge, aluminum bezels, and a rectangular protrusion of the rear camera.
As a reminder, according to previous rumors, the iPhone 17 Air will receive only one 48-megapixel rear camera, 24-megapixel front camera, Apple’s first proprietary 5G modem, 6.6-inch display, A19 chip, Face ID, Dynamic Island, and 8 GB of RAM for Apple Intelligence.
The Information adds that the device is currently «in early production testing» at Foxconn. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be released in September 2025 (probably with a price of $1300) along with the standard iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro models (iPhone 17 Plus is not expected).
Meanwhile, the long-awaited iPhone SE 4 will debut in March 2025.