Rumor: iPhone 17 Air might not be as thin as Apple had intially hoped

Apple is widely expected to unveil an all-new iPhone 17 Air next year that puts an emphasis on form over function. The new iPhone 17 Air has been described as “ultra-slim,” but a new supply chain report this week says Apple has hit a roadblock in making the device as thin as it had originally hoped.

How thin will the iPhone 17 Air be?

The rumor comes via the account yeux1122 on Naver and claims that that the thinness of the iPhone 17 Air largely hinges on the battery. Apple had initially hoped to use a new type of battery for the iPhone 17 Air with a thinner internal substrate. The company, however, has reportedly run into several problems with this plan, including component cost, manufacturing consistency, and various technical compromises.

The report suggests that the iPhone 17 Air’s battery will now be around 6mm thick. There are no details on what this means for the thickness of the iPhone itself, nor are there any details on how thin the battery would’ve been if Apple had been successful in its initial plans.

As MacRumors points out, the iPhone 6 currently holds the title as Apple’s thinnest iPhone ever. It measured in at 6.9mm, while the iPhone 6 Plus measured 7.1mm thin. For further comparison, the 11-inch M4 iPad Pro measures just 5.4mm thick, while the 13-inch iPad Pro model measures 5.1mm.

• iPhone 16: 7.80mm
• iPhone 16 Plus: 7.80mm
• iPhone 16 Pro: 8.25mm
• iPhone 16 Pro Max: 8.25

9to5Mac’s Take

Even if the iPhone 17 Air isn’t quite as thin as Apple had first hoped it would be, there is still plenty of room for it to be noticeably thinner than the iPhone 16 phones. There are also other ways for Apple to give the iPhone 17 Air the rumored ultra-premium design.

The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be unveiled next fall. This means there is still plenty of time for Apple’s plans to change, for both good and bad.

You can check out all of the rumors on the iPhone 17 Air in our dedicated guide.