Since neither the iPhone Mini nor the iPhone Plus have managed to sell well, Apple is reportedly working on its thinnest iPhone yet, which would be the fourth device that is difficult to design.
This ultra-thin smartphone has been dubbed iPhone 17 Slim as a placeholder name, but could well end up being the iPhone Air to pair with Apple's line of slim and trendy MacBooks and iPads.
It's still early to talk about the phone, so there aren't many rumors to go on yet. Still, here's what we know about the iPhone 17 Slim so far — and a few things on our wish list, too.
iPhone 17 Slim: price and release date expected
iPhone release dates are pretty easy to predict, considering that every numbered Apple smartphone in the last decade has been released in September (except for the iPhone 12, which was unveiled in October, thanks to the coronavirus). So it's a safe bet that the iPhone 17 Slim will be released in September 2025, unless it's pushed back to 2026 or scrapped altogether.
Pricing is harder to gauge. While it's rumored to replace the “Plus” model of iPhones, it would be unrealistic to hope it will be offered at the iPhone 15 Plus' starting price of $899.
Apparently, we could be looking at a device that costs more than the Pro Max, which currently starts at $1,199. That would make the regular iPhone 17 the cheapest option by far, with no Mini or Plus models.
iPhone 17 Slim: Design and screen
As the name suggests, the iPhone 17 Slim's most notable feature is probably its thinness. We don't have a precise measurement on that yet, but given that its aluminum chassis is expected to be “significantly thinner,” we're talking about a device that likely significantly reduces the iPhone 15's 7.8mm depth.
Indeed, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman believes the device will be part of a “new category of Apple devices that are expected to be the thinnest and lightest products in the entire technology industry.” The goal may be to surpass the 2024 iPad Air (6.1 mm) or even the 2024 iPad Pro (5.3 mm).
That thin bezel is said to feature a 6.6-inch OLED display, which is only slightly smaller than the iPhone 15 Plus' 6.7-inch panel. Apparently, it could also have other premium features to make it stand out, like a smaller punch-hole and a pill-shaped cutout for Dynamic Island.
An interesting feature: the cameras could be moved to the top center of the device, rather than the top left as in previous years.
iPhone 17 Slim: performance and cameras
In terms of specs, the iPhone 17 Slim is likely to sit somewhere between the regular iPhone 17 and the more powerful Pro models. To that end, it will likely be powered by Apple's upcoming 3nm A19 chipset with 8GB of RAM to match the Pro's, which is 2GB more than the current iPhone 15.
The OLED panel will also reportedly support the 120Hz ProMotion technology that Apple previously reserved for its Pro phones.
So far, it's a Pro model, but it looks like the device will be closer to a regular iPhone thanks to its camera setup. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that the phone will only have a single 48MP rear lens, instead of the usual two or three, which could be one of the ways Apple wants to keep the phone compact.
iPhone 17 Slim: What we want to see
This generally sounds pretty promising, but there are a few things we want to make sure we don't sacrifice on the altar of impossible thinness…
Solid battery life
The problem with an ultra-thin design is that battery capacity will inevitably suffer. iPhones don't typically have the longest-lasting batteries on the market, but recent models have been solid enough, with the iPhone 15 family lasting between 10 hours 53 minutes and 13 hours 14 minutes in our stress tests.
Even with a more efficient chipset, it feels like some loss is inevitable, but as long as battery life doesn't drop below eight hours, it wouldn't be catastrophic. If we're looking at anything less than that, then Apple had better plan on adopting faster charging speeds than the 40W promised with the iPhone 16 Pro.
Decent photography
As mentioned above, the iPhone 17 Slim is expected to have a single 48MP camera.
It’ll inevitably be less flexible than the three lenses that come with the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be bad. Google’s early Pixel phones were some of the best camera phones you could buy, even with just one lens, proving that in-camera image processing is very useful.
We hope the iPhone 17 Slim can deliver equally solid photos in both good and low light, though it's unlikely to be the photographer's choice when the time comes to upgrade.
Lots of storage
If the iPhone 17 Slim is as expensive as early rumors suggest, then Apple better not consider skimping on onboard storage.
The cheapest iPhone 15 Pro Max still comes with 256GB of storage, and that simply won't be enough if this really is the most expensive phone Apple has ever released.
Of course, if a theoretical iPhone 17 Slim starts with 512GB of storage at an astronomical price, then people might wonder why a cheaper 256GB version isn't available. So maybe that's not very likely after all.