iPhone 17 Air: the latest good and bad news on Apple's ultra-thin model
In 2025, Apple is preparing to revolutionize its SE range around spring, but also to modify the iPhone quartet for the start of the school year. There generation of iPhone 17 would in fact not be entitled to an Air variant instead of the Plus version. Details about him continue to trickle in.
Finesse
The Information also shared news on November 25, 2024 about the finesse of this future model. According to the media, Apple would succeed better than expected by offering a thickness of between 5 and 6 mm for the iPhone 17 Air, compared to a minimum of 6 mm according to the latest rumors.
As other informants suggestedApple engineers still have difficulty achieving this feat, in particular because of difficulties in “integrate the battery and thermal materials into the device”.
By arriving at 5 mm, which would clearly be an achievement, the iPhone 17 Air would do better than the thinnest device from the Apple firm: the13-inch iPad Pro M4 and its 5.4 mm thickness.
On the iPhone side, the iPhone 6 is the one that has undergone the greatest slimming with its thinness of 6.9 mm, while the iPhone 16/16 Plus starts at 7.8 mm and the iPhone 16 Pro/ 16 Pro Max reaches 8.25 mm.
Concessions
Playing on finesse, however, brings some concessions, and The Information we finally share some first ones. This first goes to the audio level, with the presence of a single speaker on theiPhone 17 Aircompared to two traditionally.
There would also be a compromise for connectivity with the abandonment of the slot dedicated to the physical SIM card. A choice considered, but most restrictive for Apple, given that Chinese operators have not adopted eSIM technology at all.
Apple would therefore rack its brains to offer a version that does not abandon the SIM drawer for this market, which could impact the finesse of the Chinese iPhone 17 Air.
5G modem
The media finally adds that the Apple 5G modem would be included in the iPhone 17 Air. A statement which is not surprising when we know that this component will make its introduction on the iPhone SE 4expected for next March.
Small downside: it would not be as good as the proposal usually used by Apple and made by Qualcomm. In exchange, the Apple firm's 5G modem would consume less energy.
