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iPhone 17 'Air' Expected to Be ~2mm Thinner Than iPhone 16 Pro

It seems a lot of people don’t realize that the big camera bump on current iPhones isn’t due to Apple being inconsiderate or dumb--it’s due to the current state of our understanding of the physics of light and optics, which limits us to a certain thickness for the lenses, etc. to get the light entering the lens to reach the sensor, especially for the telephoto lens, to result in better photos than we got with the previous bumpless iPhones. Work is still being done to determine how to make a camera assembly that’s thinner without compromises, but we're not there yet.

If you don’t want a camera bump, and you don’t care as much about advanced camera optics to achieve the kinds of photos we can now get on a smartphone, then it seems the “iPhone Air” will be your only option, with its rumored single camera lens and flat back, but you'll need to be OK with the limitations that this imposes on the types and quality of the photos it will produce. The photos will still probably be pretty good, but maybe there will be limitations on telephoto zoom and some other things.

And of course due to its thinness, the battery runtime probably won't be any longer than the battery in the current iPhones. But Apple isn't going to make an iPhone that "eliminates" the camera bump by just making the entire iPhone thicker by the thickness of the bump, as much as many people want that. If thickness doesn't really matter to you, you can place a Magsafe battery bank on the back of your iPhone, or put the iPhone in a battery case, giving you both more battery runtime and an essentially flat back.
 
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People, just imagine this scene for a while:

Cupertino CA, September 9th, 2025. Tim Cook is in the middle of the screen, he’s being spotted at somewhere in the Apple Park… Suddenly, he holds his hands together to say:

“I’m proud to be here to announce the thinnest iPhone we’ve ever made…. Our new iPhone is light, fine, elegant, and is foldable!… We all at Apple know that everybody will be delightful and you are going to love it”
 
smulji said:
Good thing ignorant idiots like yourself aren't building products. Otherwise we'd all be carrying Motorola Dynatacs still.
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Keep simping for apple. And when they release it and the battery is meh (like most of their devices) we can revisit this. I mean if thin was in, they wouldn't have done an about face like they did with their iphone line. But please enlighten me on how these new batteries (that only apple has access to) is able to give it good battery life while being thinner than the rest... I'll wait.
 
I'm keeping my 13 mini as long as possible, as nothing of today options thrills me.
It still serves me very good though - so I can probably wait ~2 more yrs.
My timing with Apple have been good over the years.

I recall that I had much the same feeling when I sat with my old iMac 2013, and no new Mac's that was an option came. But suddenly the MacStudio appeared to my needs, and wallet was ready 🥳
I don't expect a new mini, but I am curious about the foldables.
 
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vegetassj4 said:
The thinnest iPhone weve ever made ever, with more features than ever before seen in a phone so thin, ever. It is the best thin phone that is years ahead of any thin phone than ever before. you are going to love it.
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Until you have to put a big protective case on it... 🤣
 
johnsawyercjs said:
Apple is currently working on revamping its iPhone manufacturing process to allow everyone to customize their own model. You'll be able to specify exactly how thin, wide, and tall you want yours to be, number of cameras and thickness of the bump, et voila.

You heard it here first, maybe.
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It’d be sick if you could order a custom color, out of a palette of like 16 or something. Special order only, for an extra cost, I’d pay it. They could do some small batches of bodies and back panels and just keep them for custom orders. I’d pay $200-300 extra and be cool with waiting a month or two for it.

Tim I know you could figure out the logistics!
 
smulji said:
Good thing ignorant idiots like yourself aren't building products. Otherwise we'd all be carrying Motorola Dynatacs still.
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I get your point… but thinking of what you said I wish we’d all be carrying dumphones again. Life would be better, simpler and more real. this is not a cliche, it was indeed nicer before social media and always connected people and if you go back further, despite the vast information available through the internet, life was even better before it came into our lives.
 
sleeptodream said:
Apple will never have that, for multiple reasons, so if that’s what you’re looking for you may want to look elsewhere, like the Redmagic 10 Pro

Apple’s entire model revolves around optimizing the OS to the hardware to include some lower specs that still function as well or better than their competition. It’s good for their bottom line, and it’s good for the environment. Some will always call them cheap for this, but from a business perspective it’s genius. I still get a lot of joy from my Apple devices so it seems like a win-win to me
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What does what I said have to do with optimized software? I want an iPhone that lasts at least the ****ing day.
 
britboyj said:
What does what I said have to do with optimized software? I want an iPhone that lasts at least the ****ing day.
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Just curious, which iPhone do you have that doesn’t last through the day, and with how much screen time? Which apps does your phone say are using most of the battery?

My 13 Pro Max still gets me almost 2 days with an average screen time of ~6.25 hours per day, with background app refresh turned off

I mentioned optimization because Apple historically uses smaller batteries and less RAM than the competition, but by having streamlined software and less overhead they’re able to offer similar or better battery life in a lot of cases.

That is their business model, they invest in their own OS and hardware so things are more efficient and they don’t have to brute force things with the biggest batteries. They offer battery life good enough for 95% of people, and those that need more can get a battery case or wireless charging pad, etc. Why would they stuff every single one of the hundreds of millions of phones they make with the biggest battery when the vast majority don’t need it?

Would I mind a few hundred extra mAh? Not at all, but I have a hunch that they’re holding back a bit also because Moore’s Law is coming to an end with processors and they’re going to have to keep increasing clock speeds to have meaningful increases in performance, at which point they’ll have to start adding extra battery capacity to maintain the same battery life that customers are getting now. If they threw the kitchen sink in now, and battery life started to taper off if chips get less efficient, that would cause a lot more complaints
 
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Only one camera. I'm fine with that. Just like I was fine with some of the older iPhones I had with one camera - and arguably, took better pictures than some of today's iPhones. I'm also fine with then thinness of the 17 Air. Today's iPhones are too thick, and the camera module on the back is out of control and out of proportion with the rest of the phone - imho of course.

I'm liking the 17 Air already. Hell, I may even order two! Three even . One for the dog!
 
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