iPhone 17 Air: Ultra-Thin Design Faces Engineering Hurdles

Apple is developing an ultra-thin "iPhone 17 Air" planned for release next year, with prototypes measuring between 5 and 6 millimeters thick, significantly thinner than the iPhone 16 at 7.8mm.

Engineering Challenges

• Engineers face difficulties fitting the battery and thermal components into the slim design.
• The iPhone 17 Air will only feature a single earpiece speaker due to space constraints.
• Apple's in-house 5G modem, while more efficient, currently underperforms Qualcomm's chips and lacks mmWave 5G support.
• Integrating a physical SIM card tray, required for the Chinese market, presents another challenge.

Design and Features

• The iPhone 17 Air will sport a single rear camera housed in a large, centered bump.
• It will be among the first iPhones to utilize Apple's own 5G modem.

Development Status

The iPhone 17 Air is currently in early production trials at Foxconn, having progressed from proto-1 to proto-2 status. For insights into Apple's other ventures, see Apple's New Smart Home Display. You might also be interested in iPhone 17 Design Changes and Samsung Foldables.