A recent leak has indicated that the upcoming iPhone 17 Air is facing some technical difficulties that might make it thicker than anticipated.
The iPhone 17 Air, also known as the iPhone 17 Slim, has been rumored to be one of Apple's thinnest phones yet. While we never heard an actual number, there were indications that it would be significantly thinner than the iPhone 16's depth of 7.8mm. However, a recent leak revealed by MacRumors indicates it might not be the thinnest iPhone ever.
The original leak comes from Yeux1122, who posted about it on their Naver blog. According to cited "industry sources," Apple was relying on manufacturing a battery with a thinner substrate to keep the phone thin. However, technical issues and the increased cost have hampered this development. This has led to Apple reverting to an older model of battery for the iPhone 17 Air.
This older battery, which is stated to be around 6mm thick, will limit just how thin the phone can be. Added to this is Apple's reported withholding of the smaller 2nm chip, with rumors indicating that Apple will continue to use the thicker 3nm chip until the iPhone 18. While we don't know the exact size, the device will likely struggle to be smaller than the thinnest iPhone ever: the iPhone 6 measured 6.9mm.
We have heard a fair amount about the iPhone 17 Air so far, including a 6.7-inch panel with OLED panels equipped with a new technology called touch and display driver integration. There are also indications that the iPhone 17 Air, alongside the other iPhone 17 models, will come with an Apple-made Wi-Fi chip and up to 12 GB of RAM.
While the iPhone 17 Air might not be the thinnest phone ever, we would take this leak with a pinch of salt. We wouldn't be surprised if Apple finds a way to overcome this sort of issue, and there is every indication that the phone will be thinner than all of the best iPhones at this point.
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