Kuo: Ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air will be just 5.5mm at thinnest point

4 hours ago 2

Now that a new year has kicked off, rumors for the upcoming iPhone 17 line are in full swing. Today, Ming-Chi Kuo has shared a new detail on the ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air that reveals how surprisingly thin it may be.

New iPhone could be nearly as thin as M4 iPad Pros

Today, Ming-Chi Kuo writes on Medium that Apple’s upcoming iPhone 17 Air will be even thinner than we’re expecting.

Recent reporting has indicated the 17 Air would measure 6.25mm thick. We’ve seen similar numbers thrown around in the past. That would still make it the thinnest iPhone ever, besting the iPhone 6’s 6.9mm.

But Kuo today says it’s even thinner, with “the thinnest part around 5.5mm.”

This is getting into the territory of the M4 iPad Pro line.

11-inch iPad Pro: 5.3mm
13-inch iPad Pro: 5.1mm

5.5mm is significantly thinner than what the general consensus has been.

Of course, there is the qualifier that this only applies to ‘the thinnest part.’

But typically on iPhones, the only protrusion is the camera bump. The 17 Air, despite its scaled back camera system, will undoubtedly have a camera bump too.

If 5.5mm is the thinnest part, I have to assume that applies to the full body of the iPhone besides the camera. But it’s always possible Apple could implement a new tapered design along the lines of the classic MacBook Air.

Kuo also notes that the device being this ultra-thin likely means it will be eSIM only—something we’ve heard before.

If this rumor proves true, it will make the device even more compelling as an alternative to the more feature-rich iPhone 17 Pro line.

What do you make of the new thickness rumor? Let us know in the comments.