iPhone 17 Slim model is barely thick enough for its own buttons

AppleInsider

Images of another set of iPhone 17 dummies have leaked, and this time they together emphasize just how thin the expected iPhone 17 Slim, or iPhone 17 Air, really will be.

Purported iPhone 17 dummies -- image credit: Sonny Dickson

There are now so many dummies of the iPhone 17 range being shown in leaks that, for one thing, it's as certain as it can be that the camera arrangement will be different to previous iPhone models. But where most dummies concentrate on either the cameras or on the rumored glass and metal design, this latest one is just about size.

Take a look at the sides of the iPhone 17 dummy -- the Air model is unbelievably thin. pic.twitter.com/ixadQHuxK5

-- Sonny Dickson (@SonnyDickson)

April 24, 2025

In a series of three images, leaker Sonny Dickson has lined up dummies of four iPhone 17 models either side by side, or on top of one another. The whole point is to spotlight how "unbelievably thin" the slim model is.

Previous rumors have suggested that the slim iPhone 17 could be as little as 5.5mm thick, compared to the 7.8mm of the iPhone 16, or the 8.25mm of the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

There's no further information in the dummies, except perhaps for confirmation that the slim model will not have a SIM card slot. While US iPhones have switched to eSIMs, the rest of the world requires the physical card.

In these images, though, the iPhone 17 Slim is not the only model to lack a SIM card slot. Assuming that the slim model replaces the iPhone 16 Plus as expected, the dummies appear to show no SIM card on what is either the iPhone 17, or the iPhone 17 Pro.

If the thinness of the new slim model has forced the use of eSIMs worldwide, then it's conceivable that Apple would do the same with one or all of the other models. But even this is reading too much into purported dummies.

Note that leaker Sonny Dickson has a good track record of being accurate. At this point in 2024, the leaker correctly revealed the screen sizes of the iPhone 16 range.

Rumor Score: Likely

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jfc_pa

Looks like another use for that folding screen they’ve worked on. 

charlesn

I have to say, these look legit. It will be interesting to hear how Apple has addressed the bending issue in a phone this thin. Cue the YouTube videos destroying iPhone Slims by bending them. Couple of things I noticed: first, the Slim appears to have just one camera lens and not two as rumored--so I guess Apple will introduce a new lens that covers the whole 13mm-48mm range currently covered by the ultrawide and main lenses? (Maybe I'm behind on this news?) Hmmmm... that's a tough range to cover without significant optical compromises, so I'd imagine there will be some kind of new tech employed to address that issue. 

Well, if Trump's tariffs don't ruin the whole iPhone party, this looks to be the most exciting September for iPhone since the X was introduced. 

henrybay

Apple, we don’t need thinner phones - just more compact ones like the iPhone 13 Mini, which was the best iPhone ever made. 

jfabula1

Maybe it’s got dangled external battery….or must be paper thin battery pack. 

mpantone

My gut feeling is that the market for a thin iPhone is very small, maybe even smaller than that of the iPhone mini. The iPhone mini was discontinued after two generations and all of Apple's major competitors have abandoned the smaller form factor as well. The market just isn't there in most places.

We do know that consumers prioritize certain things in their phones: display, cameras, and battery performance. There are plenty of people carrying around external battery banks or desperately scrounging around for power outlets in the afternoon for their regular smartphones. I'm not convinced that a thin iPhone is going to provide the typical of battery performance that today's smartphone consumers want.

I have an iPod touch (6th generation) that is about 6.3mm thick. Its battery life was always atrocious and Apple even deliberately downclocked the 1.4GHz CPU to 1.1GHz to reduce battery drain. It's sturdy enough but I'm careful not to shove it into the back pocket of my jeans.

I've also owned some smaller phones (iPhone 4S, iPhone SE, iPhone mini 12) as well as full sized phones (iPhone 6S, iPhone XS). I'm a light phone user but even at the end of the day (especially while traveling) the smaller phones have far more depleted batteries than the standard size phones.

If Apple does release a thin iPhone my guess is that it will be discontinued after two generations (short of the introduction of some revolutionary new battery technology).

afarstar

JFC_PA said:

Looks like another use for that folding screen they’ve worked on. 

It’s definitely the precursor to a folding iPhone. 

charlesn

henrybay said:

Apple, we don’t need thinner phones - just more compact ones like the iPhone 13 Mini, which was the best iPhone ever made. 

But wait: a thinner phone is, by definition, more compact! You just want your compactness in length and width, not so much depth. 

The Mini was beloved by many, to be sure--just not "many enough" to keep it in the iPhone lineup. Consumers, not Apple, determine with their wallets which Apple products have staying power. If it makes you feel any better, the iPhone Plus is regularly among the top ten best selling smartphones in the world, and it's STILL getting axed by Apple because it's the sales laggard in the lineup, besting only the SE which is already gone. 

I would assume that the first year will be gangbusters for the iPhone Slim, it will undoubtedly have "coolest kid on the block" status, and there is so much pent-up demand for a different iPhone form factor in a screen size that the mass market wants. I think it will need some cool new tech advances to go along with the "slim," and there are already rumors of an all-new, Slim-specific camera lens that will cover the entire range of both the ultrawide and main camera lenses in a regular iPhone. A leap in battery tech that could deliver no compromises in battery life for a phone this thin would also be a game changer. We'll see! 

edited April 24

elijahg

I'd be super happy with an iPhone 17 Fat. Imagine, with an extra 3-4mm you could lose the camera bump, and you could have a battery 4x what it is now. But Apple would never do that, because whilst their thinness obsession does seem to have receded somewhat, they'd never make something thicker just for more battery.

tht

I think the iPhone 17 Air model will be the best selling model of the 17 lineup. 

The prices still need to be announced. I think the price tiers for the Pro models are about as high as they can go and remain mass market. If they are set at 1100 and 1300 USD, it’s going to be mighty tough for those models to sell like older Pro models. Sales mix will be a tougher call if they are at 1000 and 1200. 

dewme

The only thing that could hold back the thinnest iPhone is the battery run time. If they can get good battery run time I think they will sell extremely well, especially to people who like slender pants, small purses, or hate the weight of the other iPhones. I get chided nearly every day by my wife because of the size and weight of her standard iPhone 16. 

coolfactor

Headline says "wide", but should that not be "thick"?

It would be cool for Apple to announce new battery technology that they've developed in-house that blows existing battery tech out of the water. One can dream...

mpantone

dewme said:

The only thing that could hold back the thinnest iPhone is the battery run time. If they can get good battery run time I think they will sell extremely well, especially to people who like slender pants, small purses, or hate the weight of the other iPhones. I get chided nearly every day by my wife because of the size and weight of her standard iPhone 16. 

First of all, it's not your fault that Apple doesn't sell smaller, thinner phones, don't know why your wife is chiding you.

Moreover, the iPhone 16 is very similar in size and weight to the 6.5 year old iPhone X. That's been the standard size for the mainstream smartphone from Apple for almost seven years.

And Apple has made smaller, lighter phones. And they don't sell those anymore. Just not enough interest. That's why your wife doesn't own one right now.

This thin iPhone might get some attention for a few months but soon every Instagram and TikTok influencer is going to wave one on camera yet will be using an iPhone 16 Pro Plus behind the scenes as their daily driver.

Let's face it, the battery life of this purported iPhone Thin will be worse than what's in the iPhone 16 and 16e. As I mentioned earlier, the 6.3mm thick iPod touch (6th generation) had piss poor battery performance (even with an underclocked CPU) and this rumored thin phone is even thinner than that.

My guess is that this will flop hard unless there's some revolutionary new battery technology waiting in the wings. We haven't seen that yet from Apple's competitors so the likelihood of that is pretty slim.

I am still clinging on to my trusty iPhone 12 mini. There's an iPhone 16 waiting to replace it but I'm waiting for iOS Software Engineering to clean up iOS 18 to the point that it doesn't suck so much and I can use it as my daily driver. Maybe June.

But I'm not delusional, I know Apple isn't bringing back small handsets. Consumer preferences have evolved over the years and almost everyone doesn't want a smaller phone.

I think I saw one folding smartphone before the pandemic (one of the ill-fated Samsung models) but nothing in the past few years. And I live in Silicon Valley and if there was a lot of interest, I'd probably see several of them every day at the coffee shop, beer garden, pub, grocery store, whatever. 

So both the iPhone Fold or iPhone Slim are pretty sketchy rumors. I absolutely believe that there are prototypes in a lab in Cupertino and probably have been for a decade. I just don't see any major advantages here. I mostly just see increased COGS and worse battery life.

appleinsideruser

AppleInsider said:

While US iPhones have switched to eSIMs, the rest of the world requires the physical card.

Rubbish! My last 3 UK phone deals have all been eSIM! 

(Yes, I change often to get a good deal)

lukei

And very few people bought

henrybay said:

Apple, we don’t need thinner phones - just more compact ones like the iPhone 13 Mini, which was the best iPhone ever made. 

lukei

absolutely! We had eSIM adopted in the UK before the US

There are a plethora of ‘travel eSIM’ companies  which tells me this is true elsewhere.

As far as I know China is the only major country insisting on a physical SIM slot.

appleinsideruser said:

AppleInsider said:

While US iPhones have switched to eSIMs, the rest of the world requires the physical card.

Rubbish! My last 3 UK phone deals have all been eSIM! 

(Yes, I change often to get a good deal)

command_f

The things we do with our phones are pushing the need for a bigger display and reducing the usability of previous smaller phones. However, the current phones are bigger and heavier than ideal for many people. Logically, the only dimension you can reduce to solve this dilemma is the thickness.

So a slim iPhone with a "standard" display size but less weight could well be popular. A better fit for those back pockets and (tailored) jacket pockets and less burden in handbags, rucksacks and other pockets. Battery life may not be such a big issue: current phones have generous capacity for medium-use owners so I could see something with, say, two-thirds of their capacity lasting all of most days for a lot of users. Opportunist charging during the day is also getting easier with the spread of inductive chargers (eg in my wife's car).

I can see a market for a slim phone in a way that I can't for a folding one.

80s_apple_guy

appleinsideruser said:

AppleInsider said:

While US iPhones have switched to eSIMs, the rest of the world requires the physical card.

Rubbish! My last 3 UK phone deals have all been eSIM! 

(Yes, I change often to get a good deal)

The rest of the world requires a physical SIM card tray in the phone. They have eSIM too. 

ravnorodom

appleinsideruser said:

AppleInsider said:

While US iPhones have switched to eSIMs, the rest of the world requires the physical card.

Rubbish! My last 3 UK phone deals have all been eSIM! 

(Yes, I change often to get a good deal)

Same here. My wife was in Malaysia a few months back. She used eSIM throughout her trip. The funny thing is in U.S. airport JFK, physical SIM vending machines are everywhere. What are they for? Flip phones? 

ravnorodom

Thin iPhone is nice. But the thing about battery life is that every time there is an iOS update, Apple keeps adding more features that drains the battery on the background even more. Features that I don’t even care about. There should be a trim down version of iOS that drain less battery. 

strangedays

henrybay said:

Apple, we don’t need thinner phones - just more compact ones like the iPhone 13 Mini, which was the best iPhone ever made. 

people vote with their wallets. I can’t help but feel if that were true, the votes would be there.