Following the report of a redesigned iPhone 17 Professional, The Info‘s Wayne Ma particulars Apple’s efforts to launch the ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air subsequent yr. In keeping with the journalist, Cupertino will take away a number of options to make this modern iPhone that skinny.
Ma studies that iPhone 17 Air prototypes are between 5 and 6 millimeters thick, which may presumably make it thinner than the iPhone 6, launched a decade in the past. Whereas the iPhone 16 is 7.8mm thick, this might make the iPhone 17 Air as skinny as the brand new M4 iPad Professional.
Sadly, not every part is nice information. Apple must sacrifice a number of essential options to attain this ultra-thin design. For instance, The Info says Apple engineers are “discovering it onerous to suit the battery and thermal supplies into the system,” which implies Cupertino will doubtless have so as to add a smaller battery to this iPhone.
Moreover, a significant compromise on the iPhone 17 Air could be a single earpiece speaker. In keeping with Ma, “the iPhone will solely have a single speaker in its earpiece as a result of there’s no room for a second speaker on the backside, which is customary in different fashions.”
The journalist additionally confirms one other rumored change: the iPhone 17 Air may have a “massive, centered digital camera bump.” That stated, neglect about one of many iPhone’s most widely-used digital camera options, the optical zoom.
Whereas Apple’s in-house 5G modem is anticipated to be obtainable with this iPhone, the chip doesn’t carry out in addition to Qualcomm’s. The report says it’s extra environment friendly, nevertheless it received’t be as quick, and it’ll lack a characteristic some US customers profit quite a bit, the mmWave 5G expertise, which Apple’s future processor received’t have.
Lastly, Apple engineers couldn’t determine methods to add a bodily SIM tray to the iPhone 17 Air. Whereas iPhone customers within the US are used to that, Apple may have points, at the very least in China, which requires telephones to be offered with a SIM card. With out this market, gross sales of this upcoming iPhone won’t be as engaging as they might.
Wrap up
Contemplating all that, I ponder if these trade-offs are value it for an all-new iPhone design. I nonetheless assume Professional customers will preserve shopping for Professional telephones, whereas common iPhone customers received’t be enticed to pay further for this new design. So, who could be this new iPhone for?
