iPhone 17 Air: A question of thinness
It is not yet clear how thin Apple's iPhone 16 Plus successor will actually be. One thing seems to be clear: The "camera bump" stands out.
iPhone 17 Air: Thinnest iPhone ever?
(Image: Mac & i)
Apple is planning to change the form factor of its smartphones for the iPhone 17 generation this fall. Instead of an "iPhone 17 Plus" with a large screen and slimmed-down hardware compared to the Pro models, it will be a particularly thin "iPhone 17 Air", speculates at least the upper echelons of Apple rumor mongers. Now there is new speculation as to exactly how flat the device could be – and how the new "camera bump", i.e. the module with the camera sensors and optics, should be arranged. According to reports from China and elsewhere, it is likely to be quite bulky from the side.
It's all about the millimeters
It was initially rumored that the iPhone 17 Air would be around 6 mm thick; the information came from the US IT news service The Information and analyst Jeff Pu from Hong Kong. However, competing market observers such as supply chain expert Ming-Chi Kuo, who is often right, believe it will be closer to 5.5 mm. Both values would be thinner than the thinnest iPhone to date, the 6.9 mm model from 2014. By comparison, the 13-inch iPad Pro M4 is only 5.1 mm thick.
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The Chinese leaker with the beautiful name "Ice Universe" recently claimed that the camera bump alone will probably be 4 mm thick. This in turn would mean that the iPhone 17 Air would be 9.5 mm high at its thickest point, which is in line with Kuo's predictions.
Long bump like Android
The camera bump itself is supposed to have a new shape for Apple and allegedly cover almost the entire width of the housing – and no longer just take up one corner of the device. This style has long been familiar from Android devices.
Apple is reportedly only installing a single camera in the iPhone 17 Air, similar to the iPhone 16e. This means you cannot record spatial videos with the device. Internally, Apple's own modem chip, the 5G-capable C1, could be installed. This is particularly energy-efficient because it can be addressed directly by the device's SoC – as there is little room for a larger battery in the 17 Air, this would make a lot of sense. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be released in September. There will also be a standard model and two Pro versions. The screen of the 17 Air is expected to measure 6.7 inches.
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