iPhone 17 ‘Air’ Will Be Thinner Than Originally Anticipated, Surpassing The iPhone 6’s 6.9mm Benchmark From A Decade Ago

Apple’s design team has taken a back seat in the past few years, and the company failed to introduce an innovative shift. However, next year could prove to be a significant one for Apple and users as well, but only for one model, as the rest of the devices are rumored to feature the same general design language. It is now being reported that the iPhone 17 ‘Air’ will be thinner than the iPhone 6, negating some earlier rumors related to the device.

iPhone 6 featured the thinnest design ever for an iPhone, but the upcoming ‘Air’ model is expected to be even thinner

In his latest research notes obtained by MacRumors, Haitong security researcher Jeff Pu claims that the iPhone 17 ‘Air’ will be thinner than the iPhone 6, coming down to as low as 6mm. The analyst states, “We agreed with the recent chatter of an 6mm thickness ultra-slim design of the iPhone 17 Slim model.” If the news has any heft to it, the iPhone 17 Air will be three-quarters the thickness of the current iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro models.

While it will be an amazing feat for engineers to pull this off, the iPhone 17 ‘Air’ will also be Apple’s thinnest iPhone manufactured to date, thinner than the iPhone 6, which has a 6.9mm chassis. Apple launched the OLED iPad Pro model earlier this year, and the bigger 13-inch model measures 5.1mm, which is the thinnest device Apple has ever made.

With that said, some users speculated that the iPhone 17 Air would go below the 6mm mark, but this appears to be quite difficult to achieve, as the company is having issues with the battery substrate of the device. Do not take this the wrong way, as reaching 6mm thinness on the ‘Air’ will still be a marvel of engineering. For comparison, the iPhone 16 Pro models are 8.25mm thin, which is slightly heftier than the iPhone 14 Pro models with 7.85mm of thickness.

Take note that the iPhone 17 will be the only device with a thinner chassis and an overall design shift. The rest of the models will boast the same design unless the company decides to revamp the entire lineup. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to feature a single-camera sensor at the back and house internals on par with the standard models of the iPhone 17. For instance, the device will feature 8GB of RAM and an A19 chip instead of the A19 Pro, potentially for Apple Intelligence support.

However, the device will come with a smaller Dynamic Island, which will potentially be available on the entire lineup. However, the ‘Air’ will be the only device to feature Apple’s custom 5G modem out of the entire lineup. Furthermore, the device will feature an aluminum frame instead of titanium, but it could be priced higher than the ‘Pro’ models solely based on its design. Could Apple introduce the iPhone 17 Air with a slimmer design that is less than 6mm?