The iPhone 17 Air could be very thin – 5.5mm, according to a new report from Ming-Chi Kuo. Mark Gurman confirms this theory in his newsletter “Power On!”, stating that the iPhone 17 Air – is a step towards making the body as thin as possible. At the moment, the iPhone 6 holds the record for the thinnest Apple model – 6.9 mm, so the iPhone 17 Air will be a serious downgrade.
What we know about the iPhone 17 Air
For reference, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim is rumored to be between 6 and 6.9 mm thick. If that's the case, the iPhone 17 Air will be significantly thinner than the Slim – or any other model in Samsung's lineup. The S25 Ultra is rumored to be 8.2 mm thick, while the S25 and S25 Plus are rumored to be 7.2 mm thick.
A lot is already known about the iPhone 17 Air, including the fact that it will have a 120 Hz display. Kuo also said that the iPhone 17 Air will lack a physical SIM card tray, instead using eSIM across all models. China currently does not support eSIM technology, Kuo says, so this design choice could mean that the iPhone 17 Air will not be sold in the Chinese market.
The analyst believes that the new addition to the lineup is unlikely to have a big impact on sales due to its weaker components and expected higher price; in fact, Kuo believes that iPhone shipments will fall as much as 10% below expectations next year. The iPhone 17 Air will be Apple's first major design change in a long time, at least in terms of the phone's main body. The promise that it will be the thinnest iPhone ever made makes it interesting to wait for Apple to make an official announcement.