Apple is expected to go toe-to-toe with Samsung this year in who can make the thinnest flagship smartphone. A new leak suggests that the iPhone 17 Air may be hiding a few unusual tweaks to hit this reported sub-6 mm thickness.
The launch of the iPhone 17 series remains roughly six months away. Nonetheless, it seems that third-party manufacturers are already working towards building accessories for Apple’s next iPhones. Although there has been no evidence that explicitly verifies this, Sonny Dickson has managed to get his hands on photos of metal dummies that typically underpin third-party case design.
Unsurprisingly, Dickson’s photos show four designs, which Apple is expected to launch as the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. While less detailed dummy units have surfaced online before, the images shared by Dickson emphasise just how thin the iPhone 17 Air will look when compared to the rest of the iPhone 17 series. For reference, the iPhone 17 Air should be nearly 30% thinner than the iPhone 16 (curr. $687.50 – renewed on Amazon).
Although the iPhone 17 Air is said to be a mere 5.5 mm to 5.65 mm thick, Apple may have employed a trick to achieve this ultra-thin design. Based on the images below, the device’s camera housing looks at least a third thicker than those on Apple’s other flagship iPhones. In other words, total device thickness including its camera housing may not be all that thin. Incidentally, the same images suggest that Apple has swapped the Face ID and front-facing camera hardware around, but not for the rest of the iPhone 17 series. The following dimensions can be made out too:
- iPhone 17: 149.62 x 71.46 x 7.96 mm
- iPhone 17 Air: 156.18 x 74.71 x 5.65 mm
- iPhone 17 Pro: 149.63 x 71.44 x 8.75 mm
- iPhone 17 Pro Max: 163.04 x 77.59 x 8.75 mm
Source: New leak shows Apple iPhone 17 Air is thicker than iPhone 17 or iPhone 17 Pro in key area
