Apple is planning to release the iPhone 17 Air in the next year. The new device will be thinner than its predecessors, with a thickness of only 5-6 millimeters. It is much slimmer compared to the iPhone 16, which has a thickness of 7.8mm. Consequently, the iPhone 17 Air should be released without a SIM tray at all, using only an eSIM.
That does not make it as thin as the Honor Magic V3, which has a width of 4.35 mm when it is unfolded. This thin design approach of the iPhone 17 Air could also reduce the number of units for sale in China. To put it in detail, recent regulations in China demand that smartphones should possess a physically separated SIM slot which iPhone 17 Air will not possess.
Will the iPhone 17 Air be the beginning of the thin devices tradition? There are indications that Samsung may come out with a similar apparatus the Galaxy S25 Slim early next year. It may be another innovative case carried out by Apple, as the firm is normally the one to set trends within the smartphone market.
What the iPhone 17 Air display suggests is whether other brands might do the same thing. The change may revolutionize the very concept of a ‘smartphone’. Yet, it remains uncertain if Apple will manage to set the iPhone17 Air as a universal trend or if it is going to be particularistic.
All we can do now is to observe the results of this bold Apple step on the market. Of course, the new iPhone model, the iPhone 17 Air will definitely be thinner in this aspect. It will be rather intriguing to see how consumers and competitors alike respond to this new marketing strategy.
