iPhone 17 Air’s thinness may surpass the thinnest iPhone up to date - the iPhone 6

Reputable industry insider Ming-Chi Kuo is now giving some promising news to hardcore Apple fans, revealing that the rumored already-superthin iPhone 17 Air would actually be even slimmer than expected.

The iPhone 17 Air is one of the more exciting devices in a market struggling to innovate as of recently. The expected ultra-thin phone is probably going to replace the iPhone Plus model in the upcoming 2025 flagship lineup, and rumors and leaks about it have started to surface on the internet.

Recently, rumors about the iPhone 17 Air indicated that it would be quite thin at just 6.25mm. However, Kuo now has some surprising news to share in a post on Medium. He details that actually the 'thinnest part' of the iPhone 17 Air would be around 5.5mm. Amazingly, that's now in  superthin M4 iPad Pro territory, and if true, would make the iPhone 17 Air the thinnest iPhone to date, beating the 6.9mm iPhone 6.

The thinnest Apple device right now is the 13-inch M4 iPad Pro, which is just 5.1mm thick. Of course, we can't really ignore the disclaimer Kuo has thrown into the announcement that "the thinnest part" would measure around 5.5mm. However, iPhone designs are generally simple and the only protruding part is the camera bump. That leads me to believe the thinnest part is actually the full body of the iPhone besides the camera.

As with anything rumored though, it's important to keep a tiny bit of skepticism – Apple would always decide to implement a new tapered design similar to the classic MacBook Air. But honestly, that would probably look very strange on a phone.

Kuo also mentions in his post that potential iPhone 17 Air buyers should brace for the phone to be eSIM-only due to this ultra-thin profile. That's something that has been around in the rumor mill though, so it shouldn't come as a big surprise.

The iPhone 17 Air is rumored to start around $800 and replace the Plus model (which is already not selling much) in the iPhone 17 lineup expected in the fall of 2025. It would likely have to face the rumored Galaxy S25 Slim which is reportedly being worked on, although its thinness has not been revealed by leaks just yet.

The smartphone market has become arguably a little bit less exciting in the past couple of years, but a new trend seems to be emerging – slim-chic. If the two major players – Apple and Samsung – indeed go in this direction, I'd expect plenty of other phone makers to jump in. And although having a superslim phone seems rather interesting, I can't help but wonder how many people would find it hard to wield just because of the sheer lack of substance to hold on to...