iPhone 17 Slim/Ultra/Air: for when you want to pay more for less

That's what a cheeky fellow by the name of Oscar Wilde said back in the day.

The above clever quote is about the first thing that came to mind when I came across this:

• Apple official says the iPhone 17 will be the company's "most ambitious product in history"

The second thing that goes through my mind when stumbling upon this bold statement is "Yeah, no", and the third thing is… well, I can't write it down.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the most ambitious product in Apple history is not the iPhone 17, but a gadget from 2007 that I'll refer to in a moment.

Sure, Apple being Apple (or any company, really) won't go and say that they're feeling "meh" about their next product, especially when it's their most popular product, like the iPhone.

I'm sure that Apple is putting a lot of thought and effort into the iPhone 17.

Maybe a touch too much.

Maybe it's better for Apple to act on the following advice, as The King sang it:

A little less conversation, a little more action, please

A little less fight and a little more spark

The "a little more action" part is crucial, as the competition is certainly not wasting its time. Apple is in a weak spot… and that's not great news for the Cupertino giant.

Ambitions and realities

So, Apple has initiated a major restructuring within its hardware engineering division. Three executives were promoted to vice president positions. This strategic move, led by John Ternus, who heads the group, comes as part of a broader effort to innovate and adapt amid several recent departures in the company. The newly appointed vice presidents – Richard Dinh, Dave Pakula, and Donny Nordhues – will each play a pivotal role in steering the development of Apple's future products.

Among the most anticipated products is the iPhone 17 series, which Dinh will oversee.

Ternus has dubbed this upcoming lineup "the most ambitious in the product's history", hinting at significant advancements. Speculations suggest the introduction of a new premium model, potentially named the iPhone 17 Slim/Air/Ultra. Design enhancements, improved camera features, and upgraded processing technology are also expected to be part of the 2025 lineup.

However, could the iPhone 17 Slim/Air/Ultra pull it off… being a world-wide hit, I mean? For starters, it's going to be pricier than the iPhone 17 Pro Max, if rumors are true.

Starting (rumored) price: $1,299. Oh, well.

Also, at the moment, its specs are nothing special.

Some leaks suggest the iPhone 17 Slim will have a 6.65-inch ProMotion display with a 120Hz refresh rate and be powered by the A19 processor with 8 GB of RAM. Despite the excitement around its design, the specs don’t particularly stand out, as the device will feature a single rear camera. Although it could be one with a variable aperture, similar to Huawei's recent models. Okay, that's an extra that the Galaxy S24 doesn't have, bravo!

Also, I'm a bit perplexed by the rumored 1260 x 2740 px resolution of the iPhone 17 Slim – it’s actually lower than the iPhone 15 Pro Max's 1290 x 2796 resolution. While the difference isn't huge, I can’t help but blow air out of my nose at the idea that the priciest iPhone of 2025 will feature a display with fewer pixels than a model from 2023.

Next, thickness. In my opinion, if Apple can achieve a thickness of 5.1mm for the iPad Pro M4 (2024), it should be able to do the same for the iPhone 17 Slim/Ultra/Air. While the current iPhone 15 Pro Max measures 8.25mm, even a slimmed-down iPhone 17 Pro Max at around 7mm would still leave the iPhone 17 Slim noticeably thinner at approximately 5mm.

Apple needs to keep the Slim/Ultra/Air under 5mm to remain competitive, especially with foldable phones like the Pixel 9 Pro Fold at 5.1mm and the Honor Magic V3, which boasts a remarkable thickness of just 4.35mm when unfolded. If the iPhone 17 Slim/Ultra/Air exceeds 5mm at its rumored $1,299 price, I wouldn't consider buying it; instead, I'd opt for one of those foldables for a truly thin phone with a larger display.

The most ambitious product is…

…from 2007 and it's called iPhone. No "Pro", no "Max", no "S" versions, no model numbers, no nothing.

The first iPhone, presented by Steve Jobs, was a smartphone revolution and changed the course of (mobile) history.



Reflecting on the impact of the first iPhone, Rad noted that it was significant not only as a product from Apple, but also as a transformative concept of what a phone could represent. With its innovative design and groundbreaking features, the iPhone established a new benchmark for the industry and reshaped everyday life and work.

When Steve Jobs introduced the original iPhone, he claimed it was five years ahead of its competitors. Accurate. It took years for Android to evolve and reach a level that could provide a similarly seamless user experience.

The competition is around the corner

Here we are in 2024. It's the Fall and, quite contrary to what other Falls have been in past years, we're not talking about the just-released iPhone. For 2024, that was the iPhone 16.

Instead, we're eagerly anticipating handsets like the OnePlus 13, the Xiaomi 15, the Oppo Find X8; we're curious about the Vivo X200 Pro, the Honor Magic 7 Pro, and more.

That's because the iPhone 16 didn't quite turn out to be the great tech revelation that some promised to be. It's advertised as a great AI tool, but… Apple Intelligence is not yet ready. Apparently, it's going to be in full bloom as early as 2025.

Meanwhile, the competition is experimenting with groundbreaking stuff on the AI front:

• Oppo to make AI go easier on the battery: world's first on-device MoE implementation
• Honor reveals plans to launch impressive AI Agent with the Magic 7 Series

It's not just Samsung, Google, Oppo, and Honor who are ahead in the AI game, it's also brands like Vivo and Xiaomi that are getting sought after AI tricks like Circle to search, apparently.

So, the iPhone 17 is the most ambitious Apple product? Cool, just don't let ambitions ruin it.