Apple’s new rumor about their new iPhone 17, is supposed to be the thinnest iPhone yet with a single camera and ProMotion. Though it is supposed to be released likely next year the news has already started to spread like fire. On September 20, 2024, people finally got their hands on the iPhone 16 experience. However, no sooner had the iPhone 16 been released than, they leaks about the iPhone 17.
Form Over Function
A big rumor that caught the tech world’s attention is the ultra-slim design of the iPhone 17 Air, focusing primarily on form over function. Aptly named iPhone Slim, this thinness of the iPhone is supposed to entice buyers with its sleekness. The iPhone 17 had initially expected to have a battery thickness of around 5.5 millimeters, which would have positioned the model in a place where the M4 iPad Pro would be given a run for its money as the thinnest Apple device.
Sacrifices Made
Apple’s dreams however might have hit a snag. According to “yeux1122” an account on the news aggregator Naver, who stated that the thinness of the phone was heavily dependent on the battery.
Apple had hoped to integrate a new battery in the iPhone 17 with a thinner internal substrate, but the costs of installing a new battery have prevented Apple from reaching its prior goal of having a 5.5mm battery thickness. As a result, this has set the size of the battery to be around 6 mm making the device thicker overall.
The drive to make a thinner phone has also led the phone to be rumored to have a single main wide camera. This would make the phone omit the ultrawide and telephoto lenses that have become a hallmark of Apple’s top-class photography features.
Hearing the Rumours
The rumors about the iPhone 17 made quite a stir among the community members, although not all of them were positive. Many people on forums such as Reddit have questioned Apple’s decision to prioritize slimness over battery life. Other users chimed in saying “Who is asking for this thin phone?”, reacting to what they believe are unnecessary “upgrades” that no one asked for.
Another critique about the phone’s slimness comes from Andrew Zuo, who in his article made an interesting point, that this thinness does not accommodate the bump caused by the camera:
First of all, why are we not including the camera bump when measuring thickness? I’m sorry, but that’s cheating
An Update We Need
One big update that customers can look forward to with iPhone 17 is the ProMotion technology, offering a 120Hz refresh rate for smoother scrolling and responsiveness. Once an exclusive feature to the Pro models, starting from iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max in 2021, the feature will now be available to all upcoming iPhones.
Even if the customers are not happy with the thinness of the phone, maybe this will be the ray of hope that Apple can advertise to gain traction in their sales.
