New design details of the mysterious ‘iPhone 17 Slim’ continue to leak, and a new report from The Information sheds light on expected specs for Apple’s super-slim iPhone model.
Per the report, current iPhone 17 Slim prototypes feature a design between 5mm and 6mm thin, making it the thinnest iPhone ever. For comparison, the iPhone 6 continues to be Apple’s thinnest iPhone measuring at 6.9mm. The iPhone 17 Slim’s thickness could rival that of the M4 iPad Pro, which comes in at 5.3mm and 5.1mm for the 11-inch and 13-inch models respectively.
To achieve this thin design, Apple is forced to sacrifice some high-end features. The Information reports that the iPhone 17 Slim will have a single earpiece speaker, as there isn’t enough physical space to fit a separate speaker component at the bottom like all other iPhone models. Current prototypes also lack a physical SIM tray, forcing the device to rely completely on eSIM. However, Apple still has time to finalize the iPhone 17 Slim’s design and could include a SIM tray by mass production.
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The device will also be one of the first iPhone models to feature an Apple-made 5G modem. However, the new modem will lack mmWave support and reportedly has a worse range and slower cellular data speeds than rivaling Qualcomm chips. The iPhone 17 Slim will feature a smaller battery than most iPhone models today because of its thin design, but the exact capacity and expected battery life remain unknown.
As reported earlier, the iPhone 17 Slim is expected to feature a single rear camera located in the device’s top center, a radical departure from all iPhone models that have their camera layouts in the top corner. All other iPhone 17 models are expected to feature two or three cameras as usual.
The Information reports that trial production runs for the iPhone 17 Slim have started at Foxconn. However, Apple is struggling to fit some components like the battery and “thermal materials” inside the device due to its thin design.
Overall, the report echoes an earlier sentiment by the reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo who stated that Apple will focus on design innovations rather than high-end features with the iPhone 17 Slim. Other rumored features for the device include a non-Pro A19 chip, a 6.6-inch display, and 8GB of RAM.
