iPhone 17 Air could be Apple’s thinnest iPhone yet — and the first step towards iPhone Flip

News
By published

Apple is testing more than just a new phone thickness

iPhone 17 Slim render
(Image credit: Front Page Tech)

A new report has given us another idea of how thin the iPhone 17 Air could be, as well as how important the tech is to the future of Apple.

In his most recent Power On newsletter Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that the iPhone 17 Air, expected to release in the fall, will be "a testing ground for future technologies." This includes the tech that will likely be used to create the first Apple foldable. This makes sense, as one of the hardest parts of designing a foldable phone is adapting the battery and chips to fit in a thinner frame.

iPhone 15 Pro Max vs iPhone 17 Slim thickness rumored

(Image credit: Front Page Tech)

There's a lot of excitement around the iPhone 17 Air, originally reported as the iPhone 17 Slim. The idea of a much thinner iPhone released alongside the upcoming iPhone 17 series is enticing by itself. While we have seen a lot of rumors about the phone, it's also important it could be in the journey to the iPhone Flip or the rumored MacBook/iPad crossover.

The iPhone Air may not just be a proving ground for a future foldable design. It could be one of the first devices with Apple's in-house designed modem alongside the iPhone SE 4. However, there's no mention of whether the Air will be one of the devices to have an Apple-designed Wi-Fi/Bluetooth chip.

Aside from that, we have heard a few mixed things about the iPhone 17 Air. For instance, some leaks point to the iPhone 17 Air having just a single rear camera. Meanwhile, it looks like the iPhone 17 Air will feature a 120Hz screen alongside the other iPhone 17 models, like the iPhone 16 Pro.

Even if you aren't that excited about the actual iPhone 17 Air, there's no doubt it's an important hardware move for Apple. We may have to wait a while to see what this means for future Apple devices, but it certainly promises to bring some interesting evolution to the brand's biggest product.

More from Tom's Guide

Josh Render
Josh Render
Staff Writer

Josh is a staff writer for Tom's Guide and is based in the UK. He has worked for several publications but now works primarily on mobile phones. Outside of phones, he has a passion for video games, novels, and Warhammer.