A tipster claims Apple is facing issues with reducing the thickness of a key component on the purported iPhone 17 Air.
iPhone 17 Air is tipped to arrive as a "slim" smartphone
Apple is reportedly planning to release a new iPhone 17 Air model in 2025, which is expected replace the 'Plus' model in the company's lineup. Instead of a larger version of the standard iPhone 17 model, Apple is said to be working on a slimmer 'Air' model, with a slimmer form factor. While the iPhone 17 Air was previously rumoured to be Apple's slimmest iPhone to date, a new rumour from South Korea suggests that the company is facing issues with reducing the thickness of the device.
According to details shared in a post on Naver (in Korean) by user @yeux1122, Apple is facing technical difficulties with reducing the thickness of the purported handset. The company was reportedly developing a new battery technology that would rely on a thinner internal substrate, but had to make technical compromises due to multiple reasons.
Apple has faced challenges with the cost of the new components for the slimmer battery, as well as ensuring consistency during manufacturing, according to the tipster. As a result, the company is reportedly relying on its existing battery technology used on the iPhone 16, which means the battery on next year's model could be at least 6mm thick.
If the latest rumour is true, then Apple's replacement for the iPhone 16 Plus is unlikely to arrive as the thinnest phone from the company, Currently, the slimmest phone released by the company was the iPhone 6 (6.9mm), while the thinnest tablet from Apple is the iPad Pro (2024), which is 5.1mm.
However, it's worth noting that there are several months until Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17 series, which means that the company might have some time to find a solution for the battery thickness. The company could also push the release of the 'Air' until it figures out how to reduce the battery size. We can expect to learn more about Apple's plans in the coming months.
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