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iPhone 17 Slim set to be thin, but not Apple’s slimmest

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A mockup of the Apple iPhone 17 Air next to the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Majin Bu

There’s been a lot of chatter surrounding a slimmer model of the iPhone 17 of late. The device has been the subject of the rumour mill for months, going by both the iPhone 17 Slim and the iPhone 17 Air in reports, with neither name confirmed of course. 

The latest report does further support how thin the iPhone 17 Air could be if it is released, however. It was previously suggested by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo that the iPhone 17 Slim would measure 5.5mm. Sounds thin, right? Well, it would be, even if not the slimmest Apple product, which is currently the iPad Pro (M4, 2024) at 5.3mm. 

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Could the iPhone 17 Slim be the world’s thinnest phone?

If the 5.5mm measurement is accurate though, which leaker Ice Universe has supported in a recent post on Chinese social media site Weibo, it would make the iPhone slimmer than both the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, said to be 5.8mm thick, as well as the Techno Spark Slim concept that was presented at MWC 2025 with a thickness of 5.75mm. 

The report on Weibo by Ice Universe, spotted by Apple Insider, suggests the iPhone 17 Slim would have a camera bump of 4mm with a total thickness of 9.5mm. For context, the iPhone 16 is listed as being 7.8mm without the camera bump included in the measurement, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max is listed as 8.25mm. The 9.5mm total without the 4mm camera bump would suggest the iPhone 17 Air or iPhone 17 Slim would be 5.5mm, something Ice Universe has previously stated elsewhere. 

A couple of comparison images were also recently posted by mobile news leaker Majin Bu on X, appearing to show the iPhone 17 Slim alongside the iPhone 16 Pro Max. A measurement wasn’t detailed in this leak, though it does give a visual idea of just how slim the iPhone 17 Air could be compared to the current flagship iPhone.

Nothing is confirmed for the iPhone 17 Air or iPhone 17 Slim as yet, so for now, it’s not even known if it will exist. If it does launch alongside the iPhone 17 series later this year however, there is a chance it will carry the accolade of the world’s thinnest smartphone.

Britta O'Boyle
Britta O'Boyle
News Writer
Britta is a freelance technology journalist who has been writing about tech for over a decade. She's covered all consumer…
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