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Apple iPhone 17 Air slim profile compared to iPhone 17 Pro in latest image

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Alleged concept render of the iPhone 17 Air in black.
Zellzoi / Digital Trends

Rumours and speculation surrounding upcoming smartphones could keep a news site going on their own. No sooner has a device launched, than the next iteration of that device appears in some form on the internet. But when it’s a new phone that doesn’t have a predecessor to compare to, the rumour mill gets even more excited.

The Apple iPhone 17 Air, or iPhone 17 Slim, is such a device. It’s fresh, new, and exciting. And while we don’t know if it will even launch – there are no guarantees the rumours will become a reality after all – it’s appeared in so many leaks of late, it would be a surprise if there wasn’t an element of truth in them. 

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As such, the latest leak surrounding the skinny iPhone comes from leaker Majin Bu on X, and it shows what looks like a dummy case for the iPhone 17 Air alongside a dummy case for the iPhone 17 Pro. Not a great deal is given away from the image, but it does further reiterate just how slim the iPhone 17 Air could be against the rest of the iPhone 17 range.

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We’ve previously seen renders comparing the iPhone 17 Air to the iPhone 16 Pro so this new image offers some extra supporting evidence from another source highlighting the potential difference between the Air and Pro models. This source is claiming the comparison device is the rumoured iPhone 17 Pro rather than the current iPhone 16 Pro, but it’s unlikely the iPhone 17 Pro will be thicker than the iPhone 16 Pro.

Apple iPhone 17 Air vs iPhone 17 Pro dummy case leak
Majin Bu

How slim could the iPhone 17 Air be?

Previous reports have claimed the iPhone 17 Air will come in at 5.5mm thick, which compared to the iPhone 16 Pro’s 8.25mm would be proportionate to what the picture shows. That 5.5mm measurement has been detailed a number of times, and while the latest image posted on X doesn’t provide any further measurement details for the iPhone 17 Slim or iPhone 17 Pro, it suggests the iPhone 17 Pro will be similar to the current iPhone 16 Pro, with the iPhone 17 Slim considerably thinner. 

Interestingly, 5.5mm isn’t actually the slimmest product Apple offers – the iPad Pro (M4) is slimmer at 5.3mm, but it would be slimmer than what is expected for the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, rumoured to measure 5.84mm. 

Of course, nothing is official for the Apple iPhone 17 Air as yet, and even if it does appear, it’s not due until much later this year, likely September when the iPhone 17 series is expected to debut. 

Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge, meanwhile, the other slim device consistently being talk about currently, is not only official as Samsung itself teased it, but it is expected to launch in mid-April so it will arrive much sooner than Apple’s alternative.

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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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