iPhone 17 Air size will be 25% thinner than iPhone 16, says rumor

According to a report, the iPhone 17 Air will save two millimeters off its thickness thanks to a new modem

(Credit: Max Buondonno / The Shortcut)

• 📐 Apple might wind up shaving two millimeters off the iPhone 17 Air

• 🛜 That’s according to a report that credits a new modem for the size change

• 🤏 This would make it the thinnest iPhone ever

• 👀 The rumor lines up with previous information we’ve reported

• 📅 Apple’s iPhone 17 Air release date is rumored to be sometime in September

One of the most anticipated phones of 2025 is the iPhone 17 Air. We’ve been hearing about it for the past couple months as rumors try to figure out just how thin it’s going to be, and now, we’re hearing from Bloomberg who might have the right number.

According to Mark Gurman, Apple is expected to decrease the thickness of the iPhone by about two millimeters (roughly 25%) compared to the iPhone 16 series. That’ll bring the device down to around 5-6 millimeters in thickness, a number we’ve heard in the recent past. This would make the iPhone 17 Air the thinnest iPhone ever, beating out the 6.9-mm iPhone 6 from 2014.

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iPhone 17 Air thinness could be credited to new modem

In Gurman’s report at Bloomberg, he mentions how Apple is able to shave down the thickness of the iPhone 17 Air. It’s all thanks to the new 5G modem that Apple has been working on, which the 17 Air is expected to include. By engineering its own silicone, Apple has more control over the exact dimensions of the internals, which in turn lets the company easily shave down the size of its devices.

“By using its own modem, Apple is able to create a smartphone that’s about 2 millimeters thinner than an iPhone 16 Pro,” Gurman notes in his report. This tracks with what we’ve heard from previous reports, so it sounds like the iPhone 17 Air will actually be insanely thin.

But is it worth it?

(Credit: Max Buondonno / The Shortcut)

Of course, there’s the debate whether the thinness will be worth it. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to only ship with a single rear camera, a relatively small battery, one less speaker than the rest of the iPhone 17 family, only sub-6GHz 5G, and no SIM tray anywhere in the world. There may also be other sacrifices Apple makes to drive down the thickness that we don’t know about yet, but even that list is enough to make us worried about whether going ultra-thin is the right move.

Granted, the device is expected to come with the same top-tier performance as other iPhones, as well as a 120Hz screen and Apple Intelligence. But it’s clear the real focus will be the form factor of the iPhone 17 Air, and so far, it’s unclear whether picking it up strictly because of how thin it is will be the best use of your hard-earned money.

We’re tracking iPhone 17 Air rumors as they come in, so subscribe to The Shortcut to ensure you don’t miss out.

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Max Buondonno is a writer at The Shortcut. He’s been reporting on the latest consumer technology since 2015, with his work featured on CNN Underscored, ZDNET, How-To Geek, XDA, TheStreet, and more. Follow him on X @LegendaryScoop.