Even extreme slimness cannot compete with the stacking mania.

The 2024 iPad Pro created a miracle in Apple's industrial design history, achieving an astonishing thickness of 5.1mm while maintaining stronger performance and higher durability, thinner than the iPod Nano released over a decade ago.

To achieve this effect, Apple abandoned the costly miniLED and opted for a thinner double-stacked OLED display panel. Internally, the iPad Pro 2024 reduced battery capacity and significantly reduced the use of screws to fix components, making it more difficult to repair. The only benefit is that the iPad Pro 2024 successfully gained high popularity due to its slimness, prompting many old users to upgrade.

(Image Source: Leikeji Photography)

Apple plans to extend the "slimness" magic to other product lines. In addition to the iPad Pro, the first innovative design will be the Apple Watch X to be unveiled at this year's autumn event, followed by the iPhone 17. Mark Gurman, a technology columnist from Bloomberg, said that the iPhone 17 series will feature a brand-new model, tentatively named iPhone 17 Slim, with the main highlight being its thinness.

(Image Source: 9to5Mac)

Unlike most Android phone brands, which are thinking about how to stack more features on flagship and mid-range models, Apple is going against the grain and subtracting for the iPhone. Although we cannot yet determine whether the iPhone 17 Slim will make compromises in performance and configuration due to its design, as the mini once did, it is foreseeable that the so-called slim iPhone will no longer attract much consumer attention.

Apple's Thinning Strategy Starts with iPad Pro

After dismantling the iPad Pro 2024, the well-known repair team iFixit said that Apple made significant "efforts" to achieve this barely noticeable thinning, such as reducing battery capacity and using glue instead of screws. This is clearly a futile effort.

But for iPad Pro users, this is not necessarily a bad news, as this level of thinning design does not require drastic compromises. However, this may not be the case for the iPhone.

The screen size of the iPhone 17 Slim can be confirmed to be neither too small nor too large. According to The Information, the size of this new model falls between the Pro and Pro Max, ranging from 6.3 inches to 6.9 inches. The screen bezels will also be extremely narrow, similar to the iPhone 16 Pro series. To achieve extreme thinness, Apple will consider using a new material for the backplate to balance reliability and thickness.

(Image Source: Svetapple)

As a result, the overall thickness of the iPhone 17 Slim can reach about 7.8mm or thinner, much more convenient than the current iPhone models on the market. However, the trade-off is also evident. The battery capacity will be similar to the standard iPhone, and the supported charging power will be more conservative, significantly compromising gaming performance.

More importantly, a previously released report revealed that the pricing of the iPhone 17 Slim will be higher than that of the Pro Max, with a starting price of $1,200, equivalent to approximately RMB 8,707.

It is undeniable that thinning is indeed an important aspect of industrial design that reflects a company's technological level, especially in the consumer electronics market, where consumers clearly have higher respect for thinner products. However, considering the iPhone's poor battery life and heat dissipation, it is hard not to be concerned about this expensive iPhone 17 Slim.

(Image Source: Mac Rumors)

Of course, in the information revealed by Mark Gurman, in addition to the iPhone 17 Slim, Apple will also infiltrate thinness into all product lines, including Apple Watch, MacBook, and iPad. This means that thinness will be Apple's future design trend, but is Apple fully prepared?

Extreme Thinness, with Full Consideration of User Experience

Apple has considered that thinning can bring more advanced visual effects to its consumer electronics products for years, leading to the birth of the MacBook Air that can fit into an envelope and the iPad Pro 2024 with a thickness of 5.1mm. However, it is still concerning for Apple to pursue thinning for products like the iPhone or Apple Watch.

On the one hand, thinning is indeed the current trend in the smartphone market. For example, vivo's X100S has a thickness of 7.8mm, making it the thinnest flagship smartphone currently available. However, vivo did not deliberately weaken the consumer's user experience for thinness. In terms of battery life, the vivo X100S still has a large 5100mAh battery. In terms of performance, the vivo X100S is the first to feature the Dimensity 9300+ mobile platform.

(Image Source: vivo)

Based on Apple's approach to creating the "thin design" of the iPad Pro 2024, it is likely that the internal configuration of the iPhone 17 Slim will be reduced, especially the battery capacity. The iPhone has always been a phone with moderate battery life, and now with further reduction in battery capacity, its endurance will undoubtedly be significantly compromised.

On the other hand, Apple, which rarely implements heat dissipation solutions, made a heat dissipation area limited to the logo area on the iPad Pro 2024. This also indicates that after the internal space is extremely compressed, even Apple has to make compromises. The body space of the iPad is larger than that of the iPhone, and even a little heat dissipation will not significantly affect the overall weight. However, for the iPhone 17 Slim to implement heat dissipation, it will undoubtedly compromise its extreme thinness. Balancing the relationship between the two is also crucial.

(Image Source: iFixit/iPad Pro 2024 Disassembly)

As for other product lines, the current battery life of the Apple Watch compared to other competitors is simply disastrous, and pursuing a thin design will undoubtedly further deteriorate its battery life. As for the MacBook series, whether it's the MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, the current balance between battery life, performance, and weight thickness is relatively good. If Apple were to pursue thinning, it might disrupt this balance and displease the original audience.

If Apple is willing to adopt high-density batteries or apply lightweight yet sturdy body materials for the new generation of iPhones, it might be able to create more thinning miracles while maintaining the original balance. However, whether Apple will do so remains to be seen, as each part would require increased research and development and manufacturing costs.

Why Is Apple Obsessed with Thinness?

Compared to previous years, the situation of the iPhone this year can be described as miserable. Not only did Apple officially participate in the 618 promotion, but the latest iPhone 15 series also saw an unprecedented price drop of over 2000 yuan to overcome sales difficulties.

Although Apple's price reduction strategy helped the iPhone 15 series achieve good sales during this promotion, it also put the iPhone in controversy. Many consumers believe that the iPhone's high-end image is no longer there, and the significant "price drop" has discouraged them from purchasing new models at launch.

This undoubtedly poses a significant challenge to Apple's brand image in the entire market, and the iPhone 17 Slim and the thinning strategy across all product lines are Apple's current countermeasures.

The design innovations of the iPhone in previous generations were basically functional-oriented, such as the Dynamic Island and Action Button, which were hardware modifications made to achieve novel functions. Therefore, we can also speculate that the iPhone 17 Slim, which can pursue extreme thinness, must have some functional changes.

(Image Source: Apple)

According to previous information, Apple plans to eliminate physical volume buttons and add a camera button on the iPhone 16 Pro series. Then, on the iPhone 17 series, this Slim model is likely to eliminate all buttons on the body, further reducing weight. Additionally, the iPhone 17 Slim is also likely to be the first iPhone to globally eliminate the physical SIM card design.

Moreover, considering that even eliminating some hardware has a relatively small impact on thinning, Apple might debut a brand-new backplate and frame material on this iPhone to further reduce weight. For example, after Apple chose titanium metal for the iPhone 15 Pro series, the weight dropped significantly.

Objectively speaking, Apple's refinement in industrial design is indeed unique in the current smartphone market. However, these material changes are difficult for consumers to intuitively perceive the differences in new products, as seen in the ultra-thin design of the iPad Pro and the weight reduction of the iPhone 15 Pro. To save the iPhone's market reputation, relying solely on extreme thinness is likely to be difficult for the general consumer to accept.

(Image Source: Apple)

Moreover, the pricing of the iPhone 17 Slim is not cheap, which may directly lead to sales issues for this series. Apple has not been friendly towards such average-selling models, such as the iPhone 12/13 mini, which were among the last contemporary iPhone models to support digital battery display.

Regardless, thinning is one of Apple's market strategies for creating differentiation. However, relying solely on this to regain reputation and win more consumer support in the fiercely competitive smartphone market seems overly naive. The competition in the smartphone market has gradually shifted from the design and texture of the phone itself to aspects such as imaging and AI, where Apple still lags behind. Can the iPhone 17 Slim, after two years of refinement, turn the tide? Perhaps the market will give the answer.

Source: Leikeji