OPINION : You may not have noticed it , as the pace of the alteration has been gradual , even glacial , but phones have been steady getting large , heavier , and thick-skulled since the early 2010s . Hold an iPhone 16 Pro Max up next to a comparatively slimline iPhone 4 and you ’ll see what I imply ; it ’s not just a bad screen , but it’swaybulkier andheavier .

However , reports circularise the WWW suggest that both Apple and Samsung are fructify to tackle this issue in 2025 with the iPhone 17 Air and Galaxy S25 Slim .

While not much is known about Samsung ’s aver slimline S25 aside from the fact that it couldlaunch sometime between April and June 2025 , we do know a little more about Apple ’s Air - stigmatize iPhone allegedly due for release next September .

on-line rumours suggestthat the iPhone 17 Air could replace the iPhone 16 Plus in Apple ’s next smartphone job - up , offer a much thinner figure than current iPhones .

It make gumption from a branding perspective , not only because it ’s say to be thinner and clean but because Apple ’s iPad Air acts as a bridgework between even iPads and the iPad Pro collection with more premium features , but notquitePro .

Take thelatest iPad Airfor example ; it ’s the only non - Pro iPad to be uncommitted in the same 11- and 13 - inch size as thenew iPad Pro argumentation , and it ’s also the only non - Pro iPad to feature an M - series chipset , albeit a slightly older one .

That could place the iPhone 17 Air as a halfway house between regular iPhone 17 and 17 Pro , possibly offering the same increase 6.9 - in screen size of it as the 17 Pro Max and peradventure even a higher refresh rate , if not the full 120Hz treatment . Apple is say to beworking on a 90Hz screen door for its non - Pro iPhones , so that ’d line up nicely with what an strain - stigmatize iPhone could pop the question .

It could also lark this twelvemonth ’s A18 Pro in place of ( what I ’m assuming will be ) the launching - level A19 in the regular iPhone 17 , but that ’s pure speculation on my part .

The question is , does anybody really necessitate a slimmer smartphone ?

Yes , there ’s no doubt in my mind that smartphones in the early 2010s were more pocketable , comfortable to use one - handed , svelte and lighter than what you ’ll find in the 2024 market – but let ’s take those surface - tinted glasses off for a second , because let ’s be true , the experience from those telephone was n’t all that great .

That starts with battery life . Do we have collective blackout about how bad battery life was on smartphones when they were so slim and light ? Because I recall the constant struggle of seek to make my phone last until the end of the mean solar day , peculiarly with early iterations of iPhone .

Heck , I remember watching my iPhone 3Gs battery go down by 1 % a minute when play music through my headphones .

It was n’t any good on theAndroid phonefront either , with a large wrapping of user bear an additional phone battery with them to swap out once the first one inevitably ran dry sometime during the day .

Compared to something like theiPhone 16 Pro Maxthat can last a full day , if not two full day of enjoyment , on a single charge , the experience really is night and day . Sure , the iPhone 16 Pro Max is way compact than older iPhones , but I ’m more than well-chosen to sacrifice a few millimetres if that ’s the result .

scale down the thickness of phones wo n’t only touch battery life either ; it ’ll also probably have a roast - on core on camera performance .

The reason that so many phone have jolly large tv camera bulge is that New smartphone cameras ask a lilliputian more quad to operate properly . That ’s specially dependable of telescope and periscope crystalline lens which need way more blank to magnify the look-alike than even smartphones , so it ’s potential that a slimline iPhone or Samsung would completely forgo zoom electron lens .

It ’d also fill up the threshold on introducing more advanced photographic camera tech like a variable quantity aperture or sophisticated OIS , further reduce just how effective the cameras on a truly slight earpiece could be .

With rumours that the iPhone 17 Air will only sport a single 48MP rear camera , it looks like this could indeed be the case for Apple ’s fragile iPhone .

Then there ’s also performance to believe , as current flagship smartphones get hot enough in their current looping to slow down execution after a while , permit alone one that ’s slimmer , more thick and thus has even less outer space to move warmth around within the twist to keep things incline smoothly .

Oh , and then there ’s durability ; 2024 smartphones are still susceptible to the age - old ‘ Will it bend ? ’ test ( thanksJerryRigEverything ) , but it ’s sure enough not as bad as the likes of the iPhone 6 that could get bended from something as simple-minded as putting it in your pocket .

So , by my estimation , you ’ll be getting a thin smartphone but one that in all probability wo n’t last as long on a charge , be able-bodied to power farseeing gaming session or even take confining - up photo . Yeah , I ’m dreary Apple and Samsung , but I do n’t think we actuallyneedslimline smartphones in 2025 .