Leaks tell us Apple is prepping a super-slim version of next year’s iPhone 17 without all the features of the Pro models but with a price that’ll make it the most expensive in the lineup. These reports left many of us skeptical. Would anyone pay more for a slim-but-stripped-down iPhone?
But let’s change the rumor slightly — what if Apple is prepping a super-slim iOS handset that folds? If the recent leaks are actually about the iPhone 17 Fold, they make a lot more sense.
iPhone 17 Slim is simply dumb
When reports of an “iPhone 17 Slim” first started circulating, I immediately thought of the 13-inch iPad Pro that launched in May and was dubbed the “thinnest Apple product ever.” That tablet is slim and costs more than its predecessors, so maybe Apple wants to try the same trick with an iPhone.
But then I remembered that the 2024 iPad Pro isn’t a scaled-back model. It runs on Apple’s latest M4 processor and boasts an OLED screen, so it’s faster and looks better than any previous model. Its specs justify the higher price.
But the iPhone 17 Slim reportedly will come with a processor slower than the one going into the iPhone 17 Pro models. Plus, rumors indicate the screen will be smaller than the Pro Max’s, and the camera won’t be as capable. So the whole selling point for the handset will be its svelte design. And that’s somehow supposed to justify a price that’s $100 above more powerful iPhones?
Not an iPhone Air
Don’t call it the “iPhone Air.” The MacBook Air and iPad Air are scaled-back models but they also cost significantly less than the Pro versions.
No one would buy a MacBook Air if Apple asked people to pay a lot more for it than a MacBook Pro, just to get a notebook that’s slimmer and lighter. And the same holds true for iPhone — simply going slim in no way justifies a significant cost increase.
But iPhone 17 Fold actually makes sense
As I write this, the iPhone 16 is still at the leaks and rumors stage and isn’t expected for another month. The iPhone 17 series is more than a year away. So skepticism about leaks describing those distant, future models is understandable.
That said, very early reports have been right before. In 2021, at the same time the iPhone 13 was launching, a leaker said the iPhone 14 would dump the screen notch. This turned out to be correct — kind of. As we learned in 2014, the Dynamic Island was only for the Pro models, and it’s bigger than first thought.
The point I’m trying to make is that very early reports on upcoming Apple models can contain a grain of truth but miss some of the particulars. So it’s possible Apple really is working on a slim version of the iPhone 17 … that folds.
If true, it makes sense that an iPhone 17 Fold won’t possess all the advanced features in the Pro models. Either there’d be no room inside the slim chassis folding, or Apple is trying to keep down the price to something more affordable. (Or maybe both.)
Apple keeps working on a folding iPhone
We already know Apple won’t make a folding handset with all the terrible mistakes in foldable Androids. Apple reportedly made prototypes that when folded are as thin as current iOS devices. But that’s going to require some compromises.
High-end cameras aren’t thin or cheap, so Apple will need to find alternatives. Scaling back the processor somewhat would save on cost, too, and increase the handset’s battery life. Also, information that leaked out of Apple months ago indicates the company won’t release a folding iPhone with a visible screen crease. That’s going to be a pricy component, even if the foldable display isn’t as large as the one in the Pro Max.
Put my speculation together with the latest rumors of the iPhone 17 Slim, plus earlier reports on foldable Apple handsets, and we get an iPhone 17 Fold with a 6.7-inch internal screen, a smaller external display, an Apple A19 processor, an average camera and a $1,299 price tag. Now that’s a product that would sell well for Apple.
Maybe. Just maybe.
We know for certain Apple is investigating a folding iPhone. It occasionally receives patents related to such a device, a practice going back years. All that effort might come to fruition in 2024. And the so-called iPhone 17 Slim could actually be an iPhone 17 Fold. But that’s pure speculation. And a foldable iOS model in 2025 goes against the most recent report on the topic, which says the first folding iPhone won’t arrive before 2026 at the earliest.
The sticking point is technology. Unlike Samsung, Apple won’t use a foldable display that immediately develops a visible crease (as noted previously). Until such a screen is available in production quantities, there simply won’t be an iPhone Fold.
But without one, we must go back to being confused by the reports describing the iPhone 17 Slim. Really? What is Apple thinking?
