iPhone 17 Air Vs Galaxy S25 Slim: Race for the thinnest smartphone

The rumors about an ultra-thin “iPhone 17 Air” are becoming more and more intense. New details on thickness and price point to a revolutionary model. Samsung is reportedly responding to Apple’s push by developing the Galaxy S25 Slim.

Ultra-thin smartphones are on the way

Apple apparently plans to launch an ultra-thin iPhone model in 2025. According to the rumor mill, the so-called iPhone 17 Air is only 6.25 millimeters thick – at least that’s what it reports Online magazine MacRumors. This would make it the thinnest iPhone of all time and even significantly undercut the previous record holder, the iPhone 6 with its slim 6.9 millimeters. Compared to the current models, the iPhone 17 Air would be around 20 percent thinner than the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus and around 25 percent thinner than the Pro variants of the iPhone 16.

As MacRumors writes, the price of the iPhone 17 Air will be “similar to that of the iPhone 16 Plus, which starts at $899 in the US.” In Germany that would probably correspond to a price of 1099 euros. Apple is apparently planning to replace the iPhone 17 Plus with this new, ultra-thin model.

The reduced thickness will most likely have an impact on battery life. It is to be expected that the battery capacity will be lower than with thicker iPhone models. In addition, stereo sound could be dispensed with, as only a single speaker may be installed in the ear cup area. You also have to take into account other deductions.

More compromises for slimness

However, to make this extremely thin design possible, some compromises have to be made. Experts suspect that the iPhone 17 Air will be equipped with the following features:

Standard A19 chip
Dynamic Island
Just a single rear camera
Apple’s own 5G modem
8GB RAM to support Apple Intelligence

Generation Basic model Δ to its predecessor Pro Max model Δ to its predecessor

iPhone 16	7.80mm	±0mm	8.25mm	±0mm
iPhone 15	7.80mm	±0mm	8.25mm	+0.40mm
iPhone 14	7.80mm	+0.15mm	7.85mm	+0.20mm
iPhone 13	7.65mm	+0.25mm	7.65mm	+0.25mm
iPhone 12	7.40mm	-0.90mm	7.40mm	-0.70mm
iPhone 11	8.30mm	–	8.10mm	–

Competition with Samsung

2025 could potentially be the year of ultra-thin smartphones. Apple doesn’t seem to be the only manufacturer working on an ultra-thin smartphone model. According to rumors, Samsung is planning to release a significantly thinner smartphone this year.

The Galaxy S25 Slim is also said to have a thickness in the mid-6 millimeter range and could be seen as a direct response to the rumors about the iPhone 17 Air.