Updated July 12 with details on the iPhone 17 camera upgrades.
As Apple prepares to catch up with the latest Android smartphones, Tim Cook and his team could be turning towards the fashion world to redefine what a flagship iPhone can offer.
The latest details on Apple’s plans for the iOS-powered smartphone focus not on the traditional camera specs, nor on the latest generative AI software, but on the look and feel of the handset. Apple is preparing a slim iPhone to capture the fashionistas of the tech world.
Update: Friday July 12: The slim design may not be the only game-changer for the iPhone 17 family, with a new telephoto camera destined for the high-end iPhone 17 models. The details come from noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. They report that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will benefit from a new telephoto lens. This would again use tetraprism technology, folding the night in the lens to create a longer focal length for more magnification and improved clarity.
This lens will see a larger sensor, lifting it to 48-megapixels. Kuo also reports that Apple will be upping all three lenses with 48-megapixel sensors. If that’s the case, this year’s iPhone 16 looks more like a traditional “S” mid-cycle upgrade that tweaks the specifications to allow Apple’s AI software to run across the full iPhone 16 platform.
It’s the iPhone 17 family that, as of now, looks to be the significant upgrade that consumers seek from Apple.
While it will be some time before the iPhone Pro Slim is revealed by Apple, the design work, preparation and scratch concept builds will all be taking place now ahead of a potential September 2025 launch.
Apple has continually pushed for thinner and smaller designs for decades—the launch of the first MacBook Air is probably the most jaw-dropping, with Steve Jobs revealing the MacBook Air from an envelope—but this year has seen a renewed focus on this aesthetic with the latest M4-powered iPad Pro picking up one of Apple’s highest-specced chipsets as Apple shaved 1.3mm off the tablet, taking it to a tiny 5.1mm thick.
This iPad Pro also brought a subtle new design language to the product to go with the thin approach, including an increase in surface area, a change in the selfie camera location, and dual-stack tandem layer technology for a brighter and more efficient OLED screen.
Of course, Apple is going to bring this to the iPhone; there are already signs in the supply chain that the stacked OLED display will debut this September, which could lead to the same design changes that will offer more screen real estate compared to the previous model. Waiting for the thinner technology to be available en masse for a 2025 appearance is a natural fit and achievable timescale.
Apple also likes to define the race used to measure the iPhone’s prowess, and that’s been a problem over the last few years. Smartphone camera technology has seen competing Android smartphones push the iPhone further down to the top lists. Only the iPhone Pro Max models get the latest hardware; as you move down towards the vanilla iPhone, the camera ratings also move down. If you want the best imaging, Apple wants you to pay more… yet the competition is doing it better and, in many cases, for less.
Apple is also behind in generative AI. While AI through machine learning has been present in IOS and Apple’s Axx mobile chipsets, the sudden emphasis and capabilities offered by generative AI can be found on countless Android handsets following Google’s launch of the Pixel 8 family in October 2023 has caught Tim Cook and his team out. Apple presented its awkwardly humble Apple Intelligence AI suite at this year’s WWDC in June while confirming its big move into AI wouldn’t happen until early 2025.
A slim iPhone would allow Apple to lean into one of the unique selling products of the iPhone; the mystique of the brand and the power of fashion. Those who want to be seen to have the latest and greatest will lust after a slim iPhone.
This idea of fashion and design as a key factor can be seen with other manufacturers—such as Honor’s work with Porsche Design for the Magic6 Pro RSR special edition—but no manufacturer is going to have the mix of demand and desirability that Apple has.
No doubt Apple will keep the specifications on the iPhone Slim as high as possible, juast as it did with the new iPhone Pro. When you add up the new design, the high specifications, and the attractiveness of this phone, you’re probably looking at the new flagship iPhone. With the current iPhone Pro pricing starting at $999, and the iPhone Pro Max at $1199, I’d expect an iPhone Slim to be priced even higher.
Fashion doesn’t come cheap.
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