iPhone 17

We're still early in the iPhone 16 release cycle, but rumors about the iPhone 17 models slated for 2025 have already started circulating.

2025 could bring one of the biggest updates to the iPhone's design that we've seen since the 2017 iPhone X, with Apple rumored to be planning for an all-new iPhone 17 "slim" that has a much thinner design, a new display size, a different look for the camera, and more.

We are expecting four total models in 2025: the iPhone 17, the iPhone 17 Pro, the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and the new iPhone 17 "Slim" or "Air." There will be no iPhone 17 Plus, with Apple doing away with the "Plus" lineup. The slimmed down iPhone 17 won't be a replacement for the iPhone 17 Plus, instead making a debut as a new device in the lineup. Rumors about exactly what we can expect from the new iPhone are mixed at this time, but we can count on a thinner iPhone 17 with a display that's around 6.6 inches. It has been likened to a MacBook Air, with the iPhone 17 Pro serving as the MacBook Pro in the analogy.

Because the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max will have 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes, the iPhone 17 slim will come in right in the middle of those two devices in terms of size. Apple may also increase the overall size of the standard iPhone 17.

While some rumors have suggested that the slimmer iPhone 17 will be a high-end device that's even more expensive than the iPhone 17 Pro Max, other rumors have positioned it as a device that's in between the iPhone 17 and the iPhone 17 Pro models. One rumor says it will have a narrower Dynamic Island and a centered camera, while another says it will include a single-lens rear camera and a standard Dynamic Island. Rumors should become clearer as 2025 approaches.

All four iPhones released in 2025 are expected to be updated with ProMotion display technology with a 120Hz maximum refresh rate for smoother scrolling and video content, and since we've heard multiple rumors about it at this point, it's likely that's a change we'll see. Rumors also suggest that Apple is planning for an anti-reflective display that is more scratch resistant than the current Ceramic Shield.

As for camera updates, Apple is said to be working on an updated 24-megapixel front-facing camera with a six-element lens, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max could include an upgraded 48-megapixel Telephoto camera, which would be an improvement over the current 12-megapixel sensor.

At least one iPhone 17 model next year will get an Apple-designed Wi-Fi 7 chip rather than a chip manufactured by Broadcom.

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iPhone 17 'Air'

Multiple rumors have suggested that Apple is working on an all-new version of the iPhone for 2025, with the device expected to have a "significantly thinner" design than current iPhone models. Early rumors suggested this would be a replacement for the "Plus" iPhone, but some rumors have suggested it will actually be a new high-end device that is more expensive than the current Pro Max iPhone (which is priced starting at $1,199).

Rumors disagree on just how the "iPhone 17 Air" will fit into the iPhone lineup. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, for example, does not think that the iPhone 17 Air will be more expensive or higher-end than the Pro models, and a higher price tag would not, in fact, make sense considering some of the information we've heard about the device. Given the different rumors, we don't know quite what to expect from the new iPhone. What we do know, though, is that there will be a new iPhone in 2025 and it will be thinner than current models.

Rumors have referred to the new iPhone as the "iPhone 17 Slim" or the "iPhone 17 Air," but we don't know what Apple will call the new iPhone when it launches in 2025. Both placeholder names reference the sleeker, thinner design of the device, and it's also been referred to as an "iPhone Air." With the 12.9-inch M4 iPad Pro model, Apple shaved over a millimeter off of the thickness, resulting in the thinnest device Apple has made to date. That same focus on a svelte design is expected in 2025, and the upcoming iPhone is said to be much thinner than current iPhones.

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the iPhone 17 Air will be about two millimeters thinner than the current iPhone 16 Pro.

The ‌iPhone 16 Pro‌ is 8.25mm thick, so an ‌iPhone 17‌ that is 2mm thinner would come in at around 6.25mm. At 6.25mm, the ‌iPhone 17‌ Air would be Apple's thinnest ‌iPhone‌ to date. The thinnest ‌iPhone‌ we've seen so far was the ‌iPhone‌ 6, which measured in at 6.9mm. iPhones got thicker with the ‌iPhone‌ X and beyond, as Apple increased thickness to provide more space for the battery, camera lenses, Face ID hardware, and more.

Analyst Jeff Pu has also suggested that the upcoming iPhone will be around 6mm thick, but The Information has said it will be between 5mm and 6mm thick.

As for size, the iPhone 17 Air is expected to fall somewhere between the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max in size. Separate rumors have targeted 6.55 inches, 6.6 inches, and 6.65 inches as the display size that Apple has settled on, which would make it smaller than the iPhone 17 Pro Max, but larger than the 17 Pro.

The Information says the rear camera of the device will be relocated from the upper left side of the iPhone to the center of the device. The camera setup is described as a "large, centered camera bump" on the back of the device.

The site has also suggested that the iPhone 17 Air will include a smaller hole and pill-shaped cutout for the front camera, resulting in a narrower Dynamic Island. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says the Dynamic Island will remain the same size as the current Dynamic Island, however, and he agrees that the device will have a single-lens rear camera.

Analyst Jeff Pu also believes that the device will feature a single-lens rear camera with a 48-megapixel resolution, but he has not mentioned a new location for the camera lens.

Because there is no room for a speaker on the bottom edge of the device, it is expected to have just one speaker at the top. Apple's current iPhones have two speakers, one at the top and one at the bottom.

Kuo believes the slimmed down iPhone 17 will have a titanium-aluminum frame, with Apple electing for titanium, but a titanium mix that's heavier on aluminum than the current Pro iPhones. The selling point for the new device is supposedly going to be the design rather than the internal specs.

iPhone 17

Apple will sell the iPhone 17 Slim alongside a standard iPhone 17, an iPhone 17 Pro, and an iPhone 17 Pro Max, but there will be no iPhone 17 Plus this year. Apple is eliminating the "Plus" phone from the 2025 lineup due to subpar sales.

Apple could introduce a new display size for the standard iPhone 17 model in 2025. The iPhone 17 could measure in at 6.3 inches, up from 6.1 inches, which would make it the same size as the iPhone 16 Pro. Rumors suggest that Apple plans to eliminate the Plus model in 2025, so there may be only a single lower-cost device, and at 6.3 inches, it would be in between the size of the current 6.1-inch iPhone 15 and the 6.7-inch iPhone 15 Plus. That would make the display sizes 6.3 inches, 6.6 inches (slim model), 6.3 inches (Pro) and 6.9 inches (Pro Max).

iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max

According to The Information, the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max will have "significant design changes." Apple is allegedly planning to eliminate the titanium frame, instead going back to aluminum. Apple has not used aluminum for a higher-end iPhone since the stainless steel iPhone X was introduced in 2017.

Along with an aluminum frame, the iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to include a half-aluminum half-glass backing rather than an all-glass back. The top half of the back will be made from aluminum, while the bottom half will continue to be made from glass to support wireless charging functionality. A partial aluminum back could make the iPhone 17 Pro models more durable to drops.

Apple is planning for a larger "rectangular" camera bump that is made from aluminum rather than glass. Current camera bumps are square, so a rectangular camera bump would be a notable design change.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max could include a smaller Dynamic Island due to the use of a "metalens" for Face ID that will take up less space and allow for a narrower construction.

There are a few enhancements coming to the iPhone 17's display, with Apple adding a new coating and planning to bring Pro features to standard models.

ProMotion and Always-On

The 120Hz "ProMotion" refresh rate has been limited to the Pro versions of the iPhone for several years, but in 2025, it could expand to the entire iPhone lineup. Rumors suggest both the Pro and standard models will include ProMotion support, and that in turn will allow for always-on functionality.

With all four iPhones slated to get ProMotion displays in 2025, ProMotion refresh rates will no longer be a feature that sets the Pro iPhone models apart.

Apple will use low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) panels for all iPhone 17 models, which is what enables ProMotion thanks to better power efficiency. Always-on technology will allow the always-on time, widgets, and notifications that have been available on the Pro models for some time now.

ProMotion enables refresh rates ranging from 1Hz to 120Hz, and at the high end, the 120Hz refresh rate provides smoother scrolling and video content.

Tougher Coating

Rumors suggest the iPhone 17 lineup will get an anti-reflective display that is more scratch resistant than the Ceramic Shield used for current iPhone models.

Apple is planning for a "super-hard anti-reflective layer" that is better able to stand up to wear and tear.

It sounds like iPhone 17 series won't get TSMC's next-generation 2-nanometer chips, but we are expecting A19 chip technology that's likely built on an upgraded 3-nanometer process. Apple typically upgrades iPhones with faster and more efficient chip technology each year.

The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are expected to include an A19 Pro chip, while the iPhone 17 and the iPhone 17 slim could have the standard A19 chip.

TSMC is working on its N3P process, with mass production set to begin in late 2024, so that's the chip technology that we're expecting Apple will use for the iPhone 17 lineup. Compared to earlier versions of 3nm chips, the N3P chips offer increased performance efficiency and increased transistor density.

RAM

The higher-end iPhone 17 models could include 12GB RAM, while the standard iPhone 17 model is expected to have 8GB. 12GB RAM would be a 4GB increase over the iPhone 15 Pro models, while 8GB RAM would be a 2GB increase over the standard iPhone 15 models.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that the the 12GB RAM upgrade will be limited to the iPhone 17 Pro Max, with the other models set to feature 8GB RAM. Analyst Jeff Pu has suggested the iPhone 17 slim will have 8GB RAM, and the iPhone 17 Pro models will have 12GB RAM.

The iPhone 17 slim is expected to be one of the first iPhones to get an Apple-designed 5G modem, with Apple continuing to use Qualcomm modems for the other iPhone 17 models.

Apple's modem chip will be capable of theoretical 5G download speeds of up to 4Gb/s, which is slower than Qualcomm's modems in current phones. The chip will not support the fastest mmWave 5G, and will instead be limited to sub-6GHz 5G.

SIM Tray

Apple will remove the physical SIM slot on iPhones in more countries next year, though it is not yet clear which countries. Apple did away with the SIM card tray in the United States with the iPhone 14 models, but a physical SIM has so far been present on iPhones sold outside of the United States.

It is possible that it's just the iPhone 17 Air that will lack a SIM tray due to the thin design expected for the device.

Apple added Wi-Fi 7 to the iPhone 16 models, but with the iPhone 17 lineup, Apple might use its own custom-designed Wi-Fi 7 chip.

According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, at least one iPhone 17 model will have an Apple-designed Wi-Fi 7 chip. Analyst Jeff Pu believes that the iPhone 17 Pro models will use an Apple-designed Wi-Fi 7 chip.

The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max could have batteries that are easier to remove, adopting the same technology Apple introduced in the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus. The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus use a type of adhesive that can be loosened with a low-voltage electrical current, but the 16 Pro and Pro Max have standard adhesive.

Next year, all iPhone 17 models might have the new, easier to remove adhesive, which makes battery replacements simpler.

All of the iPhone 17 models are expected to have a 24-megapixel front-facing camera with a six-element lens, which would be an upgrade over the current 12-megapixel selfie camera. A higher number of megapixels allows for more detail and clearer images when cropping in.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max is expected to feature a 48-megapixel Wide camera, a 48-megapixel Ultra Wide camera, and a 48-megapixel Tetraprism Telephoto camera, which will make it the first iPhone to feature three 48-megapixel cameras. The iPhone 17 slim is expected to have a single-lens 48-megapixel rear camera.

At least one iPhone 17 model next year will feature a mechanical aperture that will let users adjust the size of the iPhone 17's aperture, changing the amount of light reaching the lens. Current iPhone models have fixed apertures, but a variable aperture will let images be captured with shallow depth-of-field.

The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max will continue to include a 5x Telephoto optical zoom lens, and it will still be a Pro-exclusive feature. The standard iPhone 17 and the iPhone 17 Air will not have the 5x zoom.

The iPhone 17 models are expected to come out in September 2025, and they will follow the 2024 iPhone 16 models.

The iPhone 18 Pro expected in 2026 could have a main rear camera with a variable aperture, allowing the camera to control the amount of light entering the lens. A variable aperture lens would be able to better adjust to different lighting conditions, and it would also allow for more control over depth of field for sharper focus on subjects and smoother background blur.