New iPhone 17 leaks hint at a thicker body to house hardware upgrades

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Apple’s upcoming iPhone 17 series is already generating some buzz after the release of the iPhone 16e, with recent leaks and rumours shedding light on potential design changes. 

Although the focus has mostly been on thin phones this year, Apple seems to be heading towards a slightly thicker chassis for its flagship phone. According to leaks, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is rumoured to have a depth of 8.725mm compared to 8.25mm for the iPhone 16 Pro Max. 

This increase in thickness could be for a number of reasons, like housing a new vapour chamber cooling system similar to that found on the Samsung S25 Ultra. The more likely explanation though is the need to fit in a larger battery to keep pace with Android competitors like OnePlus, whose latest flagship phone had a 6000mAh battery.

iPhone 17 Air: Slimmer Than Ever

From thick to thin, new leaks continue to firm up the speculation that Apple is going to release the iPhone 17 Air this year. Notebookcheck is reporting that the iPhone 17 Air will ship with a 6.7-inch display, the same size as the iPhone 16 Plus. If true, this would suggest that the Air will replace the Plus in the iPhone lineup.

Other notes in the leaks talk about a single 48MP main camera and 12MP selfie camera for the iPhone 17 Air. Now, I can sense that you aren’t particularly wowed by this news. And I think that’s the point. The selling point of the Air will be entirely down to its thin frame, not any standout hardware specs. How this actually translates to the phone’s performance remains to be seen but sacrificing substance for style wouldn’t be a very Apple-like philosophy.  

On that thinness, all rumours are suggesting that the iPhone 17 Air will measure just 5.59mm thick. This surpasses the previous record held by the iPhone 6, which was 6.9mm. A release date is not yet known but it is expected to be in September when Apple usually announces its new iPhone lineup.

Unified display technology and redesigned camera layouts

Older rumours also suggest that Apple plans to finally equip all iPhone 17 models with high-refresh-rate OLED displays, a feature previously exclusive to the Pro variants. This means even the standard iPhone 17 and the 17 Air could boast smoother scrolling and improved visual responsiveness, bringing them in line with pretty much every Android phone on the market.

Leaked CAD renders have also indicated a significant redesign in the camera modules for the iPhone 17 series. If these turn out to be true, and they should be taken with a heavy pinch of salt from a leaker who has been hit or miss in the past, it would be one of the biggest design changes to the iPhone for many years.

The CAD renders show the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max with new rectangular camera bars extending across the top of the device’s back, suspiciously reminiscent of Google’s Pixel lineup. Reasoning behind this design change ranges from increasing space for more complex camera hardware to improving stability when the phone is laid flat. 

I’m not convinced Apple would do something this drastic and similar to a competitor, but it could be Tim Cook’s way of making his mark.

Conclusion

As with all leaks and rumours, it’s essential to approach this information with a healthy dose of scepticism. However, if any of these reports hold true, the iPhone 17 lineup promises to be one of the most disruptive releases from Apple since the dawn of Apple Silicon. Apple’s official reveal, expected in September this year, will be the only time to get concrete details, but for now, we can speculate til our heart’s content!