The Ultimate iPhone: Apple Takes Design Inspiration from China for its Thinnest Model Yet?

Rumored to replace the iPhone 17 Plus, the iPhone 17 Air is expected to be a sleek new addition to Apple’s iPhone lineup. However, it won’t be a flagship device like the iPhone 17 Pro or 17 Pro Max, as Apple will likely have to make some trade-offs to achieve a thinner design. Camera quality may be compromised if Apple opts for a thinner camera bump.

But there’s one area where Apple can’t afford to compromise: battery life. An ultra-slim iPhone must deliver a battery performance that’s on par with, if not better than, its predecessors. The iPhone 17 Air will need to last a full day on a single charge, despite having a smaller battery compartment.

So, just how thin can these batteries go? Huawei’s newly launched $3,000 foldable phone, the Mate XT, offers some insight. This tri-fold device features separate batteries in each section, and impressively, these new batteries measure just 1.9mm in thickness.

With a combined capacity of 5,600mAh, the Mate XT supports fast charging at 66W (wired) and 50W (wireless).

The Mate XT’s silicon batteries are even thinner than the ultra-slim batteries found in Honor’s Magic V3 model.

At its thinnest point, the Huawei Mate XT measures just 3.6mm. This explains why Huawei opted for the 1.9mm-thick batteries.

Apple may not use the exact same battery type as Honor and Huawei, but to achieve a similar level of thinness with the iPhone 17 Air, they will need to incorporate significantly thinner batteries than those currently found in iPhones.

It’s unclear at this point just how thin the iPhone 17 Air will be. The iPhone 16 Pro measures 8.25mm in thickness, while the iPhone 16 is 7.80mm thick. The thinnest iPhone to date is the iPhone 6, which measures just 6.9mm. If Apple wants to market the iPhone 17 Air as the thinnest iPhone ever made, they’ll have to beat the design of the iPhone 6.

Earlier this year, Apple introduced the iPad Pro M4, its thinnest iPad to date. With a thickness of just 5.1mm, it’s only slightly thicker than the Honor and Huawei phones. When open, it’s comparable to the thickness of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

So, Apple already has experience in using ultra-slim batteries to power its premium products. They managed to shrink the iPad Pro without sacrificing battery life. The super-slim OLED display and more efficient M4 chip also contributed to the reduced thickness while maintaining the same battery performance as other models.

The iPhone 17 Air will need to achieve similar battery efficiency while utilizing ultra-slim batteries. The upcoming 2nm A19 chip, set to launch next year, could help save space inside the phone.

Finally, the iPhone 16 Pro Max may offer some clues about the battery technology Apple is exploring. It’s rumored to feature higher-energy-density batteries, although Apple hasn’t released detailed information about this yet, so we’ll have to wait for post-launch teardowns to know more.

Apple could also be considering a metal-wrapped battery, which would be a first for iPhones. These improvements may very well make their way to the iPhone 17 lineup, including the rumored ultra-slim Air model.

All of this is speculation for now. We’ll have to wait and see if the iPhone 17 Air becomes a reality and if it lives up to the expectations set by these rumors.