The biggest announcement coming out of the iPhone 17 series' launch event earlier this week wasn't about the most powerful iPhone yet -- it was for the thinnest. At 5.6mm, or less than a quarter of an inch, the iPhone Air stole the show. And even though it was far from the first mainstream "thin phone," it may just kick off the trend in a major way in the years to come.
There's a long-running sentiment in the mobile industry around Apple's impact on phone trends: Once the iPhone-maker makes a strong design choice, other companies follow. That was true in 2007 when the company debuted the original iPhone (and others followed the front glass touchscreen design), true when the iPad debuted to popularize the tablet format and was sadly true when it got rid of the headphone jack.
So the big question is: Will the iPhone Air make thin phones mainstream? Probably not, says CNET Senior Technology Reporter Abrar Al-Heeti, who was on the ground at Apple headquarters for the launch event and got hands-on time with the new, skinny iPhone. But now, the thin phone niche is being reinforced by a brand with some of the most loyal fans.
"Apple isn't necessarily setting a trend with the iPhone Air, since so many phone manufacturers have already developed thin phones," Al-Heeti said. "But it may have legitimized the form factor among people who have wanted a thin phone and sworn allegiance to Apple's products."
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There are a couple reasons Apple would make a thin iPhone. The most obvious: The company believes consumers want one. It wouldn't be alone in that thinking, as Samsung debuted its Galaxy S25 Edge earlier this year. We're still waiting for official sales tallies to see if buyers were eager to opt for a 5.8mm phone over its 7.2mm and thicker S25 series siblings. Leaked info suggests sales were underwhelming, according to The Elec, but Al-Heeti found that, "I've grown so used to its thin, lightweight design that holding any other phone feels like a drag."
The iPhone Air is the biggest redesign to the iPhone in some time, and judging by the X-ray cutaways of the new device during the launch event, Apple has performed some technical wizardry in cramming nearly all the chips and hardware into the top of the phone to achieve its 5.6mm profile. Aesthetically, it's a new page in the company's product book, a way for Apple to appeal to another subsegment of customers, said Nabila Popal, senior director of the International Data Corporation's data and analytics team.
"The iPhone Air is Apple's thinnest phone ever and its boldest design move since the iPhone X," Popal said. "It will draw in users who love leek aesthetics, while the Pro lineup takes the crown for majority of users prioritizing battery and camera performance."
Analysts I spoke to agreed that the iPhone Air serves a few purposes, from replacing the iPhone 16 Plus with a more premium choice in Apple's lineup to serving as a showcase device for the company's emerging technologies (like its in-house C1X modem and N1 connectivity chip). But they also pushed back on the idea that the iPhone Air would open the floodgates for thinner phones.
"I think we knew thin and light phones were going to be coming regardless of Apple's launch," said Anshel Sag, principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy.
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