The upcoming iPhone 17 lineup will be an exercise in contrast. According to the rumors, the iPhone 17 Air will be quite thin, measuring 5.5 mm. The iPhone 17 Pro Max, on the other hand, will be a good 3.2mm thicker, according to the dimensions shared on X by Ice Universe.
Apple’s going thick
At one point in time, companies like Apple were chasing the thin form factor, trying to make its products as ridiculously thin as possible. Then it stopped. It stopped caring as much about thinness and focused more on things users wanted, like larger batteries. But is the iPhone 17 Pro Max a little too thick? It certainly looks that way.
For context, the iPhone 15 and 16 Pro Max measure 8.3mm thick. Prior to that, the iPhone 14 Pro Max was 7.9mm thick, and before that, the iPhone 12 and 13 Pro Max measured 7.4mm and 7.7mm thick. This means that throughout the iPhone generations, Apple has been making its phones thicker with each iteration.
So, for the iPhone 17 Pro Max to jump to 8.75mm thick seems par for the course. However, we have to wonder if maybe that’s too thick. The problem with modern-day phones is that their displays are massive. This is great for consuming media content and playing games. But it becomes unwieldy when trying to use it one-handed. Not to mention, a larger phone usually means a heavier phone. At 8.75mm, it feels like Apple is further sacrificing the ergonomics of the phone.
An exercise in contrast
As we said, this is a stark contrast to the iPhone 17 Air, which will be Apple’s thinnest iPhone to date. Of course, there are trade-offs. Rumors claim that the iPhone 17 Air will sacrifice features like its cameras. Instead of a dual or triple camera setup, it will only feature one camera. Also, while it hasn’t been confirmed, it is possible the thinness will result in Apple ditching Face ID in favor of Touch ID.
Apple’s decision goes in the opposite direction of its competitors. Samsung’s latest Galaxy S25 Ultra flagship is the company’s thinnest flagship so far. While the overall design hasn’t changed much, Samsung has been trimming off the thickness with each generation. We can’t really say that a thicker phone is necessarily bad, but those with smaller hands might find that Apple’s upcoming flagship will be harder to hold than before.
