The incredible shrinking, stretching iPhone


We’ve already heard rumblings about an iPhone Slim model taking the place of the iPhone Plus in 2025, making it the iPhone 17 Slim. Now, a new report from Apple supply chain expert Ming-Chi Kuo corroborates earlier claims, suggesting that the company’s incredible shapeshifting non-Pro iPhone is about to evolve yet again.
Kuo agrees it will come with a 6.6-inch screen and adds that it’ll have just one rear-facing camera along with the company’s beleaguered in-house 5G chip. Kuo says that the Slim model won’t be a direct replacement for the Plus; instead, it represents “new design trends beyond the existing iPhone lineup.” That tracks with rumors that it might cost more than the $1,200 Pro Max.
Apple has had one heck of a time trying to figure out what the second non-Pro iPhone in its lineup should look like. First, it was Mini. That didn’t sell very well, so then it became Plus.
The answer now seems to be to ax it entirely. According to Kuo, the Plus “only accounts for 5-10 percent of new iPhone shipments,” and Apple has deemed it redundant to the other high-end models it sells. Starting next year (potentially), the Plus is out, and Slim is in.
It all feels like a yearslong “is this anything?” exercise. iPhone owners are holding onto older phones longer than they used to, and Apple very much wants us to upgrade our iPhones more often, so it keeps spinning the big Price is Right wheel to see which combination of size and features will kick the almighty upgrade cycle into high gear again. It wasn’t a small phone, and it wasn’t a big phone.
Personally, I’m all for a skinny iPhone. I’m excited about putting it in my back pocket, forgetting about it, and cracking it right in half. Or maybe I’ll brandish it like a Swiss Army knife the next time I’m at a birthday party and we’re looking for a knife to cut the cake. Maybe I’ll get two slim iPhones, tape them together on the long edges like a book, and make the world’s first foldable iPhone. I’m just saying we shouldn’t limit our imaginations here.
More realistically, the iPhone Slim would just be the latest manifestation of Apple’s fixation with slim devices. That’s cool! But I’m hoping this is a stepping stone toward an actual folding iPhone, which is coincidentally also back in the rumor mill. A clamshell-style folding phone like the Motorola Razr or the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip would come with meaningful benefits compared to a regular old iPhone. And if Apple expects me to upgrade my beloved tiny iPhone 13 Mini for anything less, it better think differently.
We’ve already heard rumblings about an iPhone Slim model taking the place of the iPhone Plus in 2025, making it the iPhone 17 Slim. Now, a new report from Apple supply chain expert Ming-Chi Kuo corroborates earlier claims, suggesting that the company’s incredible shapeshifting non-Pro iPhone is about to evolve…
Recent Posts
- Fortnite’s new season has heists, pickles, and Cowboy Bebop
- The best microSD cards in 2025
- I tried this new online AI agent, and I can’t believe how good Convergence AI’s Proxy 1.0 is at completing multiple online tasks simultaneously
- I cannot describe how strange Elon Musk’s CPAC appearance was
- Over a million clinical records exposed in data breach
Archives
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- September 2018
- October 2017
- December 2011
- August 2010