Another day, another iPhone leak, part of which we covered already last week. But this isn’t just about the iPhone 17 Air; eventually, I’ll bring up the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, too. Both devices have been trending in the gadget rumor space enough that multiple thinkpieces have sprouted about what this means for phone design.
This year, thin is in. I don’t like it. It’s not that I don’t like the idea of thinner, lighter smartphones—I enjoyed the lighter chassis on the Oppo Find N5 foldable—but with the uptick in the use of GLP-1 drugs for weight loss and the U.S. government moving to the right with each passing day, it feels a little too on the nose. Ultimately, these manufacturers want the marketing credit to say their devices are the thinnest. No one expected it to become the battle of svelte between the world’s two biggest phone manufacturers.
Varying reports allege the iPhone 17 Air will be the precursor to what Apple plans to do with its foldables. The idea is that whatever specifications the Air includes will lay the foundation for what’s essential inside an iPhone. The iPhone 16e already gave us a glimpse of what Apple thinks that is, but it’s in a different class than the iPhone 17 Air. The Air is supposed to exist between Apple’s essential iPhone and the everything-you-need iPhone Pro model, so it’ll probably be a little more beefy. Also, we’ve talked about how Apple’s iPhone 17 Air will supposedly look like Google’s Pixel devices from the backside. There are more renders making the rounds, including three-dimensional video. Ice Universe, a noted leaker in these parts, has already expressed excitement over it.
Samsung’s thin smartphone carries a different narrative, or at least it’s attempting to write its own. The Galaxy S25 Edge was a huge surprise when it was revealed after the Galaxy S25 Unpacked event. No one was expecting it, especially as we all had resigned ourselves to the idea that smartphone design had plateaued.
What’s wild is that even though I’ve seen it in person, we don’t have all the specifications for the Galaxy S25 Edge to know what Samsung considers “essential.” So far, we can infer that the processor and memory are the same as the rest of the Galaxy S25 family, and there’s a good chance Samsung will include the Galaxy S25 Ultra‘s 200-MP camera sensor right out of the gate. The rumors about the battery pack inside the Galaxy S25 Edge aren’t impressive, either. We’re talking about a 3,900 mAh battery, which is a little over 20 percent less than the size of what’s in the Galaxy S25 Ultra with the same camera sensor.
It’s curious to see Apple and Samsung compete for ultra-thinness because there are also many caveats involved with this form factor. (We knew it even back in the days of the Motorola Razr smartphone.) The battery usually takes a hit, as in the example of the Galaxy S25 Edge. There isn’t enough room for all the high-resolution camera equipment either. Ergonomics are also something to consider with this form factor, plus the practicality of carrying around such a thin device. And with all this focus on artificial intelligence, how will the smartphones perform to spec?
It’s unclear what the end goal is here besides bragging rights. The iPhone 17 Air doesn’t seem long for this world since analysts have said it is the precursor to the iPhone foldable. So when that arrives, what is the point of the iPhone 17 Air? Will it replace the iPhone Pro variant in some capacity? Or will ultra-thin be the new norm for smartphones going forward? Let’s see how it unfolds when Samsung launches the Galaxy S25 Edge soon.
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