5 Features That Will Make iPhone 17 the Biggest Update in Years

The upcoming iPhone 16 models we expect to see in September will be very similar to the iPhone 15 models, but rumors suggest that Apple will make big changes in 2025. We’ve heard hints of a completely new device in the iPhone lineup, and it could be the most expensive iPhone Apple has introduced yet.

New “slim” design

Rumors have been circulating that Apple’s upcoming iPhone 17 will be called the “‌iPhone 17‌ Slim,” but Apple is definitely not going to use that name. The “slim” description refers to the device’s sleeker, slimmer design.

With the 12.9-inch iPad Pro M4, Apple has trimmed its thickness by one millimeter, resulting in the thinnest device Apple has ever made. The same focus on slim design is expected to continue in 2025, with the next ‌iPhone‌ said to be “significantly thinner” than current iPhones.

We don’t know specific details about how thick the ‌iPhone‌ will be, but the ‌iPad Pro‌ is just 5.1mm thick and could serve as a model for what to expect.

As for size, the ‌iPhone 17‌ Slim is expected to fall somewhere between the 6.1-inch ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ and the 6.7-inch ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌. Separate rumors have targeted 6.55-inch, 6.6-inch, and 6.65-inch as the screen sizes Apple has settled on, which would make it smaller than the ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ Max (and the alleged iPhone 16 Pro Max).

Although Apple has been using titanium in its high-end ‌iPhone‌ models since last year, rumors suggest that the ‌iPhone 17‌ Slim will come with an aluminum body. The first rumors that surfaced about the device actually suggested that it would replace the ‌iPhone‌ “Plus” in Apple’s lineup, but subsequent information points to a new high-end ‌iPhone‌ that is more expensive than the Pro Max.

Based on the rumors we’ve heard so far, it looks like the ‌iPhone 17‌ Slim will be similar to 2017’s ‌iPhone‌ X. The ‌iPhone‌ X represented a huge leap forward in technology, and was sold alongside the standard ‌iPhone‌ 8 models.

It looks like we’ll get a new high-performance iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone 17 Slim, with Apple canceling the Plus model entirely. The iPhone 17 Slim could be more expensive than the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which Apple currently starts at $1,199.

Cameras have been moved.

Along with a thinner and lighter design, the high-end iPhone 17 could feature its first major rear camera overhaul. Rumors suggest the cameras could be moved from the top-left corner of the iPhone to the top-center, potentially resulting in a design similar to the Google Pixel.

The Pixel 8 Pro has a raised bar across the back of the device that houses three cameras, a laser autofocus sensor, and a flash.

Apple is still testing designs for the ‌iPhone 17‌, but moving the camera bump somewhere else is a possibility.

Display improvements

ProMotion display technology that allows for variable refresh rates from 1Hz to 120Hz is expected to come to all iPhone models in 2025, including the high-end model, but the bigger news is that rumors suggest Apple will use a new display coating.

The new coating is said to have improved anti-reflective properties and better scratch resistance than the current ceramic shield coating. It has been described as a “super-tough anti-reflective coating” in leakage situations.

Apple has been using Ceramic Shield since 2020. It’s a hybrid ceramic-glass material developed in partnership with Corning. Since then, Corning has made improvements to its protective glass products, and the company is working to improve the quality of its products. gorilla armor material Gorilla Armor reduces reflection by up to 75 percent while enhancing drop protection and scratch resistance. Corning has had a long-standing relationship with Apple, and while Gorilla Armor was developed for Samsung, Corning could make a similar product for Apple.

Better selfie camera and dynamic changes in the island

The new iPhone 17 is expected to feature a slim Dynamic Island design that takes up less screen space. There have been rumors for years about Face ID technology being placed under the display, and we may see the first hints of this technology in 2025.

There will be a smaller hole and a pill-shaped cutout for the front camera, but it doesn’t look like Apple will hit its all-screen design goals just yet.

As part of the ‌Dynamic Island‌ redesign, Apple is rumored to adopt a 24-megapixel front-facing camera, which would be an upgrade from the current 12-megapixel selfie camera. It will feature a six-element lens to improve image quality, and the increased resolution will capture more detail and allow for more cropping without sacrificing quality.

faster chips

It seems the iPhone 17 series won’t be getting TSMC’s next-generation 2nm chips, but we’re expecting the A19 chip technology, which is likely built on an improved 3nm process. Apple typically updates iPhones with faster, more efficient chip technology every year, and we expect the best chip available in 2025 to be included in the iPhone 17 Slim.

TSMC is working on 2nm chips, but mass production isn’t expected to begin until the end of 2025, which would be too late for the ‌iPhone 17‌ models. If the pace picks up, that could change. Compared to 3nm chip technology, the 2nm process can deliver a 10-15 percent speed improvement at the same power or a 25-30 percent power reduction at the same speed.

Chips built on the improved 3nm process won’t see the same gains as chips built on the 2nm process, but we can still count on modest CPU and GPU speed boosts. And with Apple’s heavy focus on AI, the neural engine dedicated to machine learning tasks is also likely to see an improvement.

TSMC is working on the N3P process, with mass production scheduled to begin in late 2024. Compared to previous versions From 3nm chips, N3P chips offer increased performance efficiency and increased transistor density.

There have been rumors of up to 12GB of RAM in the high-end ‌iPhone 17‌ models, and it would make sense for that jump to be in the more expensive ‌iPhone 17‌ Slim. Currently, the maximum RAM is 8GB.

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For more information on what to expect from the ‌iPhone 17‌ lineup in 2025, be sure to check out Check out our iPhone 17 review.Our regular reports receive regular updates with all the latest rumors, making them a great resource for tracking the evolution of rumors over time.