The iPhone 16 isn’t even out yet, but that hasn’t stopped rumors about the iPhone 17 from swirling already. One of the latest comes from The Information, and it claims that a thinner iPhone 17 may be released in 2025 as a completely new addition to the lineup. It’s reported to be code-named D23 internally, and it’s expected to be a major redesign — potentially as big of a redesign as the iPhone X was in 2017.
The main changes for the D23 iPhone are a very thin body and a smaller cutout in the display. There’s also some talk that Apple may replace the Dynamic Island with a pinhole cutout, and we may see that as soon as the anticipated iPhone 16 launch this fall. Other changes might include moving the rear camera from the upper-left corner to the top center. The screen could fall somewhere between the 6.1 inches of the iPhone 16 Pro and 6.9 inches of the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
This rumored superthin iPhone 17 would take a cue from the thinnest-ever iPad Pro that Apple showcased during its “Let Loose” event on May 7. The new 13-inch iPad Pro is just 0.2 inches thick (5.1mm), reduced from 0.25 inches (6.4mm). Shaving off a fraction of an inch may not seem like a big deal, but Apple has made a lot of hay out of it, including a controversial ad that showed various instruments and tools being compressed into the iPad Pro.
The thinner chassis also corroborates the most recent rumor about the increase in energy density of the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which allows it to have a longer-lasting battery or a smaller battery with the same capacity. Batteries are one of the biggest uses of space in a phone’s body, so slimming it down with new battery technology may be how Apple hopes to shave off more width from the iPhone 17.
If these rumors prove true, the new iPhone 17 D23 could be more costly than even the iPhone 17 Pro Max, which is usually the most expensive model in Apple’s iPhone lineup. According to Apple Insider, that doesn’t mean Apple will release five models of iPhone; instead, it plans on dropping the iPhone 17 Plus.
That would make sense since Apple could consolidate the Plus and Pro Max, which serve a similar consumer category of people who want bigger screens and batteries. However, Apple could still differentiate price by creating a model even more expensive than the Pro Max. It’s still early days, though, and with the superthin iPhone 17 not expected to launch until 2025, there’s still plenty of time for things to change.
