Smartphone makers have always been in a race to achieve something remarkable—be it better cameras, powerful chipsets, or slimmer designs. But when it comes to slimness, battery life appears as the price to pay. Rumors suggest that Apple’s upcoming iPhone 17 Air and Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Slim will feature ultra-thin designs.
According to renowned Weibo tipster DCS, both devices are rumored to be around 5.x mm to 6.x mm thick, significantly slimmer than their predecessors—the Galaxy S24 and iPhone 16—both of which measure over 7.5mm in thickness.
Slimmer designs, smaller batteries
The iPhone 17 Air is rumored to go all-in on its slim profile, possibly trading off features like a multi-camera setup for a single rear camera. And now, leaks suggest that it’ll also pack a battery somewhere between 3,000mAh and 4,000mAh. Although it seems like a decent number for an iPhone, consider the fact that the 7.8mm iPhone 16 carries a battery with only 3561 mAh capacity.
But Apple isn’t the only one cutting down. Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Slim, another ultra-slim contender, might also land in the same boat. Despite an earlier claim of a 5,000mAh battery (matching the much bulkier Galaxy S25 Ultra), tipster Digital Chat Station reports that the Galaxy S25 Slim (CAD renders) will also feature a capacity somewhere between 3000mAh to 4,000mAh.
The idea of squeezing larger batteries into such thin frames isn’t impossible—high-density silicon-carbon (Si/C) battery tech could help—but neither Apple nor Samsung seems ready to adopt it yet.
What does it mean for the two devices?
The rumored battery capacities are underwhelming, especially in a market where even mid-range Chinese phones are gearing up to launch with 7,500mAh batteries. Without high-capacity cells, Apple and Samsung will have to rely heavily on limiting the peak performance to extend battery life.
In fact, the Galaxy S25 Slim was recently spotted on Geekbench with the lowest scores of all the Galaxy S25 models, despite using the same Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. This suggests potential performance throttling to save battery and prevent overheating in such a slim form factor. This is a tradeoff that may even affect some regular use cases like high-resolution video recording.
According to the tipster, Chinese brands are also working on similar slim models but with at least 5,000mAh batteries.
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