Apple may be shifting its focus back to thinness for its devices, according to a report by Mark Gurman in his PowerOn newsletter. Gurman suggests that the iPhone 17 lineup, along with the MacBook and Apple Watch, could see significant reductions in thickness.
The news comes on the heels of Apple’s recently released iPad Pro, which prioritized a slimmer design without compromising much on performance or battery life—a feat likely made possible by Apple’s own M-seried chips powering the iPad and MacBook lines.
However, Gurman’s report does not provide specifics on how thin these devices will be or the challenges that might arise. Making a device thinner often means the manufacturer would need to cut some corners in terms of hardware or introduce innovative technology to compensate for it.
Given the compact form factor of phones in general, which require larger batteries and camera sensors, achieving a thinner design without compromising user experience would be a significant milestone for the brand.
For some context, previous MacBooks with a slimmer design, while aesthetically pleasing to look at, faced issues like thermal throttling, keyboard problems, and limited CPU/GPU options. Although Apple Silicon has addressed many of these concerns, a thinner design across iPhones, MacBooks, and Watches could still result in smaller batteries. Efficiency gains from future chips might mitigate this to some extent, but a decrease in overall battery life could be a major concern for heavy users.
Given Gurman’s established track record, Apple’s focus on slimmer devices seems plausible. However, with the iPhone 17 and MacBook/Watch redesigns still over a year away, it remains to be seen on how Apple plans to make this switch without compromising performance and battery life.
What we know for sure is that Apple is currently focusing on the iPhone 16 series, which is expected to debut sometime in September.
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