Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim and Apple iPhone 17 Air might not be as thin as expected

It’s an open secret that Samsung and rival Apple plan to launch new design-focused slim devices next year. The Galaxy S25 Slim and rumored iPhone 17 Air are on the cards, but a new report claims they might not be as thin as fans expect.

As leaker Jukanlosreve explains, Apple and Samsung are both struggling to make their respective “thin” phones as thin as they want. For Samsung, it is said that the Galaxy S25 Slim would only be available in limited quantities, with Samsung having also sacrificed thickness in favor of a competitive battery. Additionally, it appears that the Korean company will not adopt silicon-carbon battery technology for the S25 series, abandoning the density benefits of chemistry as seen on phones like the Honor Magic 6 Pro and the Vivo X200 range.

For Apple, the source claims that plans for new battery chemistry were abandoned for technical reasons. Therefore, the iPhone 17 Air – or whatever it’s called – will come with regular lithium-ion batteries, which ensures that the phone will be over 6mm thick.

While a thickness in the range of 6mm is a decent jump from the thinnest iPhone on the market, the iPhone 16 (7.8mm), it’s questionable whether it’s thin enough to truly be considered a “thin” phone. After all, Gionee already launched the 5.2mm thick Elife S5.1 in 2014. That phone then had a ridiculously sized 2050mAh battery.