I don’t like speculating on iPhone rumours, but this post on MacRumors and this image on X by TheAppleHub has got me thinking about the 2015 iPhone 17 lineup.

The main rumour is that there is going to be an updated iPhone with a “slim” design that the rumour-mill has started calling “iPhone 17 Slim”. Slim is not going to be the final name but the positioning of this phone on the lineup is very confusing.

If today you wan’t to get the best iPhone out there, you would go for the model with the “Pro Max” moniker, making it real easy. Do you want the best out there? it’s got to be an iPhone Pro Max. Usually the Pro and Pro Max phones have the same features barring the size of the display (and the battery life). But there have been a few years the Pro Max model has got a slightly better camera – like where the 15 Pro Max cameras only got the 5x Tetraprism lens and the 15 Pro did not. And usually people know that if they go for the Pro Max phone they are getting the best iPhone out there, it has the best of everything, and is the most expensive.

The speculated iPhone 17 Slim, sounds like the next major redesign of the iPhone. And with the new thinner iPad Pros, Apple is trying to make their devices thin again. The current iPhone with the flat edges have been pretty much the same since the iPhone 12 and a redesign keeps things fresh whilst also creates hype thus giving sales a boost.

Hartley Charlton writing for MacRumors:

The ‌iPhone 17‌ Pro models will purportedly feature 12GB of memory, a triple 48-megapixel rear camera system, and an A19 Pro chip fabricated with TSMC's N3P process, whereas the standard model will feature a separate A19 chip. This contrasts with the iPhone 16 lineup, which is expected to feature the same A18 chip across the board.

The post also suggests that the ‌iPhone 17‌ "Slim" will feature an A19 chip, a dual dear camera system, an aluminum chassis, and 8GB of memory, but it is not clear if this is accurate. It is possible that this information has simply been assumed based on its replacement of the "Plus" model and it seems potentially strange for the new high-end model to have inferior specifications to the Pro models. The ‌iPhone 17‌ lineup is expected to be introduced in September 2025.

The problem I have with this rumour is that the “Slim” iPhone will cost more than the ”Pro Max” iPhone ($1299 for the Slim and $1199 for the Pro Max). There is no harm for the redesign to cost more than the Pro Max, but it is bound to only have 8 gigs of RAM (vs 12 on the Pro Max). Have dual cameras (instead of the triple camera system on the Pro Max). This does not really make sense, at least to me.

I don’t want to be personally given the choice of a slim/redesigned phone, or the phone with the the better internals and camera out there. I want the highest end iPhone with the best camera system in a new chassis, not be given the burden of choice.

I hope there are parts of this rumour that is wrong. And the iPhone 17 “Slim” sits above the “Pro Max” both in price and in features. And that the iPhone is not going in the way of the iPad, where the pricing and the features of the product lineup don’t really make sense anymore.