Updated Aug.19 with more details of how the iPhone 17 Pro will see major design changes and may see an unprecedented upgrade with different batteries according to where the iPhone 17 Pro is sold.
A new report claims that the materials which will be used in the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max (thought to go on sale on Friday, Sept. 19 — read full details of the release schedule here) are going to change significantly from what’s in the iPhone 16 Pro right now. Now a report adds that the eSIM-only design of the iPhone’s Pro models will become more widespread, though not for everyone. And another report chimes with this, unveiling claimed images of the internal design. More on both of these later.
Apple iPhone 16 Pro: a new design is coming, it’s claimed.
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First, there has been persistent talk of a switch from a titanium chassis (which is what the Pro iPhones currently have) to aluminum. The latest leak suggests that an aluminum chassis will be used, and an aluminum backplate, but for a cut-out of glass.
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Vadim Yuryev, host of the Max Tech YouTube channel has posted on X that explains, “ass, including a leaked photo of a REAL milled aluminum chassis from @MajinBuOfficial that many people missed,” as he puts it.
The post shows what claims to be an iPhone 17 chassis made of metal, with the surrounds for the iPhone’s cameras and the camera panel itself made of metal, not glass.
If true, and the jury’s still out on that, it would be a radical design change. It’s been years since the iPhone has had a metal back, favoring glass not least because it makes wireless charging possible.
The cut-out on the back would be to allow a glass section, so this form of charging can still happen.
Well, it’s possible, I guess. Google had a similar system for a recent Pixel phone, (the Pixel 8a) which had a composite material over the metal frame, again to allow wireless charging through a cut-out. And aluminum could allow a lightweight way to build strength into the chassis.
Even so, I’ll confess that I’m skeptical.
Still, Tim Hardwick at MacRumros has a good point: “Aluminum is roughly 40% lighter than titanium at similar volumes, so we could see the iPhone 17 Pro models carrying less weight. Aluminum is also a far better thermal conductor than titanium, so heat generated by the A19 Pro chip and battery may dissipate faster. Apple is also rumored to be using a new internal design that incorporates a vapor chamber heatsink to improve thermal performance,” he says.
More details as they emerge.
As for the SIM card tray which is now absent from all iPhones sold in the U.S., leaked images show the SIM card tray will still be a part of Apple’s design for some countries.
Apple switched iPhones in the U.S. to eSIM only in 2022 with the arrival of the iPhone 14. In other countries, the SIM card is still needed, as not all countries support eSIM. In many places, pay-as-you-go iPhones need a physical SIM card still.
That said, there’s no doubt that eSIMs are secure and can’t be removed from a phone that’s lost or stolen, for a start. Users in many countries have switched to eSIM when upgrading to the latest iPhone, for instance, and the phone’s capability to hold multiple eSIMs is a boon when you’re traveling, for a start.
Until now, the missing SIM tray has been replaced with a spacer, but there are some reports that this year, for the first time, Apple may redesign the battery for U.S. iPhones to take up the empty space.
Finally, the other leak that seems to tie in to the eSIM story. Images have been shared recently which claim to show what the inside of the iPhone 17 Pro Max will look like, shared from an account called yeux1122, known for aggregating leaks. The story was picked up by MacRumors.
The images claim to show a design with a metal-covered battery, which fits with previous rumors. The metal cover, instead of foil, would be better at dissipating heat that the battery generates. Right now, the iPhone 16 Pro battery has a metal cover, but iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus and iPhone 16 Pro Max have foil covers. Perhaps 2025 will see metal covers on at least one more iPhone variant.
And it shows two different versions of the battery, with one being more L-shaped than the other. An L-shaped battery is what you’d expect to see in an iPhone that has a SIM card tray, and the more rectangular battery means Apple may be set to deliver more battery, and therefore longer battery life, in U.S. versions of the iPhone at least.
Extra battery life remains top of pretty much everyone’s wish list, so this is good news, if true. And it’ll be interesting to see exactly how much extra battery life Apple quotes for the U.S. iPhone — and it’ll be a first: there’s only ever been one battery life estimate, no matter where you buy your iPhone. Perhaps it could even speed up the adoption of eSIM in those countries that don’t have it so far.
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