Apple hasn’t even announced the iPhone 16 yet, but we’re already starting to hear about its plans for the iPhone 17, which will likely launch in 2025.
Longtime supply-chain analyst Ross Young posted on X on Wednesday that he’d heard that the iPhone 17 Plus will come with a smaller screen than the 6.7-inch display on the current-generation iPhone 15 Plus. The post was written about earlier by MacRumors.
Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Apple changing the screen size of its iPhones wouldn’t be much of a surprise, though it is noteworthy. The company has always seemed comfortable fiddling with screen sizes, particularly as its product lineup expanded from one iPhone each year to multiple models, starting with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in 2014.
It’s unclear why Apple would opt for a smaller-size screen for its iPhone 17 Plus, but MacRumors suggests the change could help further differentiate the Plus model from its more expensive Pro Max cousin. Though Apple is expected to increase the screen size of its upcoming iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max this fall, changing the screen size on the iPhone 17 Plus would likely help each iPhone stand apart even more.
It’s also possible Apple has learned through customer feedback that customers who look at the Plus-size iPhones want a device that’s bigger than the entry-level iPhone but not as big as the Pro Max.
Read more: iPhone 16: Major Rumors About Apple’s Next iPhone
As mentioned, Apple is expected this year to adjust screen sizes of the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, which will reportedly have slimmer bezel borders and larger displays. So it’s only natural to believe Apple would then focus its screen-fiddling energy on the entry-level iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Plus next year.
You might be tempted to think Apple has this screen-size thing all worked out. Currently, Apple’s lineup seems rather fixed at a $799 entry-level iPhone, followed by a larger entry-level iPhone Plus for $899, and then a $999 Pro level, with larger Pro Max versions starting at $1,099. But Apple only stumbled on that formula after attempting to sell a 5.4-inch iPhone Mini as far back as 2021.
The iPhone Mini earned positive reviews from critics, including CNET’s Patrick Holland, who wrote in 2020 that the iPhone 12 Mini was the “small phone we’ve been asking for,” adding that it was “a one-handed phone user’s dream.” Alas, Apple switched to larger entry-level phones with the iPhone 14 line in 2022.
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