Apple's iPhone 17 Slim: A revisit to the 2019 prototype?

Apple is working on a new, ultra-thin model called the iPhone 17 Slim, which is expected to feature an entirely new design. Designers may revisit a prototype from 2019 that was previously shelved.

According to The Information, Apple is developing a new premium smartphone that will hit the market in 2025 and will be positioned higher than the current Pro Max model. The future device, tentatively named iPhone 17 Slim, might debut under the name iPhone Ultra.

Informants from the site report that the new model will feature an innovative design, a "significantly thinner" case, and a smaller Dynamic Island notch. The iPhone 17 Slim will stand out with a centrally located camera, which would significantly depart from Apple's traditional camera placement in the upper left corner, which has been used since the first generation was launched in 2007. However, the idea of centred lenses is not new.

@OnLeaks released visualizations of iPhone 11 prototypes in 2019. At that time, Apple had at least two prototypes from which they chose the final design.

The visualizations showed a model with a centrally located, elongated camera module with three lenses, with the central lens surrounded by an LED ring. Although the iPhone 11 ultimately launched with a square camera island similar to one of these visualizations, the design with the central module was not used.

It's worth noting that Google recently presented a similar solution. Leaked photos of Pixel 9 show a centrally located camera, which could suggest some similarities in design approaches between Apple and Google.

Will the iPhone 17 Slim resemble the 2019 prototype? That remains uncertain for now, but since the project was advanced, Apple might revisit it and adapt it to current standards. We'll have to wait until September 2025 for the final confirmation of these speculations, especially since the iPhone 16 hasn't hit the market yet.