Apple might delay plans for a ‘Slim’ iPhone

Apple might delay the release of a slim iPhone model next year due to the lack of quality in an important component as revealed by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

The company was scheduled to use RCC to reduce the thickness of the mainboard to save internal space and make the drilling process easier due to its fiberglass-free composition.

The component was expected to be adopted in iPhone 16 this year but was delayed due to unsatisfactory quality and fragile characteristics. Ajinomoto is the current leading supplier of RCC material and a new timeline led to speculation that this material will be used in iPhone 17 models released next year.

Supply Chain analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo has dropped this possibility and said that Apple is no longer opting for this material due to its inability to meet its high-quality requirements.

Therefore, we may not see the iPhone 17 series using RCC as the PCB motherboard material. However, that’s one part of this story because the iPhone maker is reportedly preparing a slim model for 2025.

This is expected to replace the Plus variant with a screen size smaller than the Pro Max. But, its price could rise above the current top-end variant.

The key specialty of this model might be its name and sheer thickness, which is likely to reduce significantly. RCC may be a key component in achieving this aesthetic feature.

Aside from RCC, Kuo gave no words on the iPhone 17 slim and its appearance remains limited in reports only. The company will release iPhone 17 series in the second half of 2025.

更新： 因無法滿足Apple對品質的高標準要求，2025年新款iPhone 17將不採用RCC作為PCB主板材料。
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Update: Due to the inability to meet Apple’s high-quality requirements, the new iPhone 17 in 2025 will not use RCC as the PCB motherboard material. https://t.co/ZInZnDqQqZ

— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) July 17, 2024

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