iPhone 17 and beyond: Apple's most ambitious lineup

Even Tim Cook has noticed he's over used the line, "this is the best iPhone we've ever made," and seems to have dialled that back. But Apple executives do still tend to lean on their hyperbole API, and now it seems they do so even in internal memos.

As spotted by Bloomberg, Apple's senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, John Ternus, has been stirring up the troops. The planned next iPhones are, he said, the "most ambitious in the product's history."

It wasn't just a random internal message during an exchange about today's menu at Cafe Macs in Apple Park. Instead, it was part of an announcement about that iPhone future.

Beyond the iPhone, Ternus was presumably working on the M4 Mac launches that are now expected soon. But, in the memo, he was also announcing the promotion of three people to vice president status.

One of them is Rich Dinh, who was senior director of product design, and whose previous work includes the new Camera Control button.

Dinh is now vice president of product design, apparently specifically for the iPhone. His new role is not yet listed on Apple's leadership page, but then that hasn't been updated to show Carol Surface leaving either.

What Ternus could mean

Despite the iPhone now being 17 years old, it is genuinely true that each year's model is the best Apple has ever made. It may not be that each time there is something substantially new, but there is always something we haven't had — and that we now wouldn't give up.

There is an argument that today's iPhone is really the same as the 2007 original — but only because they are both rectangular and flat panes of glass. For the first time, it's now possible that this basic shape may soon change, or at least a little.

If it does, it will perhaps be a case of Apple doing what it tends to do. Which is to come late to the party, but be the one that brings all the wine.

Prepare to be clamshell-shocked

So it may be five years since Samsung first brought out a folding phone, but Apple is unquestionably working on one. At least internally.

Forget rumors, Apple has filed patents regarding multiple different folding technologies. Given those, there is no doubt it is working on an iPhone Fold.

There is, though, quite some doubt over whether Apple will ever release it. With any other company in the world, the sheer weight of patent evidence we have would guarantee they would bring out a folding phone.

Two words. Apple Car.

Apple can't enjoy cancelling projects, and Dinh would doubtlessly face a grilling from Tim Cook if he tried to ditch the iPhone fold. But the fact is that Apple has form in this, it could well drop the iPhone fold if it decides it won't be a winner.

Which might be why in more recent years, rumors have blurred a little. Instead of an iPhone fold, there has been talk of a subtly different flip iPhone.

And then the road to an iPhone flip could be via Apple practicing to make a thinner model. Apple surely can't let a folded iPhone flip be much wider than a current, regular iPhone.

So perhaps before we see a flip or a folding iPhone, we might see something else. Specifically, 2025 may bring us the iPhone 17 Slim.

Even the name of that might as well be a guess, since so little is known and only a tiny bit more is rumored. But it's possible that the iPhone 17 range will drop the Plus model and instead have this Slim one.

It's not even clear whether that means the Slim one will take the place of the Plus in the lineup. It could conceivably come in at the top of the range, and turn out to be the long-rumored iPhone Ultra.

To come in above the iPhone 17 Pro Max, the slim model would surely have to offer similar specifications. All that's rumored so far is that it would have a 6.6-inch screen, putting it below the iPhone 16 Plus's 6.7-inches.

Define exciting

However Ternus's memo leaked out, it unfortunately didn't come with any attachments. There is absolutely no evidence of what he meant by "most ambitious," or "an exciting future."

Nor is the entire text available for review. We don't doubt that it exists, given Gurman's reputation, but there's a lot of missing context that could be gleaned.

Regardless, the rumors of a folding, flipping, slim iPhone are so plentiful that even without various patents, it would seem likely one is coming. Yet it could still be a case of wishful thinking.

And it could also be a case of a failure of imagination, it could be that Apple has something no one is expecting. It could be that Apple has a device in mind that no one has asked for, no one predicts, but everyone seems to want it when it's out.

Two words. Mac Studio.