Samsung and Apple’s race to slim phones might skirt the sticker shock

Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends

Over the course of the past few months, numerous outlets have reported on Samsung and Apple’s plans to make “slim” phones. Naturally, one would think that an “innovation tax” is imminent, but it seems these skinny phones won’t deliver a price shock.

In Apple’s case, the alleged iPhone 17 Air will replace the iPhone Plus model, which apparently had an unexpectedly low sales run. Apple, therefore, has to fill the Plus gap with an Air model this year without making any big changes to the pricing structure.

“The Plus model was stuck in the middle, so its identity was ambiguous, and its sales were the worst. By changing it to a slim model, they were able to adopt a pricing policy at the Plus level,” an industry insider was quoted as saying by Sisa Journal.

Alleged render of the iPhone 17 Air. Front Page Tech
As far as Samsung goes, the Korean electronics giant apparently decided to throw its hat into the ring in the wake of Apple’s strategy shift. “The Galaxy S25 Slim’s very purpose is to respond to Apple’s Air product, so the price will not be set high,” adds the report.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

As far as the pricing goes, there is little clarity on just how much Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Slim is going to cost. Notably, as per the source cited in the Korean outlet, the upcoming device will be cheaper than the flagship Ultra model.

If the murmurs turn out to be true, the iPhone 17 Air and the Galaxy S25 Slim could fall in the $900 price bracket. Both phones are expected to arrive in the latter half of 2025, but Samsung could beat Apple to the market by a few weeks.

This is what the Galaxy S25 series phones could look like. Digital Trends
Samsung’s svelte phone will reportedly offer a 6.7-inch display, while its cross-section profile could fall between 6mm and 6.9mm. It could, however, surprise buyers with a fairly powerful camera setup (200MP main, 50MP wide, and 50 zoom), but there is no clarity regarding the silicon situation.

As far as the iPhone 17 Air goes, it may not quite deliver a hardware knockout, save for a trimmed waistline. Rumors suggest it will only offer a single rear camera, a smaller battery, and a titanium-aluminum chassis.

Apple will reportedly serve a new battery that encases the cell kit inside a metal shell and embraces a technique called electrically induced adhesive debonding that eases repair and replacement.

Nadeem is a tech journalist who started reading about cool smartphone tech out of curiosity and soon started writing…

Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim: everything we know so far

Samsung’s January Galaxy Unpacked event is just around the corner. We know the event will show off the Galaxy S25 lineup, but there’s a chance that it could also unveil the long-rumored Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim (and maybe give us a proper name for it besides the rumored title).

We’ve been following the rumors about this handset for a long time, and we’ve gathered quite a bit of information about the Galaxy S25 Slim. If you’re curious about its specs, potential release window, and everything else we know, read on.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim: possible release date

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra could miss out on a crucial tracking feature

One of the lost object-tracking updates that appeared for Android phones this year was the ability to locate them even when they run out of juice. The convenience is shipped as part of Android’s Find My Device system. It, however, appears that Samsung’s next flagship will miss out on that convenience.

The folks over at Android Authority did some code sleuthing and spotted details of a disabled Bluetooth-finding protocol. Owing to the inactive status, the phone won’t appear on the location-finding map once it runs out of battery juice. Before we proceed further, do keep in mind that these are pre-launch details about unreleased hardware, so the situation might change down the road.

Apple has stopped selling these three iPhones in the EU. Here’s why

From today forward, the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, and the third-gen iPhone SE are no longer available for purchase in the majority of European Union countries. We knew this was coming after a set of EU guidelines stipulated that all mobile devices must charge through USB-C.

You’ll no longer find any of these phones for sale online in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and most other EU countries, according to MacRumors. The iPhone 14 generation was the last to use Lightning cables, so rather than update an already-outclassed handset, Apple pulled the devices from the market.

Report