Apple Reportedly Planning Thinner iPhones, Apple Watches, MacBook Pro Laptops - CNET

Sometime soon, Apple may be hoping you do a double-take when you see an iPhone. That's because the company is reportedly planning thinner redesigns for its iPhones next year to compliment thinner and lighter Apple Watches, MacBook Pro laptops and iPad tablets.

The company's dramatic reveal of the iPad Pro earlier this year was the "beginning of a new class of Apple devices," according to a new report from Bloomberg, which said Apple plans to announce some of its thinnest and lightest products across the tech industry over the next couple of years.

Apple's plans include the Apple Watch, which industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, as translated by MacRumors, says will have thinner casings while growing screens to 45mm from 41mm for its smaller size, and to 49mm from 45mm for its larger devices.

Bloomberg also reported that Apple is planning an iPhone 17 for 2025 that has a "significantly skinnier" design, as well as a thinner MacBook Pro laptop sometime as well.

Representatives for Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about the reports.

Apple's efforts to offer dramatic redesigns for its products follow the company's well-worn strategy of reimagining the look, feel and manufacturing technology for its devices every few years. Typically, Apple's redesigns lead to thinner and lighter devices while maintaining or improving their battery life.

This year's iPad Pro is a dramatic example of this trend. In May, Apple announced a new design for its $1,000 iPad Pro that is thinner than its historically sleek iPod Nano music player, while being powered by similar chips from the company's computer lines. That move comes after a series of well-received remakes to its MacBook laptop lines, giving them a rectangular look rather than the nearly two-decade-old tapered silhouette of the MacBook Air.

The last time Apple made significant changes to its iPhone design was with the iPhone X in 2017, which dropped the front-facing home button and included a Touch ID fingerprint sensor in favor of a larger screen and Face ID scanner. Apple's worked to refine that look ever since, particularly with larger screens and better cameras. Next year, Bloomberg reports a key feature of the new iPhone will be its thinner design. Apple has also been rumored to be working on a folding phone design, though that has been reportedly pushed to 2027 while the company works out screen creases.