- iPad Pro is Apple’s thinnest device ever.
- Apple plans to slim down the iPhone, MacBook Air and Apple Watch.
- Thinner devices are more difficult to repair and have worse battery life.
Apple's thinnest product to date is the new M4 iPad Pro, which is even thinner than the iPod Nano. According to Bloomberg's serial whistleblower Mark Gurman, Apple's entire portable product line is ready to slim down, including iPhone, Apple Watch and MacBook Pro. That sounds great, but thin and light devices have obvious drawbacks, such as less repairability and worse battery life.
"You're right, the smaller and thinner the device, the less repairable it is. We are an electronics manufacturing company and some of our products are very small and require advanced machinery to repair properly," said Cassandra, owner of 50-year-old family electronics Gluyas, CEO of design and manufacturing company Thomas Instrumentation Inc., told Lifewire via email.
"Personally, I would like a device that is easier to repair and doesn't need to be replaced as often as the phone companies want us to. I believe this is more about us being pressured to sell than a true need to buy a new phone every year . I also agree that we’ve probably reached a level of reasonable thinness for phones.”
Apple has been making its devices thicker and heavier for years. The current iPhone is much heavier than earlier models, and if you put the new iPhone next to an old iPhone 7 or similar device, you'll see a big difference. Likewise, the MacBook Pro has a thickness all its own, ditching those visually slim tapered edges and adopting a chunky design that's reminiscent of the PowerBook of old. Apple used this space to add back the ports it had been cutting back in previous years and make what may be the best computer ever.
Now, apparently, Apple is determined to reverse those improvements. If you asked someone if they would prefer a thin phone to a thick one, they would probably choose a thinner model, but in reality, thinness seems to be low on our list of priorities. We no longer carry our phones in our pockets until they ring. We have these in our hands all the time, either on our shoulder straps or in our bags. We're buying bigger and bigger phones, not smaller and smaller phones.
Imagine if Apple took its expertise in thin devices and instead used it to squeeze in bigger batteries or make devices easier to repair. Think about it. None of your friends are complaining that their MacBook or iPhone is too thick. What they hate is when the battery dies, or when they have to carry a bulky battery pack to keep it charged during a normal day.
When you strive to squeeze every component into a gadget, compromises need to be made. For example, the latest iPad Pro actually improves the convenience of battery replacement, but it still has shortcomings. Because it's so thin, Apple uses pull-type strips to secure the battery while helping to stiffen the ultra-thin case. In order to find the pull tabs for these batteries, you will need to remove other components. This is unnecessary for designs that are less affected by lack of space.
Repairability is important for both your pocket and our world. Imagine if replacing your phone's battery or screen was as simple as loosening a few screws and popping out a new unit. The Fairphone does exactly that, but it comes at the cost of a slightly thicker body.
"Easier-to-repair phones are more cost-effective in the long run because over the course of a two-year appointment plan, you'll likely spend thousands less on a repairable phone compared to buying a newer, thinner phone. "Additionally, phones that are easier to repair could potentially save thousands of dollars," Catherine Rohde, senior product manager and power supply specialist at Batteries Plus, told Lifewire via email. Too many natural resources to keep making new phones.”
Are thin phones and laptops cool? Yes. But thinness is one of the least important specs, especially in today's era of dramatic climate change, and big tech companies should be minimizing their impact rather than minimizing their products.