The iPhone plateau
Discover what’s in the big bump introduced at Apple’s “Awe dropping” event
Apple says the internal structure with the plateau up top ensures there’s lots of room for the battery.
WHEN APPLE UNVEILED the iPhone Air, it proudly declared it the thinnest handset the company had ever built. Measuring just 0.22 inches, it shaved 0.05 inches off the iPhone 6’s slim 0.27 inch profile, yet look at it from the side, and you’ll spot an anomaly. At the top of the iPhone Air is a so–called
“plateau” — a fancy–sounding name for what is essentially a bump. It’s the thickest point of the device, boosting its thickness to 0.45 inches; or double that of the rest of the phone.
Although its presence means some may argue Apple hasn’t quite achieved the thinnest iPhone, the plateau could actually point to the future of smartphone design. A plateau is also included on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone 17 Max, again making the handsets thicker at the top than at the bottom. But there are some clear advantages to this design approach, combining practical necessity with thoughtful engineering.