That might actually explain why Apple suddenly wants to ship a thin iphone after years of ignoring the idea. In which case they're not really ready but for some reason have decided to go for it anyway which is a risky decision.

Maybe they want to show that they are coming up with fresh ideas and it helps their image even if the actual product is a failure? Or maybe if they wait a couple of years to launch it, it will be together with their folding model and that will steal the market so they might as well do it now.

Their new wireless chips are significantly more power efficient. It may be it wasn’t feasible within their desired battery life until those.