Apple may be sabotaging the iPhone 17 Air performance with an inferior chip

Apple’s ultra-slim iPhone 17 Air was rumored to use a version of the top-tier A19 Pro chip. Despite the same name, it may be an underpowered version of the chip with fewer graphics cores than the ones rumored to power the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Last month, leaker Fixed Focus Digital said that the iPhone 17 Air could feature a binned version of the A19 Pro processor. Now, the same leaker reiterates (source in Chinese) the same information, making it sound like the decision is final.

If that turns out to be true, the A19 Pro chip inside iPhone 17 Air will have a 5-core GPU instead of the 6-core one expected inside the iPhone 17 Pro models. That might be one of many compromises Apple makes to achieve the rumored 5.5 mm thickness of the slim device. 



On the surface, the difference between a 5-core and a 6-core GPU shouldn’t be noticeable unless you play demanding video games or edit videos on your device. However, that detail adds up to other aspects of the iPhone 17 Air that are very likely to limit its performance.

Most importantly, thinner devices are usually worse at dissipating heat, so thermal throttling may start sooner than on the Pro models, further affecting performance. Add to that the lower battery capacity, and even if you get the full power of the A19 Pro, you might have less time to use it before you need a charger.

The iPhone 17 Air is also rumored to have only one camera instead of the triple camera of the Pro models, due to the slim design. That is also why the device may also feature a display with a lower refresh rate, slower 5G connectivity, and only one loudspeaker.

All that could make the iPhone 17 Air a tough sell, especially when compared to the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge. The thinnest member of the Galaxy S25 family has a double camera, high-refresh rate display, and the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset.

People have repeatedly said that they want bigger batteries and are comfortable with having a thicker smartphone if it lasts longer. That’s why I don’t believe the iPhone 17 Air will be a smashing hit, even if I expect it to be an interesting smartphone.

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