The iPhone 17 Air will not be quite as fast as the Pro models, as a leaker reiterates rumors about the specifications of the ultra-slim model.
The iPhone 17 Air will be replacing the Plus model in the 2025 roster of iPhone 17 models. However, while the new version could prove a big success for Apple, it won’t be the most powerful.
In a Tuesday post to Weibo, serial leaker Fixed Focus Digital posted that the iPhone 17 Air will have “almost all the configurations of the Pro,” according to a machine translation.
Those changes will apparently include one fewer GPU core in the A19 chip powering it. The post also says that the screen and battery won’t be “as good as the Pro.”
The GPU core claim is not a new rumor, as it reiterates something Fixed Focus Digital has previously spoken about. In July, they said that the iPhone 17 will be the only model with the A19 chip, as well as the least amount of memory at 8GB.
Crucially, Fixed Focus Digital said that the A19 chip will be the same as the A19 Pro that will be used in the iPhone 17 Pro models, with one exception. It will potentially be a chip-binned version, with a five-core GPU instead of a six-core version.
The leaker has also posted about performance, insisting that while the A19 will be as fast as Qualcomm’s competing Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 chipset, Apple may go down a different route. Instead of performance, it may instead try to extend battery life by reducing consumption.
Battery and display
Previous claims about the iPhone 17 Air discussed the challenges of putting a battery into such a thin smartphone design, simply because space will be severely limited.
The concerns have been significant enough that some reports believed this would prompt the return of old accessories. These include the Apple Battery Case, which included a bulging battery in the rear, as well as the discontinued MagSafe Battery Pack.
Both would solve the problem of reduced power inside the iPhone 17 Air, but at the cost of negating the thin appearance with a Quasimodo-like battery add-on.
Reports have also proposed that Apple could use a new silicon-anode battery technology in the iPhone 17 Air. The change would mean the battery could store about 15% more energy in the same physical space compared to typical graphite-based batteries.
The current belief about the iPhone 17 Air display is that it will measure 6.6 inches diagonally, have a resolution of 2,740 by 1,260, and use Samsung’s M14 material. There has been some debate about Apple introducing ProMotion to the non-Pro iPhones for some time, though that is still a claim that is unsettled so far.
A Weibo-based leaker, Fixed Focus Digital doesn’t have a great track record or reputation for accuracy. However, they ere correct when discussing the iPhone 16e..
