- The iPhone 17 Air could come with the A19 Pro processor but with one fewer GPU core.
- According to a fresh leak, the chipset in the iPhone 17 Air is expected to feature a cluster of 5 GPU cores, down from the usual 6.
- This could be done to mitigate heating issues on the device given its slim form factor.
Apple’s iPhone 17 Air is less than a month away from launch, and the latest leak about the device suggests that the phone will come with Apple’s A19 Pro processor but with one fewer GPU core. The A19 Pro chipset that is expected to power the iPhone 17 Air may come with a cluster of only 5 GPU cores, instead of the 6-core configuration that is expected on the iPhone 17 Pro models.
According to a Weibo leaker, Fixed Focus Digital, the reason could be that Apple is using binned processors — chips where a defective or lower-performing core is disabled so the rest can still be used. It is also likely that Apple wants to reduce the heat dissipation on its upcoming super-slim iPhone.
Previously, the tipster correctly leaked the iPhone 16e name ahead of its release, which adds to the credibility. Coincidentally, the iPhone 16e also came with a binned A18 chipset, having one fewer GPU core, similar to what this leak suggests for the iPhone 17 Air.
The leaker also claims that the base iPhone 17 will feature Apple’s A19 processor. This contradicts the previous leak from supply chain analyst Jeff Pu who said that the regular model will feature last year’s A18 chipset.
Apple will try to keep heating issues at bay for the slim iPhone 17 Air model, especially since it is a brand-new model in the lineup, and it would want to avoid any new controversies. That being said, Apple will reveal what these new iPhones have in store for us at its September 9 event. So we will have to wait till then to find whether this leak holds true or not.
