Apple's rumored "iPhone 17 Air" will be equipped with an A19 Pro chip instead of an A19 chip, according to Fixed Focus Digital, an account with more than two million followers on Chinese social media platform Weibo. However, there may be one limitation.
In a post this week, the leaker said the A19 Pro chip will have a 6-core GPU in the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, but only a 5-core GPU in the iPhone 17 Air. This means the iPhone 17 Air would have slightly slower graphics performance for gaming compared to the Pro models, but the average customer is unlikely to notice much of a difference.
In July 2024, Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the iPhone 17 Air would be equipped with an A19 chip instead of an A19 Pro chip, so there are now conflicting rumors about the device's chip. Kuo has a good track record with Apple rumors, while Fixed Focus Digital appears to have been the first source to reveal the iPhone 16e name of the device that succeeded the iPhone SE, so it is hard to say who is right here.
As for the base model iPhone 17, Fixed Focus Digital expects that device to have an A19 chip, which is another claim that conflicts with a previous rumor. A few months ago, Apple supply chain analyst Jeff Pu said the device would have an A18 chip.
Here is an overview of Fixed Focus Digital's chip expectations:
- iPhone 17: A19 chip
- iPhone 17 Air: A19 Pro chip (5-core GPU)
- iPhone 17 Pro: A19 Pro chip (6-core GPU)
- iPhone 17 Pro Max: A19 Pro chip (6-core GPU)
Here were the previous expectations from Kuo and Pu:
- iPhone 17: A18 chip
- iPhone 17 Air: A19 chip
- iPhone 17 Pro: A19 Pro chip
- iPhone 17 Pro Max: A19 Pro chip
Apple should unveil the iPhone 17 series in September, so we will find out what the company's actual plans are in a few more months.
