The iPhone 17 series will launch in September, keeping the usual schedule. Four devices are likely on their way. iPhone 17 Air is reported to be the newbie, as Apple permanently retires the “Plus” model due to poor sales. A leak from China has revealed what silicon you should expect on the iPhone Air.
iPhone 17 Air will not only replace the 16 Plus version, but may also jump a rank. Performance is usually staggered among the variants. We usually see the Pro and non-Pro silicon on their respective Pro and non-Pro devices. The equation’s pretty simple for the other three, though it’s hard to guess where the iPhone 17 Air stands on the chipset.
Fixed Focus Digital spilled the beans on Weibo. The tipster says the iPhone 17 Air uses Apple’s A19 Pro silicon, which slots this newcomer right between the Pro and Pro Max versions. But that’s where the resemblance ends. It will be missing a GPU core that could drop its graphics performance.
Apple A19 Pro is expected to have a 6-core GPU on the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max. The iPhone latest Air model seems to get a chopped version with 5 GPU cores. The reason might be bad thermals on the device due to its thin design. It’s also not on the same level as the Pro versions in the display category.
The leaker didn’t get into the specifics, but he may be talking about the missing ProMotion 120Hz on the iPhone 17 Air. The device may use a non-adaptive refresh rate, though it hasn't been confirmed yet. Fixed Focus Digital also contradicts previous claims about the iPhone Air’s thickness.
This newcomer is now expected to be 5.65mm or 5.7mm thin, just under the Galaxy S25 Edge, which measures 5.85mm. Sure, it’s competitive on design, but not so much when it comes to battery or camera. The renders already show a single lens on this device.
An image in circulation, exposed by @Yeux1122, gave insight into the battery of the iPhone Air. It’s a thin cell of 2.49mm and only stores less than 2900mAh energy per charge. We’ll see more of its specs down the line as it approaches the launch. In the meantime, keep watching the news for updates.
