iPhone 17 Air Now Said to Feature A19 Pro Chip With One Limitation

[MacRumors]

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.

Article Link: iPhone 17 Air Now Said to Feature A19 Pro Chip With One Limitation

 

[hasanahmad]

the people who buy the slim iphone going to be mostly people who are not tech users, men, women who want to use it as a daily driver and just want an iPhone

it will be the most talked about in the press but almost no one in tech community will get it . they get the pro or non pro version

 

[turbineseaplane]

Gonna' need all that horsepower to keep up with transparency, "frosting" and drop shadows all over the place.

Suddenly older phones won't feel as fast as they did on iOS 18

hmmm
🤔

 

[Yimbaz]

This is odd, unless the Pro version of the chip is more power-efficient. I'm looking forward to a slimmer phone precisely because I don't need that extra power.

the people who buy the slim iphone going to be mostly people who are not tech users, men, women who want to use it as a daily driver and just want an iPhone

it will be the most talked about in the press but almost no one in tech community will get it . they get the pro or non pro version

So, the majority of the market?

 

[hasanahmad]

This is odd, unless the Pro version of the chip is more power-efficient. I'm looking forward to a slimmer phone precisely because I don't need that extra power.



So, the majority of the market?

yes

 

[m1mini]

What? The only difference between A18 and A18 Pro was that extra 6th GPU core. Does this mean Regular A19 will be a 4 gpu core variant? Essentially getting a downgrade?

They basically rebranded a19 to a19 pro?!

 

[SactoGuy18]

This might be the confirmation that the regular iPhone 17 will still use the A18 SoC.

 

[ab2c4]

If it is lacking one GPU core that makes it a non "Pro" chip. If it is lacking two GPU cores that was what is in the 16e. Makes me wonder if Apple is really going to start to cripple the non Pro models as far as the SOC is concerned. This I just got from the Apple website:

 

[k1121j]

Gonna' need all that horsepower to keep up with transparency, "frosting" and drop shadows all over the place.

Suddenly older phones won't feel as fast as they did on iOS 18

hmmm
🤔

View attachment 2527347

Looks like they found another way to force people to update and they didn't have to innovate with hardware to do it... Win Win for apple

 

[citysnaps]

the people who buy the slim iphone going to be mostly people who are not tech users, men, women who want to use it as a daily driver and just want an iPhone

it will be the most talked about in the press but almost no one in tech community will get it . they get the pro or non pro version

Disagree. The 17 Air will appeal to many, including people in the "tech community," such as myself (an electrical and product design engineer).

 

[Le0M]

This only means one thing: it won't cost below 900 dollars.
Mark my words.

 

[citysnaps]

the people who buy the slim iphone going to be mostly people who are not tech users, men, women who want to use it as a daily driver and just want an iPhone

It will appeal to anyone who wants a slimmer phone. Being a "tech user" is not a differentiator.

 

[Eric_WVGG]

the people who buy the slim iphone going to be mostly people who are not tech users, men, women who want to use it as a daily driver and just want an iPhone

it will be the most talked about in the press but almost no one in tech community will get it . they get the pro or non pro version

I’m in the “tech community”

This is the first iPhone since the 13 Mini that I’m even intrigued by.

 

[AusMness]

None of this makes sense
Why would they make a 5 core Pro SoC… the 5 core is for the standard SoC
And please for the love of god don’t go back to including last year’s SoC in the standard models, the entire point of the A18 Pro was to move away from that

 

[citysnaps]

I’m in the “tech community”

This is the first iPhone since the 13 Mini that I’m even intrigued by.

Same here. I'm tired of fishing my silicone cased 16PM out of (and back into) the pocket of shirts I like to wear when I want to make a photograph of something interesting, when I'm out and about.

If *credible* reviewers like it, and if I like it playing with a 17 Air at my local Apple Store, I'll buy one.

 

[jlc1978]

Disagree. The 17 Air will appeal to many, including people in the "tech community," such as myself (an electrical and product design engineer).

Certainly. A few all complain about 'binned' chips and claim it's not suitable for port (water that means) while the rest of us simply buy a phone that meets your needs at a price we think is reasonable. For me, upgrades are driven by:

1. A jump in cellular speed; which was key when I used my phone as a hotspot, not so much now
2. Significant camera improvements, and not just 'better' post processing

As a result, my phones last at least 3 years and often more. I do not need the latest and greatest just to have one; I suspect many people in the tech community have similar viewpoints.

 

[brerlappin]

What? The only difference between A18 and A18 Pro was that extra 6th GPU core. Does this mean Regular A19 will be a 4 gpu core variant? Essentially getting a downgrade?

They basically rebranded a19 to a19 pro?!

The other difference is the USB controller ... USB 2 vs USB 3

 

[citysnaps]

Certainly. A few all complain about 'binned' chips and claim it's not suitable for port (water that means) while the rest of us simply buy a phone that meets your needs at a price we think is reasonable. For me, upgrades are driven by:

1. A jump in cellular speed; which was key when I used my phone as a hotspot, not so much now
2. Significant camera improvements, and not just 'better' post processing

As a result, my phones last at least 3 years and often more. I do not need the latest and greatest just to have one; I suspect many people in the tech community have similar viewpoints.

Spot-on. Over the years I've purchased various iPhones (starting with an iPhone 4). I guess, being into tech, I should care about the number of cores and max performance of whatever chips Apple is using (and having designed chips in the past). But I don't.

It has never made a difference to me... whether I'm making a phone call, surfing the internet, making a photograph, etc. They just work and always meet my needs.

I do care about features that are important to me, camera image quality, having crash/fall detection and notification, being able to send an SOS via satellite should I be in an area without cellular service, A-fib detection/notification, integration with Apple Watch, hotspot ability, etc, etc. And of course reliability.

Oh... and the camera bump? For me that's always been mice-nuts. And absolutely nothing to get worked up and go non-linear about.

 

[BorisDG]

What? The only difference between A18 and A18 Pro was that extra 6th GPU core. Does this mean Regular A19 will be a 4 gpu core variant? Essentially getting a downgrade?

They basically rebranded a19 to a19 pro?!

It can still have 5 GPU cores, but with the less cache and lack of "Pro" features, just like A18.

 

[orev]

When there are chips with fewer cores than the "main" chip, it's usually because that chip had some defect in one of the cores, so they disable the whole core. There's nothing wrong with that and it allows them to use chips that would have otherwise gone into the trash.

In the case of a slim phone like this, it also has the benefit of reducing power usage and heat generation, which is probably the primary reason for doing it on this phone.

 

[mcbumbersnazzle]

Basically a nerfed A19 Pro to the point of it being A19 like on iPhone 16

 

[citysnaps]

Basically a nerfed A19 Pro to the point of it being A19 like on iPhone 16

Which will be absolutely fine for the millions of Apple customers who need and want a slim iPhone.

 

[Premium1]

This is odd, unless the Pro version of the chip is more power-efficient. I'm looking forward to a slimmer phone precisely because I don't need that extra power.



So, the majority of the market?

Eh the fact that the battery life is rumored to be trash makes this point moot. Why get this over the non-pro normal version? It will be cheaper, have better battery life, and non-power users wouldn't notice the slight decrease in performance anyway. This phone makes 0 sense (except that Apple is running out of ideas so this is what they are rolling with).

 

[jlc1978]

Oh... and the camera bump? For me that's always been mice-nuts.

Same here. I'd rather have a better camera with bump than the reverse. I'd even go with a thicker iPhone and bigger battery. The whole slim is better never made much sense to me. Then again, my first cell phone was as thick as 6 or so Phone and it meet my needs...

And absolutely nothing to get worked up and go non-linear about.

Yea, but going non-linear seems to be the sole purposeful some people to post in forums...

It has never made a difference to me... whether I'm making a phone call, surfing the internet, making a photograph, etc. They just work and always meet my needs.

Which is how most users judge their tech. As long as it meets their needs who cares what is under the hood.

 

[Yimbaz]

Eh the fact that the battery life is rumored to be trash makes this point moot. Why get this over the non-pro normal version? It will be cheaper, have better battery life, and non-power users wouldn't notice the slight decrease in performance anyway. This phone makes 0 sense (except that Apple is running out of ideas so this is what they are rolling with).

Slightly worse than the other phones in the lineup does not mean "trash." iPhone battery life has gotten very good over the last few years, they have enough overhead to make a slimmed-down model that can still get most people through the day.

I see so many people saying this phone doesn't make sense. I don't know why this is so hard to understand: it's thinner and lighter. Those are real selling points to a lot of people!