iPhone 17 Air Might Be More Powerful Than Expected

The iPhone 17 Air could be far more powerful than many initially thought. Apple is reportedly planning to use a version of the A19 Pro chipset to power this ultra-slim flagship. It may share the same core processor as the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, but with fewer graphics cores. Traditionally, Apple reserves its Pro chipsets for the Pro iPhones, while the base models get non-Pro chips.

However, rumors about the iPhone 17 Air’s chip have been conflicting.

Recent leaks, including a post on Weibo by leaker Fixed Focus Digital (source in Chinese), suggest that only the standard iPhone 17 will feature the regular A19 chip. This version could also be the only model in the upcoming series to come with 8GB of RAM.

So, what’s the deal with the iPhone 17 Air’s chip? There’s been much speculation around whether it will feature the A19 or A19 Pro chipset, and the answer remains unclear. Some rumors suggested the iPhone 17 Air would have the base A19 chipset, while others claimed it would use the same A18 chip as the iPhone 16. According to a new leak, the iPhone 17 lineup may be as follows:

• iPhone 17 – A19 chip with 8GB RAM
• iPhone 17 Air – A19 Pro chip with 5-core GPU and 12GB RAM
• iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max – A19 Pro chip with 6-core GPU and 12GB RAM

While these rumors should be taken with a grain of salt, given the conflicting reports and the reliability of the leaker, there’s a possibility they might be on point. Fixed Focus Digital has been right about some details in the past, but their track record isn’t perfect.

This wouldn’t be the first time Apple has differentiated its chipsets in such a manner. For instance, the iPhone 16e featured a variant of the A18 chipset with a 4-core GPU, while the standard iPhone 16 used the A18 with a 5-core GPU. So, the idea of Apple equipping the iPhone 17 Air with a powerful A19 Pro chipset and 12GB of RAM doesn’t seem far-fetched. After all, Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge has similar high-end specs, and Apple is likely to follow suit, even down to the color options.