iPhone 17 Air leak reveals what it might lack compared to the iPhone 17 Pro – and I think that’s too big a compromise

• The iPhone 17 Air might have an A19 Pro chipset
• But it could have one less GPU core than the iPhone 17 Pro
• It might also have a worse screen and battery

The reported iPhone 17 Air is an interesting phone because, depending on how well Apple balances its build and specs and how much customers like a super-slim iPhone, it could be a huge success for the company or a huge failure. However, the most recent disclosure raises the possibility that Apple may not have struck the correct balance.

The iPhone 17 Air will contain an A19 Pro chipset, like the iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone 17 Pro Max, according to a Weibo post by Fixed Focus Digital, a leaker with a respectable track record (via GSMArena). It won’t be exactly the same here, though, since according to this source, the Air’s version will feature five GPU cores, and the Pro phones’ version would have six.

The iPhone 17 Air would be less powerful than the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, but still likely more powerful than the regular iPhone 17, which is said to contain a non-Pro version of the A19. It is unclear how much of a difference it will make.

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Battery, screen, and camera compromises

However, the same source also claims that the Air will have a worse screen and battery than the iPhone 17 Pro, so this isn’t the only alleged tradeoff.

They don’t specify how they’re worse here, but it’s likely that this translates into a smaller battery. Regarding the screen, that most likely refers to a prior assertion that the standard iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Air would not have a variable refresh rate, and hence would not have an always-on display. However, it appears that they will feature screens that run at 120 Hz.

That’s a lot of tradeoffs, and when you consider that the iPhone 17 Air most likely just has one rear camera, this would probably be too much for me. In fact, it appears that the Air would only be bought by people who prioritize beauty over all other considerations.

However, Fixed Focus Digital predicts that the iPhone 17 Air will be a hit, therefore there may be a lot of customers like that. Therefore, it will be intriguing to observe how well it performs in reality. Since the complete iPhone 17 series is anticipated to ship in September, we should find out then.