Apple will "sink" and cut corners to make the iPhone 17 Air weaker

Apple's rumored iPhone 17 Air will replace the "Plus" model in the lineup, and the replacement means the device will have the same specs as the base model.

However, this doesn't seem to be the case as the company will position the device slightly above the base model but below the high-end iPhone 17 Pro models.

Information about memory and chips equipped on the upcoming iPhone generation.

It was recently reported that the ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air will be equipped with 12GB of RAM like the iPhone Pro, and a leak now says the device will be equipped with the A19 Pro chip, but with fewer GPU cores.

iPhone 17 Air will be undercut with downgraded GPU

According to a well-known leaker on Weibo, Fixed Focus Digital, the iPhone 17 Air will be equipped with Apple's A19 Pro chip with a 6-core GPU in the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max.

However, the leak also claims that the iPhone 17 Air will be powered by the A19 Pro chip but with a 5-core GPU, which means the device's graphics performance won't be on par with the 'Pro' models.

If that's the case, you should expect significantly lower gaming performance than the Pro-branded models. Note that this chip is quite fast, and the average user won't be able to tell the difference in performance, making this a negligible downgrade.

However, the chip's performance will likely remain the same, which will be an important factor for the Air's battery life.

Thin, light, and fashionable , the iPhone 17 Air accepts having to cut many things.

Interestingly, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims that the iPhone 17 Air will be powered by a standard A19 chip, the same chip that will be used on the standard version of the product line.

Given the conflicting reports at this point, it's unclear how Apple will position the device. Given that the iPhone 17 Air will have the same RAM as the "Pro" models, the inclusion of the A19 "Pro" chip would bring the device's performance much closer to the high-end models.

Kuo has also previously claimed that the standard iPhone 17 Air will be powered by last year's A18 chip, which would make the A19 chip on the iPhone 17 Air a significant differentiator.

Kuo never mentioned that the iPhone Air would get a Pro chip, but we're getting closer to the launch date, and the company's decisions should be announced soon.

Jeff Pu also claims that the standard iPhone 17 will be equipped with the A18 chip, which adds credibility to the news, but users should be cautious. Apple will announce the iPhone 17 lineup in September, and we will report on the details of the event.