Apple‘s upcoming iPhone 17 Pro may get a much-needed upgrade in the cooling department. According to recent leaks, Apple is planning to add a vapor chamber cooling system, a thermal solution that all Android flagships and even most mid-range phones have been using for years to help handle the increasing demands of gaming, artificial intelligence, and similar resource-intensive tasks.
This type of thermal solution utilizes liquid evaporation and condensation to quickly remove heat from key components to the case. This is significantly more efficient than the copper heat spreaders and graphite sheets in today’s iPhones.
This change can make a big difference. For example, in the iPhone 16 Pro, GPU performance reportedly dropped by up to 40% during prolonged workloads. The iPhone 17 Pro is expected to feature the new A19 Pro chip, so a better cooling system is not just welcome, it’s essential.
Don’t expect VC cooling in other iPhone 17 models
The vapor chamber is also said to extend to the memory, modem, and even the rear camera module. This can help reduce heat-related issues when recording long 4K/8K videos or performing AI-based tasks on the device. Since iOS 19 is likely to rely heavily on the AI features on the device, especially Siri, chip cooling will be key to maintaining smooth and stable performance. Unfortunately, the non-Pro iPhone 17 models will continue to rely on copper heat spreaders and graphite sheets.
If these leaks are confirmed, the iPhone 17 Pro could finally offer the much-needed thermal margin that Android devices have had for years. We’ll know more when Apple unveils the device, which is expected around September 2025.
