iPhone 17 Pro could finally gain this performance upgrade that Android phones have had for years

We may see the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max introduce Apple's first-ever vapor chamber cooling system for an iPhone later this year, which could make a big difference to the phones' performance.

This is according to new claims published by MajinBu, who published an alleged image of several of these vapor chambers printed on a single sheet of copper.

A smartphone vapor chamber is a metal pocket filled with drops of liquid that evaporate and condense to move heat away from the hottest components to keep performance consistent under load. On current iPhones, graphene and metal sheets do this job, which are smaller and simpler than a vapor chamber, but less effectively.

MajinBu claims that this upgrade was necessary because the A19 Pro chip that Apple is believed to be using in the next-gen Pro iPhones runs hotter than previous A-series chips. This is also the reason why the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Air, which will supposedly use a less powerful A19 chip, will not enjoy the same cooling tech upgrade.

Apple plays catch-up

Vapor chamber cooling has been a rumored upgrade for iPhones for years at this point, but one that's remained absent. Meanwhile, many rival Android phones have added this technology in recent years. Models like the Samsung Galaxy S25 series, OnePlus 13 and Google Pixel 9 Pro all utilise vapor chambers.

Considering the progress of its rivals, plus a critical mass of rumors, it is looking quite likely that Apple is going to add vapor chambers to at least the iPhone 17 series' Pro models. Hopefully this will help the new iPhones not only be some of the best phones of the year outright, but also some of the best performing when it comes to games or demanding apps.

You can read more about what we've heard so far for the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, and also the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Air, in our rumor hubs. As for official details, we're likely only going to get a low-down from Apple when the phones launch, which should happen as usual in early September.

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