A freshly leaked photograph of a copper thermal plate has reignited rumors that Apple will introduce a vapor-chamber cooling system with the iPhone 17 Pro, expected in September. The image, posted by reliable tipster Majin Bu, shows the perforated heat spreader allegedly headed for mass production.
According to Bu’s supply-chain contacts, the plate forms the base of a sealed vapor chamber that will replace, or at least augment, the graphite sheets Apple has relied on since the iPhone X. In a vapor chamber, liquid wicks across a microscopic lattice, evaporates when the chipset heats up, condenses on a cooler edge, and cycles back again. The closed loop can move heat an order of magnitude faster than solid copper, supporting higher sustained clock speeds during prolonged workloads.
Apple needs every degree of thermal headroom it can find. The upcoming A19 Pro silicon is rumored to pack a 10-core GPU and an expanded neural engine tuned for the on-device generative-AI features that headline iOS 26’s “Apple Intelligence.” Running those models continuously can swamp today’s graphite solution and throttle performance during marathon gaming sessions or 4K/60 video capture.
Exclusive preview: The new vapor chamber system of the iPhone 17 Pro! Based on an internal source, we analyze how Apple manages the heat of the A19 Pro chip with an innovative design that also involves the camera module.
— Majin Bu (@MajinBuOfficial) June 22, 2025
Full Article: https://t.co/PHG3lu8Nsd pic.twitter.com/RB7yHMYR8J
While most iPhones run comfortably day-to-day, the company was stung by a wave of overheating complaints last year when the titanium-framed iPhone 15 Pro shipped with the hot-running A17 Pro chip. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo blamed “compromises in the thermal design,” and Apple ultimately issued iOS 17.0.3 to dial back background activity and cool things down, an episode that put fresh pressure on Cupertino to rethink its hardware-level cooling.
Bu also claims Apple is experimenting with a lighter aluminum-alloy chassis that can double as a passive heatsink, channeling heat away from the logic board toward the frame and camera island. If implemented, the tweak would mark the first wholesale redesign of the iPhone’s thermal architecture in eight years.
Rivals such as Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra and ASUS’s ROG Phone already rely on vapor chambers, so Apple’s switch would close a spec-sheet gap while giving developers more breathing room for console-class games and AI inference.
Component choices are typically locked by early July, suggesting the vapor chamber will survive the engineering-validation phase now underway in China. Barring last-minute setbacks, the new system should debut when the iPhone 17 lineup is unveiled at Apple’s customary September keynote, promising cooler hands and faster frame rates for the company’s most demanding users.