An image shared by leaker Majin Bu offers what may be the clearest look yet at Apple’s rumored solution to a growing challenge in high-performance smartphones: heat dissipation. Here’s what it looks like.
According to Bu’s sources, Apple is preparing to bring a vapor chamber to the iPhone 17 Pro lineup, a technology already common in gaming laptops and high-end Android flagships.
Contrary to the graphite sheet cooling technology used in iPhones today, which spreads heat across a surface, a vapor chamber works through phase change: liquid inside the sealed metal plate evaporates when hot, moves to a cooler area, condenses, and then cycles back again.
While this makes for faster and more even heat distribution, it is worth noting that past rumors and leaks accounted for the fact that Apple might use a vapor chamber in addition to its graphite cooling sheet, so this is not an either/or situation.
What does it look like?
Thanks to what Bu says is a pre-production image, we can have an idea of what the component might look like.
The photo shows what appears to be the base plate for the vapor chamber system, with intricate micro-perforated copper patterns typical of VC manufacturing.
Bu claims that the need for this system stems from a combination of factors:
“The need for this system becomes especially clear when considering the new A19 Pro chip, which is expected to generate substantial heat not only from gaming or GPU-intensive tasks, but also from on-device execution of generative AI models. These workloads are highly demanding and require sustained thermal performance over time.”
In addition to the new cooling system, Apple is reportedly exploring lighter chassis materials, possibly aluminum, to help with heat dissipation from the frame.
Do you think Apple will make the jump to vapor chambers this year? Does your iPhone still run hotter than you’d like? Let us know in the comments.
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