IPhone 17 Could Come With A Thermal Design Upgrade

Apple’s iPhones have somewhat decent heat management. There have been reports of the iPhone 15 running exceptionally hot, but nothing overly concerning. Apple solved that problem with the iPhone 16 series, but a new report from MyDrivers claims that the company could introduce a new thermal design upgrade with the iPhone 17.

Improved thermals

Apple changed the heat management system of the iPhone 16 over its predecessor. The company adopted a new aluminum thermal substructure and combined that with a graphene sheet and back glass. This solved the heating issues with the iPhone 15. However, reports claim that the iPhone 16 series still struggles under more intense loads.

The company could have solved the problem. According to the report, Apple will adopt an improved thermal heat spreader using vapor chamber technology. This is said to resolve the issue, which in turn will allow the iPhone 17 series to have better-sustained performance.

Heat is the enemy when it comes to battery life and performance. If a device runs too hot, its performance suffers. This can be felt in apps like games, where a phone that is too hot will cause the game to stutter and lose framerates. Heat can also negatively impact battery longevity; the hotter a device stays, the more its batteries degrade.

Borrowing from Android

If the vapor chamber technology sounds familiar, it is because it is not new tech per se. Many Android OEMs have adopted a vapor chamber design for their phones. This includes high-end flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

In the past, similar to laptops, most smartphones use some heatsink technology to help dissipate the heat from the device. This involves spreading the heat across a conductive surface, like copper sheets, allow the heat to spread out and dissipate instead of staying in a single spot.

Vapor chamber technology is different. You could almost think of it being the equivalent of liquid cooling you might find in gaming PCs. A vapor chamber consists of an enclosure made from conductive material and contains a small amount of fluid. When the fluid heats up, it evaporates and transforms into vapor.

The vapor then travels throughout the chamber and moves away from the source. Eventually, once it cools down enough, it condenses and turns back into liquid. The process then repeats as many times as necessary to keep the device cool. The downside is that the tech is more expensive to produce compared to traditional cooling.

This means the iPhone 17 could be priced higher thanks to its new thermal upgrade.