The latest rumor regarding the forthcoming iPhone 17e is that despite an improved processor, the only difference coming to the display when compared to the iPhone 16e is a Dynamic Island.
Having most recently claimed that there will be few visible changes to the iPhone 18 range, leaker Digital Chat Station is now saying the same about the iPhone 17e. Specifically, in a new leak on Chinese social media platform Weibo, he or she says that the iPhone 17e will keep the same screen as on the iPhone 16e.
That means that it will be a 6.1-inch OLED display running at 60Hz. Which further means that the iPhone 17e will not get ProMotion, so it won't have an always-on display.
What it will have, according to the leaker, is a Dynamic Island. While Apple introduced that disguised Face ID sensor section in 2022, the iPhone 16e retained the older notch design.
The addition of the Dynamic Island has been reported by multiple sources, and so has this leak's only other detail that the iPhone 17e will use Apple's A19 processor.
This is the processor used in the iPhone 17, and it did give a performance boost over the iPhone 16e. For instance, in Geekbench 6's Metal testing, the iPhone 17 scored 37,014, while the iPhone 16e managed 22,478.
That's a specific test result that may not match real-world performance. Especially since the lack of a ProMotion screen will make the iPhone 17e seem slower in regular use.
Note that Digital Chat Station has only a sporadically good track record for Apple leaks.
The new leak does not comment on the other aspect of the iPhone 16e that users want to see updated. Neither this leak nor any others so far have confirmed whether the iPhone 17e will gain MagSafe.
Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 17e shortly, perhaps as soon as February 2026.
