Let's be honest: the thermal performance of the new iPhone 17 Pro Max has been a revelation. We’ve already witnessed it effortlessly running demanding titles like Assassin's Creed Mirage and the Resident Evil 4 remake at a smooth 60 frames per second, a feat previously reserved for high-end consoles and gaming PCs. Powering through these games and intense GPU benchmarks like 3DMark Solar Bay, the new A19 Pro chip inside the iPhone 17 Pro Max demonstrates a level of sustained performance that genuinely sets it apart from the iPhone 16 series, all without a fan in sight.
But for one enterprising tech enthusiast, "good enough" is never the goal. Pushing the boundaries of what's possible, a Reddit user has engineered a bizarre, brilliant, and frankly over-the-top cooling solution that transforms the sleek smartphone into a performance beast, achieving a remarkable 90% stability score in the grueling 3DMark Steel Nomad stress test.
The Reddit Experiment: When an iPhone Meets Desktop SSD Coolers
The project, spearheaded by Reddit user u/T-K-Tronix, started with a simple premise: what if the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s passive cooling just isn't enough? The result is a Frankenstein's monster of thermal efficiency, documented in a now-viral post titled, "17 Pro Max Cooling with M2 SSD Cooler 90% Stability in 3D Mark Stress Test."
The photos tell the story. Strapped to the back of the iPhone 17 Pro Max are an array of desktop-grade heatsinks and heat pipe coolers, the kind you'd typically find on a high-performance M.2 SSD. Using thermal paste to ensure optimal heat transfer, these copper and aluminum contraptions act as massive external heat spreaders, wicking warmth away from the phone's internal frame far more aggressively than Apple's built-in system ever could.
The outcome? During sustained heavy loads, such as the 3DMark Steel Nomad Stress Test—which pushes the GPU to its limits repeatedly to check for performance drops—this modified iPhone maintained a stability rating of nearly 90%. To put that in perspective, my own Lenovo LOQ gaming laptop, powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060, scores around 98% in the same test. For a smartphone to get this close to a dedicated gaming machine in terms of thermal stability is nothing short of astounding.
How It Works: A Lesson in DIY Thermodynamics
So, how does this jumble of parts actually work? As understood from the Reddit discussion, the iPhone's metal chassis is designed to act as a primary heat spreader. u/T-K-Tronix's mod takes direct advantage of this.
By attaching multiple high-surface-area coolers with thermal interface material, the setup creates a super-efficient path for heat to escape. Some of the coolers used even incorporate small, powered fans, turning the passive system into a semi-active one. This effectively "resets" the phone's thermal headroom much faster, allowing the A19 Pro chip to maintain peak clock speeds for longer periods without succumbing to thermal throttling. The result is higher, more stable frame rates in games and dramatically improved benchmark scores.
The experiment has sparked a fascinating technical discussion within the community. One user, u/DrTurb0, pointed out a potential limitation, commenting, “You need 3 times more of the coolers and plaster them on the whole screen. The vapor chamber is under the screen and the screen gets quite warm and with more coolers you can wick heat away from the display!”
Others, however, were more focused on the sheer absurdity and charm of the project.
The Community Reacts: Humor and Ambition
The reaction to this unique iPhone cooling mod has been as creative as the project itself, blending technical insight with plenty of humor.
One user, u/shyamg94, joked about the mod's added bulk, noting, “This is nearly as thin as the Air.” The original poster, u/T-K-Tronix, fired back with perfect comedic timing: “It is the True Air Version because of the Fans.”
The ambition didn't stop there. u/DarthBories quipped, “I'm slapping a water block on my Air and gonna see if I can get Pro numbers!” showcasing the contagious spirit of DIY experimentation. u/T-K-Tronix’s response? A simple, “Next in the list,” leaving everyone wondering if a water-cooled iPhone is truly on the horizon.
Another user, u/infernion, highlighted an interesting nuance, stating, “Battery cooling is complete, but CPU cooling was missed.” This touches on a key point of the iPhone 17 Pro Max's internal layout, where the logic board housing the A19 Pro is situated higher up, near the camera array, making direct cooling a complex challenge.
You can dive into the entire, hilarious, and technically rich conversation for yourself in the original Reddit thread, which is embedded below.
Click here to see the original Reddit discussion and photos of the modded iPhone 17 Pro Max.
The Verdict: A Proof of Concept That Pushes Limits
Is this a practical everyday solution? Absolutely not. The mod is bulky, unwieldy, and completely defeats the pocketable design of the iPhone. But as a proof of concept, it's a resounding success. It clearly demonstrates that with more aggressive cooling, the A19 Pro chip inside the iPhone 17 Pro Max has significant untapped headroom for sustained performance.
It raises a fascinating question for the future: as mobile chips continue to rival desktop-class performance, will manufacturers like Apple eventually integrate more advanced, perhaps even active, cooling solutions into their pro devices? For now, we can marvel at the ingenuity of modders like u/T-K-Tronix, who aren't afraid to bolt a few SSD coolers to a $1,200 phone in the relentless pursuit of performance.
Want to see the mod in action? Check out this video coverage of the project on YouTube for a closer look at the build process and benchmark results.
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