As a result of images is necessary to me, I’ve at all times picked the iPhone Professional with its telephoto digital camera over the common iPhone fashions. However annually I am pulled in two instructions: Choose the standard-sized iPhone Professional or the bigger iPhone Professional Max? Some years the latter consists of photograph options not discovered on the common iPhone Professional, such because the 5x zoom that was unique to the iPhone 15 Professional Max. And as we strategy the reveal of the next iPhone 17 lineup, I am as soon as once more waffling between sizes. And primarily based on I am listening to, this is likely to be the yr to go to the Max. (And this additionally reinforces that now is not the time to purchase a brand new iPhone.)
This is a rundown of a number of the options rumored for the iPhone 17 Professional Max that I am most interested in.
Making the case to go bigger
The iPhone Professional Max fashions are tanks in comparison with the remainder of the road — properly, they are not on the toughness stage of the Samsung Galaxy XCover 7 Pro, so perhaps they’re extra like strong midsize SUVs. However they’re notable for his or her bigger screens, greater our bodies and particularly for having room for extra of the whole lot in an iPhone.
And that features a bigger battery. The Max fashions have already got extra battery area than different fashions, however the iPhone 17 Professional Max may find yourself being virtually half a millimeter thicker, at 8.725mm, based on a May post by 9to5Mac. Has anybody ever requested for a extra cumbersome iPhone? Really, yes, yes and yes.
The iPhone 17 Professional Max may get thicker.
Add the brand new Adaptive Power characteristic in iOS 26, which makes use of AI to distribute energy extra effectively when demand is excessive, and we may see a lift in each day use earlier than reaching for a charger. (Then once more, Adaptive Energy may very well be a software program workaround that might imply longer life utilizing the identical bodily battery dimension.)
In the event you’re already dedicated to carrying a bigger iPhone, a tad extra thickness and heft is not an excessive amount of extra to shoulder.
The again of the iPhone 17 Professional case can be rumored to shift the Apple logo down from its present perch. That does not appear to be a giant practical change, nevertheless it ought to assist soothe of us who select so as to add a transparent MagSafe case, for the reason that brand might be centered inside the MagSafe space. You’ll be able to’t say Apple does not sweat the design particulars.
A leak on X from Majin Bu purports to point out an iPhone 17 Professional case, although it isn’t clear whether or not that is one thing assembled by hand to match rumored specs or is a few iPhone knockoff.
iPhone 17 Professional appears so good pic.twitter.com/P7aFwR5FML
— Majin Bu (@MajinBuOfficial) July 10, 2025
Convey on all of the digital camera upgrades
We won’t speak concerning the case with out mentioning the digital camera bump, which may turn out to be a extra expansive digital camera island (or perhaps on the bigger iPhone 17 Professional Max, it is going to be extra like a digital camera continent) that stretches throughout the width of the iPhone again, based on CAD renders by Majin Bu. We even obtained a glimpse of a potential take a look at iPhone 17 Professional within the wild when somebody snapped a picture of what appears to be an Apple worker utilizing a telephone with a design that matches many rumors (through Cunning Pupy on X).
That expanse could embody an upgraded 48-megapixel telephoto camera, which feels overdue for a top-tier camera system. Granted, it is going to in all probability take further steps to seize pictures within the full 48-megapixel decision, as is the case with the present essential Fusion digital camera within the iPhone 16 Professional fashions, the place photographs are “pixel-binned” with a number of pixels grouped collectively to boost gentle gathering capability. However given the good outcomes we have seen from the 48-megapixel digital camera within the present fashions — the iPhone 16E leans closely on that decision utilizing its sole rear-facing digital camera — extending it to the telephoto digital camera would positively be a win for photographers.
Will the format and configuration of the cameras change from the iPhone 16 Professional proven right here within the new iPhone 17 Professional Max?
Talking of decision, a 24-megapixel front-facing digital camera is predicted, up from 12 megapixels, so maybe my selfies will look higher. Extra doubtless, it is to spice up the following rumored characteristic.
Verify Out the iPhone 16 Professional Max’s Cameras, Show and Colours
A movable digital camera lens
I am breaking out this digital camera rumor individually as a result of it could mark an enormous change within the iPhone digital camera system. Based on a post at MacRumors, the iPhone 17 Professional may have an 8x optical zoom. Not solely that, it is stated to have the ability to transfer, so maybe there may very well be a variety of zoom between 5x and 8x that’s all optical (versus counting on digital zoom to crop and enlarge the picture to suit the identical discipline of view). The 5x zoom within the present iPhone 15 Professional Max, iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Professional Max makes use of a “tetraprism” design to realize its telephoto vary whereas nonetheless maintaining the digital camera bump modest.
iPhone 16 Professional 5x telephoto digital camera
Video recording makes a leap
Cameras on each side will reportedly work along with twin video recording utilizing the built-in Digital camera app, a boon for conducting interviews or making response movies the place you need to see each side of a dialog. Third-party apps have been in a position to tap into this capability for some time, however have not been accessible as a default possibility.
Not as necessary for on a regular basis use, however attention-grabbing when it comes to advancing the state-of-the-art, the iPhone 17 Professional Max may help 8K video recording, as speculated by MacRumors after reviews that 8K was tested for the iPhone 16 Pro. The iPhone is swiftly turning right into a manufacturing video digital camera, from options akin to 28 Years Later to customized cameras constructed from iPhone tech in the F1 movie.
An improved cooling system
Recording video in 4K decision, a lot much less 8K, is a demanding, power-hungry process that results in warmth construct up. In already heat environments, it could actually even overheat the iPhone and quickly shut it down. So the prospect of a brand new inner cooling structure, whereas being invisible to iPhone homeowners, has me nerding out just a bit.
Based on Majin Bu and others, the iPhone 17 Professional fashions will characteristic a “vapor chamber” cooling system. Because the processor heats up, a small quantity of liquid within the chamber evaporates and condenses in cooler areas and is then handed again to the new areas.
Wi-Fi 7 and quick mobile through a brand new Apple modem
That is extra geeky and fewer apparent to on a regular basis telephone homeowners, however that is additionally sort of the purpose. The iPhone 16E shipped with Apple’s C1 mobile modem, Apple’s first homebrew mobile {hardware} it has been attempting to construct with a view to wean its dependence on Qualcomm, which has offered the modem {hardware} in earlier iPhone fashions.
Nonetheless, the C1 lacks a sooner millimeter wave mobile community and does not help Wi-Fi 7, regardless that it is extra conservative about energy utilization (and still performs well), an appropriate trade-off for the finances telephone in Apple’s lineup.
The C1 is Apple’s first mobile modem. We may see a extra succesful C2 chip within the iPhone 17 Professional fashions.
However for the iPhone 17 Professional Max, we’re speaking concerning the subsequent skilled fashions, and an iPhone Professional in 2025 cannot ship with out the newest, quickest wi-fi expertise. It will be extra sensible to see Apple persist with Qualcomm for the Professional line than embody the C1 — however I think a C2 is coming.
Based on MacRumors, the Wi-Fi 7 compatibility may very well be offered by a separate dedicated chip designed by Apple.
An orange iPhone 17 Professional Max
You do not have to be an ardent fan of the Netherlands nationwide soccer staff to understand the colour orange. Leaker Majin Bu posted renders of the new color lineup for iPhone 17 Professional fashions, and certainly one of them is gloriously ginger. Not solely is that this attention-grabbing as a result of orange is orange, however as a result of it could be a departure from Apple’s latest line of cool, muted colours for the professional lineup. (There are additionally rumors that the iPhone lineup will embody a brand new sky blue colour, about which I have opinions.) I do not cover my iPhone in a case, so with the ability to exhibit a daring colour appears like a enjoyable thought.
These aren’t the one iPhone 17 Pro rumors we’re monitoring, however proper now they’re those which have me taking a look at my calendar and wishing September may arrive just a bit sooner.
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