The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max Are Here, With New Chips and a More Powerful Zoom
Apple launched the iPhone 17 Pro and the 17 Pro Max at its "Awe-dropping" event today. These were the last two phones to be revealed during the presentation, and the biggest changes are to the cameras and battery life. Apple said the iPhone 17 Pro Max has the best battery life ever on an iPhone, and that both models have 48-megapixel sensors for all three rear cameras, which is also a big boost. Other than this, the iPhone 17 Pro series features improved vapor chamber heat dissipation, which allows it to offer sustained high performance for longer periods using the new A19 Pro chip, Apple said. Here's everything that's new in the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max.
iPhone 17 Pro body and display
The back of the iPhone 17 Pro series no longer uses glass, and has instead opted for a "Ceramic Shield." Compared to glass, the Ceramic Shield offers four times more resistance to cracks, at least according to Apple. The iPhone 17 Pro's display gets a Ceramic Shield 2 front cover, as well, which Apple said is three times more resistant to scratches compared to its predecessor.
Both iPhone 17 Pro models feature the Super Retina XDR display, in 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch sizes, respectively. With this, you get ProMotion up to 120Hz, Always-On Display support, and better anti-reflection to reduce glare. It also has 3,000 nits of peak outdoor brightness, which should make it easier to see what's on your iPhone 17 Pro's screen when you're in a place with bright sunlight.
Apple claims the iPhone 17 Pro series features a new aluminum unibody design, which delivers the "best-ever thermal performance in an iPhone." As someone who lives in a hot and humid city (Mumbai, India), this part of the announcement caught my eye. Apple also says it has integrated the antennas around the perimeter for better performance, which means that the iPhone 17 Pro should expend less energy looking for a cellphone signal. Finally for cooling, there's a vapor chamber in these models to improve heat dissipation. With these improvements, Apple's promised that the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max can deliver sustained high performance while still being comfortable to hold.
iPhone 17 Pro's new A19 Pro chip
The iPhone 17 Pro series ships with the new A19 Pro chip, which has improved thermal performance. This should have a positive impact on battery life, and it appears that the company has used every available bit of space to let you use the iPhone 17 Pro for longer without charging. Moving the cameras to the protruding camera bar (which Apple calls a "plateau") has freed up some space for the battery, and Apple even said that in the eSIM-only models of this phone, you'll get an additional two hours of extra battery life thanks to an even larger battery. Both iPhone 17 Pro models charge from zero to 50 percent in 20 minutes, the company claims.
As for power, the A19 Pro chip has a six-core CPU and a six-core GPU. Apple's also built neural accelerators into each GPU core, and it claims that the GPU works with the new 16-core neural engine to power AI models and deliver better graphics while gaming. The real advancement is in doing this without overheating, which is what Apple seems to be promising. The iPhone 17 Pro line also features a new N1 chip for wireless networking, which enables support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, which is good to have as accessories start to capitalize on these new connectivity protocols. Apple says the N1 chip also improves the reliability of AirDrop and your iPhone's hotspot feature.
iPhone 17 Pro cameras
Let's start with the front camera first. There's an improved 18-megapixel sensor in the front camera, which Apple calls the Center Stage camera. It's named this way because it supports different aspect ratios, which means that you no longer have to rotate your iPhone to take landscape selfies. Apple also says the iPhone 17 Pro uses AI to automatically expand the field of view for group selfies, which may reduce the need for the person with the longest arms to take those photos now. On the video front, the Center Stage camera can capture ultra-stabilized video in 4K HDR, and it allows you to record using the front and rear cameras simultaneously in a new mode called Dual Capture.
The iPhone 17 Pro and the 17 Pro Max have three rear cameras with 48-megapixel sensors. The upgraded one is the 48-megapixel telephoto lens, which now supports up to an 8x optical zoom, which is far more than the 5x that shipped with the iPhone 16 Pro. This will provide clearer photos of objects at a distance, such as birds or other animals that don't always come near you. There's up to a 40x digital zoom as well, which is nice to have in a pinch, but will start to crunch your resolution beyond a certain point. The other two cameras are the main camera and an ultrawide lens. This basically means that the iPhone 17 Pro can shoot from macro and 0.5x ultrawide to 8x, which is an impressive range.
These phones have also upgraded their video recording capabilities, with support for ProRes RAW capture. This format is supported by the Final Cut Camera and Blackmagic Camera apps at the moment. The iPhone 17 Pro series also supports genlock, which lets you precisely sync videos across multiple cameras and inputs. Professional videographers use genlock to avoid wasting time manually aligning footage from different sources. Apple says Genlock is supported by the new Blackmagic Design Camera ProDock accessory, which is sold separately.
iPhone 17 Pro price and availability
The iPhone 17 Pro series is available in three colors: deep blue, cosmic orange, and silver. Here's the pricing for all iPhone 17 Pro models:
iPhone 17 Pro 256GB: $1,099
iPhone 17 Pro 512GB: $1,299
iPhone 17 Pro 1TB: $1,499
iPhone 17 Pro Max 256GB: $1,199
iPhone 17 Pro Max 512GB: $1,399
iPhone 17 Pro Max 1TB: $1,599
iPhone 17 Pro Max 2TB: $1,999
You can pre-order the iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone 17 Pro Max starting Friday, September 12. Both phones will be available a week later, on September 19. While other regions will get a model with eSIM and a physical SIM card slot (or only physical SIM in the case of China), the eSIM-only models of iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max will be available in the following regions:
Bahrain
Canada
Guam
Japan
Kuwait
Mexico
Oman
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
UAE
United States
U.S. Virgin Islands
iPhone 17 Pro accessories
Apple has also launched a bunch of accessories for the iPhone 17 Pro series, which includes a new "TechWoven" case. This is the successor to the much-maligned FineWoven case, which has already been discontinued. Apple says TechWoven is more resistant to scratches and stains, but I'll wait for reviews before I believe these claims. The TechWoven case with MagSafe will cost $59.
The company also launched clear cases ($49), silicone cases with MagSafe ($49), and a Crossbody strap ($59) to let you wear your iPhone around your neck. The strap is compatible with the TechWoven cases.
Separately, Apple has also promised a 40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max for $39, and a 25W Qi2 certified MagSafe charger for $39 (1-meter length) and $49 (2 meters).
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