Updated April 3
• The iPhone 17 Pro Max is tipped to get a 48MP telephoto lens, but it could feature a shorter zoom than the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
• There's some chatter about the iPhone 17 Ultra replacing the iPhone 17 Pro Max in this year's lineup.
• The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max won't get Apple's new C1 modem, unlike the iPhone 17 Air.
• Vapor chamber cooling could be added to the iPhone 17 Pro Max to make its performance more stable
The iPhone 17 Pro Max is coming later this year, and it's got a big task ahead of it. With the iPhone 16 Pro Max ranking as one of the best phones you can buy right now, Apple needs to find ways to make its successor stand out from the crowd.
We're expecting a new processor for this year's iPhones, and the Pro models could be in line to get significant camera upgrades. Early iPhone 17 Pro Max rumors also tip the first major iPhone redesign since 2019’s iPhone 11 with upgrades to the phone’s display and durability.
With several months still to go before an iPhone 17 lineup debut, there's still plenty of time for more rumors about Apple's phones to emerge. In the case of the iPhone 17 Pro Max, here's what we've heard so far.
iPhone 17 Pro Max: Price and release date prediction
Price may be a touchy subject for the iPhone 17 Pro Max, with one analyst predicting that the entire iPhone 17 lineup could become more expensive after the iPhone 16 reportedly avoided a price hike by the skin of its teeth.
While other iPhone models haven’t had any significant price hikes for years, the Pro Max model has. Apple scrapped the 128GB iPhone 15 Pro Max, instead opting for 256GB of base storage. While the 256GB 15 Pro Max was the same price as the 256GB iPhone 14 Pro Max, it still meant the price of entry was $100 more that year — a trend that Apple continued with the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
While we don’t know whether a price hike will happen or if it will affect the iPhone 17 Pro Max, we shouldn’t be surprised if the phone does cost more than the $1,199 iPhone 16 Pro Max price tag.
While we don’t know exactly when Apple will release the iPhone 17 Pro Max, it usually sticks to the same release schedule yearly. Typically, Apple unveils new iPhones in the first or second week of September, with pre-orders opening later that week. Release day usually follows a week later.
iPhone 17 Pro Max: Design & Display
We’re not expecting any major changes with the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s display, but that’s not to say we may not see some things change with the next generation. One rumor claims that the phone could come with a narrower Dynamic Island, thanks to the inclusion of new, slimmer components. Leaker Digital Chat Station specifically calls out a smaller Dynamic Island for the iPhone 17 Pro Max with the help of a "metalens" design for Face ID.
It’s also been claimed that we will see a new “Low-Dialectric TEE display” that promises better performance, energy efficiency and screen durability. Leaker Instant Digital has also claimed that the iPhone 17 series display panel will be made with “a super-hard anti-reflective layer” that will make it “more scratch-resistant than you think.” However, whether this means you can skip the screen protector isn’t clear right now.
As for the design of the iPhone 17 Pro Max, things are a little unclear. Rumors suggest that Apple may be redesigning the back of the phone this year, with one set of renders suggesting that we may see a two-tone design similar to the one found on Google’s Pixel 9.
Another set of renders from noted Apple leaker Sonny Dickson shows off a similar layout, as do alleged CAD files also posted by Dickson. In these renders, the iPhone 17 Pro Max retains the same triangular camera arrangement as before but shoves the LED flash, microphone, and LiDAR scanner off to the opposite side.
That basic design seems to have been corroborated by additional renders from MajinBu, ad if believed it could be the start of the most diverse iPhone design line-up so far.
It’s also speculated that the camera module could shift from the left-hand side of the phone and into the middle due to this change, or at least span the whole width of the phone. There are a lot of disagreements among leakers as to which precise set of renders are accurate.
There’s also been some disagreement among leakers as to whether the iPhone 17 Pro Max will have a titanium frame this year. But last we heard, it was still happening — which makes sense. It would be weird for Apple to make such a big fuss about titanium only to scrap it two years later.
iPhone 17 Pro Max: Performance
Apple’s A-series chips are among the best mobile chips around, and each generation has offered significantly improved performance than its predecessor. We expect that trend to continue with the A19 Pro chipset, which should debut on iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max later in the year.
While there had been rumors that Apple could upgrade to a 2nm process, which would make the A19 Pro even smaller than the 3nm A18 Pro, that change apparently won’t happen until the launch of the iPhone 18 at the earliest.
This means we’ll be seeing 3nm chips until at least 2026, possibly longer, depending on how development goes. Instead, A19 series chips are now expected to be made using an upgraded version of TSMC’s 3nm process.
This should offer improvements to performance and energy efficiency compared to the A18 series, but not to the same extent as adopting a 2nm process would. However, any boost to energy efficiency should mean an even better battery than we’ve already experienced on the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
The higher performance could mean a hotter-running chip, but fortunately it seems Apple's thought of that. A vapor chamber cooling system, which uses liquid inside a copper "pipe" to move heat away from a device's most important components, could be added to the iPhone 17 Pro models, hopefully solving the problem.
Finally, Jeff Pu and Ming-Chi Kuo both believe that Apple could include 12GB of RAM in the iPhone 17 Pro Max. That’s a 50% upgrade compared to the iPhone 16 series and would likely be so that Apple can offer even more on-device AI in future incarnations of Apple Intelligence.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max apparently won't get the C1 modem that Apple launched with the iPhone 16e. Only the iPhone 17 Air is supposed to add that component. But the Wi-Fi chip on the iPhone 17 Pro Max supposedly will be a new model built by Apple — a first for the iPhone's connectivity.
iPhone 17 Pro Max: Cameras
Those of you tired of Apple skimping on the camera resolution will be very happy with iPhone 17 Pro Max rumors so far. According to one leaker, Apple may up the resolution of the telephoto lens to 48MP in 2025 — meaning we could see a trio of 48MP lenses on the phone for the first time.
There could be some bad news, though. One leaker agrees that the telephoto lens will feature a 48MP sensor, but that the iPhone 17 Max's camera would only support a 3.5x optical zoom. That's a downgrade from the 5x zoom delivered by the telephoto lens on the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
The front camera may also be set to get a similar upgrade, although the resolution may top out at 24MP, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The Information claims that we may see the first variable aperture lens on an iPhone. But it’s unclear how much control users will have over the aperture and the resulting depth of field.
Rumors also speculate that Apple could ditch the square camera module found on iPhones since the release of the iPhone 11. As discussed in the section on the iPhone 17 Pro Max's design, this may lead to Apple adding a horizontal camera bar similar to the Pixel 9 Pro.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has also claimed that Apple could specifically court videographers and content creators with iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max. While he didn't specify what kind of upgrades to expect, we will likely see a mix of hardware and software upgrades coming with this year's Pro-tier iPhones.
iPhone 17 Pro Max: Battery & Charging
We haven’t heard much about the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s battery right now, but if the chips’ rumored efficiency increases prove to be true, then we should see the battery life last even longer. Considering the iPhone 16 Pro Max lasted more than 17 hours in our testing, that would be a pretty spectacular sight to behold.
We’ve also heard rumors that Apple could make iPhone 17 batteries easier to remove, thanks to a new kind of glue. It’s likely that this is the same "ionic liquid battery adhesive” used on iPhone 17, which allows repair technicians to remove the battery with a few volts of electricity. That makes it a lot easier to remove than older adhesive strips, which were awkward and often required solvents to fully remove.
Rumor has it that Apple may be building its own batteries, intending to debut them on iPhone 17s. While we don’t know many specifics about this work, it’s said that Apple wants to offer “significantly improved performance compared to the existing one.” Which you’d expect because the last thing we want is for battery life to get worse. But it’s still a good thing if Apple can pull it off.
In addition to new or Apple-made batteries, a rumor claims that Apple might bring reverse charging to the Pro models of the iPhone 17. Reverse charging lets your phone charge other devices, usually headphones like the AirPods 4. The new feature would potentially offer 7.5 charging, though it's unclear if Apple would try to match the already existing version on Samsung's Galaxy series.
iPhone 17 Pro Max: Software
It's a safe bet that iOS 19 will appear around the same time as the iPhone 17 launch. This year's software update is said to be focusing heavily on a new look for iOS — the first significant interface overhaul in a dozen years.
We'll find out more at WWDC 2025. Apple says its developer conference kicks off on June 9. which is when we'd be likely to get an iOS 19 preview.
iPhone 17 Pro Max: Outlook
It’s still fairly early in the iPhone 17 Pro Max rumor cycle, so there’s a heck of a lot we still don’t know about the phone. That said, what we’ve heard so far is very intriguing. Upping the resolution of the telephoto lens would seem like a positive, though that rumor about a shorter optical zoom has us worried. The ability to more easily remove batteries would prove to be invaluable should you ever need to take advantage of it.
I’m unsure about the possible design changes, and I’d be surprised if Apple ditched the recognizable square-shaped camera setup. However, I like the Pixel design, and it would be interesting to see how Apple can continue making its phones stand out. Especially with so many leakers claiming that the new look will be happening.
Several months remain before the iPhone 17 series is set to arrive, though, so things may change between now and then. We’ll have to be patient and see what future leaks and rumors have in store.
