Apple didn’t rename the Pro Max model to “Ultra” as some rumors suggested, but it did significantly rework the design and it upgraded a lot of the hardware too. And a lot of that is new materials.
The company introduced its first stainless steel phone, the iPhone 4, way back in 2010, but switched to aluminum with the iPhone 5. These past couple of years, Cupertino experimented with titanium to try and fight the steadily increasing weight of the Pro and especially Pro Max models. The experiments are over and this year Apple is using aluminum for all models but the Air.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max is the third-heaviest Pro Max yet
The Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max is not the heaviest Pro Max ever, but it is in third place with a weight of 233g. The 13 Pro Max and 14 Pro Max are tied for the title of “heaviest” at 240g. Of course, those used stainless steel, which is a lot heavier than aluminum. However, they also had smaller 6.7” displays compared to the 6.9” panel on the latest models.
This display now uses tougher Ceramic Shield (3x harder to scratch and 4x harder to crack, says Apple). Additionally, it has an anti-reflective coating, which combines with the higher peak brightness (3,000 nits, up from 2,000 nits) for noticeably improved legibility, if the sun happens to be blazing down.
The 6.9” 120Hz LTPO display is brighter and features an anti-reflective coating
Part of the weight is attributed to the bigger battery too. This year there are two versions – models with a physical nano-SIM slot have a 4,832mAh battery, while eSIM-only models have the biggest battery on an iPhone ever at 5,088mAh. Compared to the 16 Pro Max, this is an increase of 147mAh and 403mAh, respectively. That’s a significant difference, but unfortunately, you don’t get a choice – different regions get one model or the other.
While we’re on the topic of battery, Apple increased the wired charging speeds this year and it launched a new charger that uses the AVS protocol. Very few chargers support this protocol and we’re yet to get a clear answer whether you need an AVS charger or whether a PPS charger can fill the battery just as fast. This is something that we will be testing soon.
No, there’s no charger included in the retail package
According to Apple, the new aluminum unibody has been designed to leave more room for the battery. It also helps that the phone is physically larger by fractions of a millimeter in all three dimensions compared to the previous Pro Max, of course.
Cupertino is taking heat dissipation more seriously this year and the choice of aluminum is part of that – it conducts heat much better than titanium. To help things even further, Apple introduced a vapor chamber above the A19 Pro chipset. Internal testing from Apple shows a 40% increase in sustained performance. We will be doing our own tests soon to see if the new Pro Max lives up to these promises.
The Cosmic Orange might prove to be the most popular Pro color this year
After upgrading the ultra-wide camera last year, this year the company focused on the telephoto module. The 2025 Pro models have three 48MP cameras with a tetraprism design for the telephoto lens. It has a slightly shorter focal length (4x/100mm, compared to 5x/120mm on the 16 Pro Max), but it has longer reach with 8x/200mm lossless zoom thanks to the larger, higher resolution sensor.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max has three 48MP cameras on its back
Whether the new camera module made it necessary or whether designers got the last word is unclear – either way, the new full-width camera island has people talking. Do you like it? We were hoping that at least it would keep the iPhone from wobbling when you put it on a table, but each lens has an additional raised ring around it so the wobble is still here.
Alright, it’s time to start the tests – new screen, new chipset, new battery, new cameras, there are a lot of things to try out and compare with last year’s Pro Max and with Android’s latest and greatest. Stay tuned for our findings.
Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max
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