Both iPhone 17 Pro Models Rumored to Feature Three 48MP Cameras

Both the iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature an upgraded 48-megapixel Tetraprism camera, making them the first iPhone models to have a rear camera system entirely made up of 48-megapixel lenses, claims a new rumor out of China.

iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Horizontal Single Feature
According to the Weibo account Digital Chat Station, the iPhone 17 Pro camera specs will include a 1/1.3" 48MP Fusion lens, a 48MP Ultra Wide lens, and a new upgraded 48MP Tetraprism telephoto lens (up from 12MP on the iPhone 16 Pro models). Both the main and telephoto cameras are said to be hybrid glass-plastic lenses. Meanwhile on the front, both Pro models will feature a 24MP front camera, said the leaker.

The claim lines up with a prediction made by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In a June 2024 report, Kuo said the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature an upgraded 48MP Tetraprism camera for enhanced photo quality and zoom functionality. Kuo said he was uncertain whether only the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the upgraded Tetraprism camera, but today's rumor indicates that both Pro models will get the upgrade. The new camera requires all-new designed prisms, which must have a shorter form factor to reduce the camera's height, according to Kuo.

Today's rumor also corroborates Apple analyst Jeff Pu's claim in August that all four iPhone 17 models will feature an upgraded 24-megapixel front-facing camera. By comparison, all iPhone 16 models have a 12-megapixel front camera. Kuo also last year claimed that at least one iPhone 17 model would be equipped with a 24-megapixel front camera with a six-piece lens, so this upgrade has now been rumored by multiple sources, making it more likely. Kuo said these changes will "significantly improve the image quality" and low-light performance.

iPhone 17 models are expected to launch in September 2025. Apple is rumored to be introducing a new four-model lineup that drops the iPhone "Plus" model in favor of a slimmer device that we are provisionally calling "iPhone 17 Air," while the iPhone 17 Pro models are said to have a totally redesigned half-aluminum, half-glass back cover with a new rectangular camera module that could result in a smaller main camera sensor being used.

Related Roundups: iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro
Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iPhone Air

Report: 'Virtually No Demand' for iPhone Air

Wednesday October 22, 2025 3:22 am PDT by
Apple is "drastically" cutting production of the iPhone Air and shifting focus toward the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro models, Nikkei Asia reports. The business publication claims to have learned of a major cut to iPhone Air production motivated by weaker-than-expected consumer interest, nearly to "end of production levels." Despite early reports of the iPhone Air selling out within hours of...
ios 26 1 liquid glass opaque

iOS 26.1 Beta 4 Lets Users Control Liquid Glass Transparency with New Toggle

Monday October 20, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
With the fourth betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS 26.1, Apple has introduced a new setting that's designed to allow users to customize the look of Liquid Glass. The toggle lets users select from a clear look for Liquid Glass, or a tinted look. Clear is the current Liquid Glass design, which is more transparent and shows the background underneath buttons, bars, and menus, while tinted ...
sam sung auction

Former Apple Employee Sam Sung Changed His Name to Avoid Attention

Wednesday October 22, 2025 4:44 pm PDT by
Back in 2012, an Apple retail employee named Sam Sung went viral because his name is similar to Samsung, one of Apple's main competitors. In a recent interview with Business Insider, he detailed that period in his life, how Apple responded, and he explained why he ultimately changed his name. Someone posted an image of Sung's Apple business card on Reddit in 2012, and it spread rapidly....
cadillac lyric infotainment

GM to Remove CarPlay from All Future Vehicles, Including Gas Cars

Wednesday October 22, 2025 11:34 am PDT by
General Motors began phasing out support for CarPlay in its electric vehicles back in 2023, leading to complaints from iPhone users, but the company has no plans to back down. In fact, GM is going further and plans to remove CarPlay from all future gas vehicles, too. In an interview with The Verge, GM CEO Mary Barra said that the company opted to prioritize its platform for EVs, but the...
All Screen iPhone 2027 Feature 1

Apple's Plan to Launch Three New iPhone Designs Allegedly Revealed

Wednesday October 22, 2025 6:24 am PDT by
Apple plans to launch a new type of iPhone every year for the foreseeable future, according to an Asia-based source. The detailed information was shared by the account "yeux1122" in a blog post on the Korean platform Naver, citing domestic trend and component research companies. Corroborating other reports, Apple will apparently launch its first foldable iPhone in 2026, featuring a...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features for Your iPhone

Wednesday October 22, 2025 6:15 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. iOS 26.1 is currently in beta testing. The update will likely be released in the first half of November, and it is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer, but some...
maxresdefault

Here's How the iOS 26.1 Transparency Toggle Changes Liquid Glass

Monday October 20, 2025 1:55 pm PDT by
With the fourth beta of iOS 26.1, Apple added a toggle that makes Liquid Glass more opaque and reduces transparency. We tested the beta to see where the toggle works and what it looks like. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. If you have the latest iOS 26.1 beta, you can go to Settings > Display and Brightness to get to the new option. Tap on Liquid Glass, then...
iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Saturday October 18, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across the Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, Clock, and Safari apps. More features and changes will follow in future ...
iOS 26

What's New in iOS 26.1 Beta 4

Monday October 20, 2025 1:02 pm PDT by
Even though we're at the fourth beta of iOS 26.1, Apple is continuing to add new features. In fact, the fourth beta has some of the biggest changes that we'll get when iOS 26.1 releases to the public later this month. We've rounded up what's new below. Liquid Glass Transparency Toggle Apple added a toggle for customizing the look of Liquid Glass. In Settings > Display and Brightness,...

Top Rated Comments

DickieSmith Avatar
10 months ago
The first render MacRumors have used that I don't hate.

Not a particularly attractive design, but not downright ugly like many of the previous ones.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ctrlos Avatar
10 months ago

The first render MacRumors have used that I don't hate.

Not a particularly attractive design, but not downright ugly like many of the previous ones.
It does scream 'Pixel 9' though, which I think is a lovely bit of kit but do Apple want to be seen as copying another company so blatently? Doesn't exactly scream cutting edge of product design does it?

Apple, being seen by many as the 'default' are used to dictating the minutae of the phone market. You only have to look at how prevailant flat edges became after the iPhone 12 revamp. It would certainly be an interesting turn of events if they quietly secede that throne to Google :oops:

It would be an interesting year if Apple launch a 17 lineup with a Pixel 9-esque camera strip and Google nearly all but eliminate the thing altogether ('https://www.t3.com/tech/android-phones/pixel-9a-leaks-again-showing-google-is-heading-in-a-new-direction')
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
martinlk Avatar
10 months ago
I simply don't understand why 48MP camera phones are even a thing. Due to the physical limitations in sensor and lens size, the effective resolution will probably be close to 12-16MP even though the box says 48MP. Add to this that having smaller pixels (because you're putting more MP in the same size sensor) will introduce more noise and less dynamic range because each pixel collects less light compared to a sensor with fewer MP. It seems to me that this is almost entirely a marketing scam; one that actually results in a worse product:

* More noisy pixels
* Less dynamic range
* Larger image sizes (in terms of storage)
* More processing power required
* No added image detail over lower-megapixel sensors due to diffraction limits in such a small lens.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kylo83 Avatar
10 months ago
megapixels mean nothing it’s about the sensor size, it’s all marketing the mp number. My dslr canon 5D mark iv is not 48mp but it’s a million times better image quality with any crop
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
martinlk Avatar
10 months ago

megapixels mean nothing it’s about the sensor size, it’s all marketing the mp number. My dslr canon 5D mark iv is not 48mp but it’s a million times better image quality with any crop
I have a 26MP Fujifilm. Even _talking_ about comparing the images of the Fujifilm with those of an iPhone is borderline insulting.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ctrlos Avatar
10 months ago

I simply don't understand why 48MP camera phones are even a thing. Due to the physical limitation in sensor and lens size, the effective resolution will be probably close to 12-16MP even though the box says 48MP. Add to this that having smaller pixels (because you're putting more MP in the same size sensor) will introduce more noise and less dynamic range because each pixel collects less light compared to a sensor with fewer MP. It seems to me that this is almost entirely a marketing scam; one that actually results in a worse product:

* More noisy pixels
* Less dynamic range
* Larger image sizes (in terms of storage)
* More processing power required
* No added image quality over lower-megapixel sensors

Its mainly for better Quad Bayer image stacking. For a 14mpx image the sensor is using 16 pixels-per-pixel or thereabouts. On an S24 Ultra, the 12mpx stacked images are much better than the unprocessed 200mpx images from the main sensor because the algorithms have more data to work with. With pixel-binning you have more light hitting the pixels because each one is 'bigger'.

You also have better digital zoom range when transitioning between lenses. If you need to shoot at 3.8x or 5.4x then that extra image data makes up for the lack of a proper optical zoom. Telemacro has improved performance due to the Ultrawide having a 'zoom' range without resorting to the 5x lens

In general what you're seeing is more flexibility. For most people, their phone is their camera and so it has to fit all sorts of scenarios. The processing is much of a muchness, with top of the line A-series and Snapdragon chipsets being almost too much for what a phone gets used for.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)