Apple's iPhone 17 Pro Models
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are Apple's latest high-end flagship smartphones that Apple is selling alongside the iPhone Air and the iPhone 17. The iPhone 17 Pro models are Apple's most advanced smartphones, with bigger displays, more cameras, and higher performance than other models.
Apple updated the design of the iPhone 17 Pro models, but sizes haven't changed. The iPhone 17 Pro has a 6.3-inch display, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max has a 6.9-inch display. Both of the iPhone 17 Pro models are just a little bit thicker, taller, and wider than the iPhone 16 Pro models, and that's because Apple changed the internal structure.
The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max feature a unibody aluminum frame for the first time, with Apple ditching titanium to go back to aluminum. Aluminum is lighter than titanium, and it is also better at heat dispersion. The aluminum frame covers almost all of the iPhone the sides of the iPhone, the camera area, and the back, with the exception of a cutout for MagSafe charging.
The camera bump is now called the camera plateau, and it is a horizontal, pill-shaped raised area that spans nearly the entire rear of the iPhone. It houses the three-lens camera setup on the left, and the LiDAR Scanner and flash on the right. Apple changed the antenna band location to wrap around the plateau, so there are no more antenna lines and the antennas perform better than before. Apple says the plateau provides more space for internal components, allowing for a larger battery.
The cutout at the back of the iPhone is crafted from an upgraded Ceramic Shield 2 material that's more durable than glass, and Apple says it is 4x more resistant to cracks. The Ceramic Shield cutout is a slightly different color than the aluminum of the iPhone, so giving the iPhone 17 Pro models a two-tone look. Prior to now, iPhones had a glass back rather than a Ceramic Shield back.
The size of the Dynamic Island hasn't changed, and there are still Camera Control and Action buttons. The Action button can be set to multiple functions such as launching the camera, turning on Flashlight, recording a Voice Memo, or activating a Shortcut. The Camera Control button activates the Camera app. It is touch and pressure sensitive and can capture photos and videos, as well as adjust camera settings.
There's a USB-C port at the bottom for charging, and it supports USB3 transfer speeds. You can get the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in cosmic orange, silver, or deep blue colors.
Apple also used the Ceramic Shield 2 to protect the display, and it offers 3x better scratch resistance than glass. 120Hz ProMotion refresh rates are supported, but that's no longer a Pro-only feature. The iPhone 17 Pro models support 3000 nits peak brightness when outdoors, up from 2000, and there is a new anti-reflective display coating to cut down on glare. Outdoor contrast is 2x better than before. 1 nit minimum brightness is available for the Always-On display.
The iPhone 17 Pro models have an A19 Pro chip that's built on an upgraded 3-nanometer process. The A19 Pro includes a 6-core CPU with two performance cores and four efficiency cores, and a 6-core GPU. Each core has a Neural Accelerator that Apple says improves tasks like on-device AI. There's an updated 16-core Neural Engine, second-generation dynamic caching, a larger cache, and 12GB RAM.
The aluminum frame improves thermal performance, but Apple also added a vapor chamber cooling system that uses a small amount of deionized water to move heat away from the A19 Pro and distribute it along the aluminum chassis. As a result, the A19 Pro offers up to 40 percent faster sustained performance than the A18 Pro.
For the first time, the iPhone 17 Pro cameras are all 48 megapixels. There's a Main lens, an Ultra Wide angle lens, and the new Telephoto lens that supports both 4x optical zoom and 8x optical zoom, along with 40x digital zoom. All three cameras support 4K video recording, and Apple also added support for ProRes RAW video, Log 2 video recording, and Genlock support for professionals. An updated Photonic Engine uses machine learning to reduce noise, improve color accuracy, and increase detail.
Apple added a new Dual Capture feature that lets you record with the front and back cameras at the same time, and there is an 18-megapixel Center Stage front camera with improved stabilization and new features.
The front-facing camera lets you take a selfie photo in portrait or landscape mode without rotating your phone, and it supports Center Stage for video calls and images with multiple people.
The iPhone 17 Pro models have major improvements to battery life. The iPhone 17 Pro battery lasts for up to 33 hours when watching videos, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max battery lasts for up to 39 hours. Apple says the iPhone 17 Pro Max has the longest battery life ever in an iPhone.
Charging is faster than before, and the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max can reach 50 percent battery in a 20 minute period with the appropriate charger. MagSafe and Qi2.2 charging at up to 25W are supported. Versions of the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max with an eSIM instead of a physical SIM have larger batteries. Apple is expanding the availability of eSIM-only models to more countries.
Both models start with 256GB of storage, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max now supports up to 2TB of storage but it costs $2,000.
Apple is still using Qualcomm 5G modems for the iPhone 17 Pro models, but they are now equipped with an Apple-designed N1 networking chip. The N1 chip supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread, plus it improves efficiency for better battery life. The N1 chip also improves the performance and reliability of Personal Hotspot and AirDrop.
Pricing on the iPhone 17 Pro starts at $1,099, so it is $100 more expensive than the 16 Pro, but there is no longer a 128GB storage option. Pricing on the iPhone 17 Pro Max still starts at $1,199. The iPhone 17 Pro models launched on September 19 following pre-orders which began on Friday, September 12 at 5:00 a.m. Pacific Time.
Launch Date
iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max pre-orders began on Friday, September 12 at 5:00 a.m. Pacific Time or 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The new iPhones launched on Friday, September 19.
What's Next for the iPhone Lineup
Starting in 2026, Apple will split its iPhone lineup between fall and spring launches. The iPhone 18 Air, iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and a foldable iPhone will launch in the second half of 2026, while the standard iPhone 18 and the iPhone 18e won't launch until spring 2027.
The iPhone 18 Pro models that are coming in 2026 could have under-display Face ID, which would cut down on the size of the Dynamic Island. There might just be a single camera hole for the front-facing camera, with the camera cutout located in the top left corner. Later, in 2027, Apple could release an iPhone with an all-screen design, featuring an edge-to-edge display with no cutouts. Apple is essentially planning iPhone design updates every year through 2027.
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected in fall 2026, and rumors suggest it will launch alongside the iPhone 18 Air and iPhone 18 Pro models. It is expected to have a "nearly invisible" crease when it's folded, thanks to a high-quality hinge.
More on the iPhone 18 lineup with Apple's first foldable iPhone can be found in our dedicated iPhone 18 roundup.
