iPhone 17 Pro Max Said to Be Thicker to Accommodate Larger Battery

Friday March 7, 2025 2:47 am PST by Tim Hardwick

Apple has increased the thickness of the upcoming iPhone 17 Pro Max compared to the current generation iPhone 16 Pro Max, claims the Chinese leaker known as Ice Universe.

iphone 17 pro asherdipps
Apple is said to have increased the depth of the iPhone 17 Pro Max to 8.725mm, up from 8.25mm on the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which would be a 0.475mm difference in thickness. The increase "surely means a larger battery," according to the leaker. Apart from depth, the iPhone 17 Pro Max's frame reportedly remains unchanged, and is otherwise identical to the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Up until now, we have not heard any rumors about a battery life increase for the iPhone 17 Pro Max or a change in dimensions, so if Ice Universe's information is accurate, this would be a new development.

iPhone 17 Pro‌ models are expected to have a large rectangular camera bump with rounded corners, though Apple apparently plans to stick with a triangular arrangement for the rear camera lenses.

Apple's premium devices are also rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame. The back of the devices will supposedly also have a new "part-aluminum, part-glass" design.

Ice Universe also claimed today that the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Apple's all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air share identical dimensions apart from the differing thickness of the devices.

Related Roundup: iPhone 17 Pro

Tag: Ice Universe

Buyer's Guide: iPhone 17 Pro (Don't Buy)

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Top Rated Comments

Rob__Mac

19 months ago

Why can’t it be thicker to accommodate the lenses, so I could finally put my phone down flat on the table!

Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)

steve217

19 months ago

That camera bulge looks so much like an iPhone mini riding on the back.

Score: 37 Votes (Like | Disagree)

TechWhisperer

19 months ago

Oh Jony Ive, where art thou?

Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)

thiscatisfat

19 months ago

My opinion on this is probably going to be the least popular, but this isn't an iPhone anymore. The "iPhone" hasn't been an iPhone for a quite some time in my opinion. It's lost the whole iPhone identity that we knew from around the 4S/5 times, the neon-flat oversaturated overwhelming iOS of today is just that - overwhelming. I used my old 4S with iOS 6 for a few days and it's just so refreshing to use a subtle, neat and organized user interface in a comfortable form factor. Everything what I need works, r/legacyjailbreak community keeps it alive and usable in today's day and age, it has basic tools for everyday use and is the exact opposite of the doom-scrolling neck-bending gadget Apple sells today. I wish we could go back to a less neon/overly-vibrant-neon user interface to something less overwhelming (the amount of white screens in iOS is just insane), and a smaller form factor. And most importantly - no camera bump. We have all the tech needed to achieve this, yet all we get is this bulky big phablet with a massive hunk of a camera in the rear. I don't know, maybe I'm just an old boring dude that just went back to 2011 and preferred it there, but I honestly can't wait for a major iOS redesign and I hope it's going to be more pleasant on the eye and I hope Apple releases another Mini model too.