- RATING
The iPhone 17 Pro lives up to its Pro name in every sense of the word. There is no other smartphone that can meet the needs of a creative professional in terms of design camera and performance.
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are bold and powerful updates that underline why they are called Pro in the first place.
They’ve received a slick design update and that already excellent camera system is even better and even more useful for professional users.
These phones have always attracted customers who want a premium iPhone along with premium features.
This year it’s not the material that makes the iPhone 17 Pro premium – it is the way the material was used.
Two years after extolling the amazing properties of titanium, Apple has switched back to aluminium.
Before the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 had titanium frames which offer tremendous strength.
Apple instead directed the titanium frame to the new iPhone Air and turned it into the strongest iPhone ever produced despite its super thin design.
But Apple still had huge plans for the iPhone 17 Pro design in the shape a unibody enclosure.
This is similar to what Apple does when creating the MacBook to maximise the internal space while still being durable and light.
The result is stunning with the rim around the screen, the edges and the back all one piece.
It looks clean and seamless and befitting a pro-level smartphone.
Another new feature of the design is the camera plateau which not only makes room for the camera system but also allows Apple to relocate some of the circuitry and architecture to open up space within the main body for a larger battery and a thermal cooling system.
The camera plateau, which stretches across the top of the rear panel of the iPhone 17 Pro, also houses the antenna for greater connectivity to cellular and wi-fi networks.
The iPhone 17 Pro (6.3-inch) and iPhone 17 Pro Max (6.9-inch) have Super Retina XDR displays with ProMotion and 120Hz variable refresh rate.
Under the hood is the new A19 Pro chip with a 6-core CPU and a 6-core GPU.
This not only provides upgraded performance but also offers improved thermal management and greater power efficiency.
Pro iPhone users have no doubt felt their devices get a little hot.
Now, with the new laser welded vapour chamber, it can keep things cool when you’re pushing the device to the limit or playing the latest games.
Without a doubt the standout feature of the iPhone 17 Pro is the triple camera system that has had a huge leap forward.
All three of the cameras are 48 megapixel fusion cameras – main, ultra-wide and telephoto.
The telephoto camera features a new tetraprism design and is backed by a 56 per cent larger sensor.
That means it is the equivalent of a 200mm focal length with 8X optical zoom – the longest iPhone telephoto camera ever.
Apple says it’s like having eight pro lenses in one product because you can shoot at 200mm, 100mm, 48mm, 35mm, 28mm, 24mm, 13mm and Macro.
And it gets even better on the video side with the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max becoming the first smartphone to support ProRes RAW to provide film makers and content with even more control and quality.
The iPhone 17 Pro also supports professional workflows to achieve a wider colour gamut with Apple Log 2 and adopt broadcast frame rates.
It also supports recording in open gate which means you can use the entire sensor when you’re filming and crop from the one file a landscape and portrait version of the video.
This is ideal for content creators who want to share the same video in portrait on social media and landscape on YouTube.
iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max also introduces Genlock which allows film makers to synchronise video between multiple iPhones to create a bullet time effect. This feature is supported by the new BlackMagic Camera ProDock.
These camera features alone sets the iPhone 17 Pro an iPhone 17 Pro Max apart from not only the other iPhones in the range but other flagship smartphones in the market.
Also onboard is the same Centre Stage front camera feature that allows you to take portrait landscape selfies without having to change the grip on the phone.
The massive improvement on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max is the battery which Apple quotes at 31 hours video playback for the iPhone 17 Pro and 37 hours for the iPhone 17 Pro Max.
The iPhone 17 Pro has a 4,252mAh battery – that’s an amazing 18.7 per cent larger than the battery on the iPhone 16 Pro.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max rocks a 5088mAh battery which is 8.6 per cent larger than that of the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
So it’s no wonder that you’re getting the best battery life we’ve ever seen on a Pro iPhone which can easily offer up to two workdays of power on a single charge.
And even when it’s time to plug it in, the iPhone can reach 50 per cent charge in just 20 minutes.
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max not for everyone.
Naturally the cameras make them a standout from the rest of the range and, in the right hands, can produce some remarkable content.
Customers and prosumers will delight in the camera features and performance that the iPhone 17 Pro models puts in your hands.
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are available in three colours – Cosmic Orange, Deep Blue and Silver.
For our reviews we received the iPhone 17 Pro in Deep Blue which was a nice conservative colour and close enough to black which is surprisingly missing from the Pro line-up.
But the real surprise was the iPhone 17 Pro Max which we received for review in Cosmic Orange.
It has become the new hero colour for the range and it does grow on you. It’s not as garish as you might think.
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are available now.
The iPhone 17 Pro is priced at $1,999 (256GB), $2,399 (512GB) and $2,799 (1TB).
The iPhone 17 Pro Max is priced at $2,199 (256GB), $2,599 (512GB), $2,999 (1TB) and $3,799 (2TB).
VERDICT
The iPhone 17 Pro lives up to its Pro name in every sense of the word. There is no other smartphone that can meet the needs of a creative professional in terms of design camera and performance.
