iPhone 17 Professional and Professional Max evaluation: An impactful redesign

For the sake of this iPhone 17 Professional evaluation, I’ve developed a gaming dependancy.

I don’t imply triple-A video games like Future: Rising and Genshin Affect, and even double-A or non-A titles like Inside or Vampire Survivors, each of which I tremendously get pleasure from. I’m particularly referring to Snake Conflict on YouTube Video games — the kind of factor you mindlessly play whereas pretending to look at a documentary on TV, or whereas sitting on the throne, slowly rising a hemorrhoid.

The explanation I’ve been enjoying a lot Snake Conflict is as a result of I’ve seen in my yr with an iPhone 16 Professional that numerous hours with video games like this trigger the gadget to expend in my fingers. And perhaps another title may also push thermal efficiency in comparable methods, however alas, such is my style. (Additionally, Inside and Vampire Survivors by no means brought about my telephone to get too heat.)

I spent numerous time on the iPhone 17 Professional and Professional Max attempting to get them to run scorching, as a result of one of the crucial fascinating additions this yr is a vapor chamber. That thermal administration characteristic, along with the aluminum unibody redesign and three 48-megapixel rear cameras, is among the many most compelling updates for this era. Throw within the highly effective A19 Professional chip (now located within the “plateau”), a novel Middle Stage selfie digicam, guarantees of longer battery life and an attention-grabbing new shade, and albeit the most recent Professional telephones seem to be a critical leap.

For this evaluation, I targeted on the efficiency, thermal administration, digicam capabilities and battery lifetime of the iPhone 17 Professional and Professional Max. I’m bundling them collectively as a result of except for display screen dimension, battery capability and value, the 2 are functionally equivalent. I additionally frolicked trying out Apple Intelligence and iOS 26 options, which received’t be unique to the brand new {hardware} and I’ll refer you to our iOS 26 preview for a deeper dive on.

Editor’s observe (on September 19, 8:00AM ET): The iPhone 17 Professional and Professional Max are actually formally out there in shops, and people who have pre-ordered their units might be receiving them beginning at the moment. As you make your choices on whether or not or which of those you should purchase, be certain to take a look at our critiques of the iPhone Air and the iPhone 17, in addition to the AirPods Professional 3 and the Apple Watch Collection 11. We additionally revealed a more in-depth take a look at the Apple Watch Extremely 3’s satellite tv for pc connectivity characteristic, which has some impressions of what it’s like to make use of in actual life.

An aluminum unibody design that’s new and acquainted unexpectedly

Once I first picked up the iPhone 17 Professional at Apple Park, I discovered it refreshingly totally different from the iPhone 16 Professional I’d been utilizing for a yr (and in addition the iPhone 15 Professional earlier than that). However the longer I caressed the matte edges of my evaluation unit, the extra I felt sparks of familiarity. The aluminum unibody right here jogged my memory of the iPhone 8, which isn’t any shock since that gadget was fabricated from metal wrapped in an aluminum band. Each the iPhone 8 and iPhone 17 Execs use the identical 7000-series aluminum alloy that’s proprietary to Apple in order that is sensible. After all, the iPhone 17 Professional and Professional Max are removed from being as skinny because the older handset, however one thing in regards to the matte end felt nice.

Two weeks earlier than the iPhone launch occasion, my iPhone 16 Professional slipped out of my hand and crashed to the ground of a dirty public lavatory. It had landed at an ungainly angle on its edge and cracked spectacularly. Fortunately, a lot of the shattered glass was close to the underside edge, whereas hairline fractures reached up in a unusually fairly sample to the rear digicam module. These didn’t minimize my fingers, however I knew I needed the subsequent iPhone to be much more sturdy.

With its aluminum body defending the perimeters of the rear and again, there may be little probability the iPhone 17 Professional will break in the way in which my iPhone 16 Professional did. Its display screen is now protected by Ceramic Protect 2, so if it fell flat on its face it ought to nonetheless be capable to survive the influence. The rear is a little more weak, for the reason that three cameras nonetheless protrude barely from the plateau, however these are lined by the identical sapphire crystal that earlier fashions had been. I’ve but to crack an iPhone’s digicam regardless of my years of klutzy habits.

This bodes effectively for the iPhone 17 Professional, although I’ll say I didn’t strive very arduous to scratch my evaluation unit. I really went so far as to maintain it within the Finewoven case that Apple offered within the first few days so I might preserve a pristine floor for our evaluation pictures. After eradicating the case, I did put each the iPhone 17 Professional and Professional Max in a bag with the iPhone 16 Professional and Pixel 10 Professional so I might carry them round whereas digicam testing, and it was fairly good to have the ability to establish the latest fashions just by contact. For years, I’ve seen Android telephones, notably these by Samsung, develop an increasing number of iPhone-like so the departure from shiny glass is welcome.

Plus, neither the Professional nor the Professional Max have been scratched regardless of my inserting them, bare, in backpacks or pockets with different telephones, keys or badges with hooks in them, although to be truthful the identical is true of the iPhone 16 Professional till its unlucky fall.

One different manner the iPhone 17 Professional is distinct? That orange shade, which is harking back to the Motion Button on Apple Watch Ultras. It’s additionally pretty much like the hue on some site visitors cones, although in a extra metallic, burnished manner. As a result of the iPhone 17 Professional is meant to be a lot extra sturdy and scratch-resistant, I’d argue for merely exhibiting off its daring new shade by going case-free. I additionally took a complete bunch of images of the orange iPhone 17 Professional Max I’ve been testing in quite a lot of lighting situations so you’ll be able to higher perceive what it appears like in actual life. Get pleasure from:

After publishing this evaluation, I seen our slideshow’s captions said the iPhone 17 Professional was silver, once I believed it was white. I set about complaining to our workforce in regards to the error once I was rightfully knowledgeable it’s really silver. So you ought to be conscious that the silver iPhone 17 Professional appears white on its again, the place the aluminum ends and Ceramic Protect begins.

Quicker AI processing and a physique that’s largely cooler to carry

Other than the fabric and the digicam plateau, the iPhone 17 Professional’s redesign had so much to do with thermal administration and battery life. Like I discussed at first of this evaluation, my iPhone 16 Professional runs scorching typically, particularly in latest months. I used to be desperate to see if the vapor chamber within the new units was efficient at holding them cool in comparable conditions.

Usually, the iPhone 17 Professional stayed cool — and that’s each throughout the first few days with the case on and after I eliminated it altogether. Once I performed Snake Crash for about 25 minutes, I began noticing some light heat emanating from the digicam plateau. I put the gadget down on a terry fabric blanket and picked up the iPhone 16 Professional to play on as an alternative, and simply 5 minutes later it had gotten as heat because the 17 Professional. Ten minutes later, I needed to regulate my fingers so the iPhone 16 Professional didn’t really feel like an iron. In the meantime, the iPhone 17 Professional had cooled down in that point regardless of being on one thing I normally use to maintain heat.

That’s to not say the iPhone 17 Professional by no means received noticeably scorching in my testing, by the way in which. In my expertise, producing pictures in Picture Playground or creating Genmoji usually brought about my iPhone 16 Professional to warmth as much as scary ranges. On the iPhone 17 Professional, it took a barely longer time to get as heat, but it surely did finally turn into so scorching I felt the necessity to warn individuals if I had been handy the gadget off. I discovered the aluminum elements of the handset to be the most well liked, which is sensible each scientifically and in the way in which our pores and skin perceives temperatures.

I do wish to commend Apple for the improved efficiency in Picture Playground and Genmoji. It used to take ages for AI-generated footage or emoji to seem (particularly these primarily based on an image of somebody in my picture album), however on the iPhone 17 Professional I used to be in a position to get a number of choices in succession earlier than issues slowed down. Footage the place I opted to make use of ChatGPT’s extra reasonable kinds took so much longer, however by and huge I noticed a marked enchancment in velocity right here. These neural accelerators within the A19 Professional’s six-core GPU are actually pulling their weight.

It is likely to be price noting that within the 25 minutes of Snake Conflict time, the iPhone 17 Professional’s battery degree dropped about ten %. The iPhone 16 Professional went from 90 % to 79 % in roughly the identical length, so energy effectivity on this particular use case appears pretty comparable.

Digicam efficiency

The trio of 48MP cameras on the iPhone 17 Professional and Professional Max are impressively versatile. Not solely are they sharp, megapixel-laden sensors that ship wealthy element and vibrant colours, but in addition pull double responsibility and supply extra zoom choices. Once I was capturing on the iPhone 17 Professional, the digicam app confirmed shortcuts for 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 4x and 8x, which is barely totally different from the iPhone 16 Professional’s 0.5x, 1x, 2x and 5x.

As I point out these two fashions, I’m deeply conscious that most individuals aren’t going to be contemplating upgrading from a telephone as latest because the iPhone 16 Professional. So I’ll simply say that so long as you’re swapping from the iPhone 14 Professional and older, you’ll get a considerably higher digicam system. For these already on an iPhone 15 Professional, it will depend on whether or not you’re utilizing a Max mannequin and care so much about some additional zooming skill.

I in contrast the iPhone 17 Professional principally to the iPhone 16 Professional to see its enhancements, in addition to to the Pixel 10 Professional, since I take into account it to be the perfect smartphone digicam this yr. To this point, anyway. Because it seems, the iPhone 17 Professional holds its personal towards Google’s newest in most conditions. In actual fact, it’s normally a bit higher at retaining element in shadows in pictures with excessive dynamic vary.

Additionally, as has been the case in the previous couple of generations of iPhones, Apple’s photos are usually hotter and extra saturated, whereas Google’s appear a bit muted and grey compared. That’s a considerably subjective statement, actually, and certain received’t influence anybody that’s not continually carrying each telephones round.

All about zoom

It will get a bit sophisticated to match the three telephones on their numerous zoom capabilities, since all of them have totally different limits and devoted pipelines. However by and huge, the iPhones carried out equally on the 1x degree, which isn’t stunning given they’re principally the identical {hardware}. They had been additionally fairly intently tied on the 2x degree, and additional zooms had been barely totally different from that time.

I did discover that the 8x possibility on the iPhone 17 Professional delivered clear pictures with little noise or blur, and so they had been well-exposed on the whole. The truth that I might now go as much as 40x in comparison with the iPhone 16 Professional’s prime restrict of 25x with digital zoom was a pleasant bonus, particularly once I was photographing some geese chilling by the river.

The Pixel 10 Professional’s scene choices are 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 5x and 10x, with Professional Res Zoom permitting you to get all the way in which as much as 100x, in the event you don’t thoughts AI filling in some gaps. I’d warning towards that, given the unusual issues it’s generated to this point, however you’ll additionally nonetheless be capable to use Tremendous Res Zoom for as much as 20x zoom with none generative AI help, simply good ol’ computational images (Math).

For what it’s price, not one of the pictures past 8x on the iPhone 17 Professional and 10x on the Pixel 10 Professional look nice. However in footage I took of the “Water’s Soul” sculpture from my vantage level alongside the waterfront in downtown Jersey Metropolis, the Google model delivered cleaner traces and customarily seemed extra sharp. I’ve but to come across clearly bizarre hallucinations in my pictures, although in a single close-up shot of a window in a skyscraper, the Pixel turned a white object contained in the constructing into what seemed to be a smear of fowl poop.

As an apart, I additionally needed to surprise what the lettering on the Hoboken Terminal clock tower really seemed like up shut, for the reason that Pixel-rendered picture had the phrase “Lackawanna” seem to be it had bulbs or dots.

In brief, you’ll be able to stand up nearer to faraway topics with a Pixel 10 Professional and usually get cleaner pictures, however be aware that the AI may generate some bizarre issues. In the meantime, the iPhone 17 Professional delivers stable high quality at 8x and provides you higher flexibility than it did earlier than.

Portrait mode is best now

Apple is even closing the hole that Google has had in the previous couple of years in Portrait mode, with its up to date engine for pictures with digitally utilized background blur. The variations, I’ve realized, are in total Portrait high quality on the 2x zoom degree, in addition to refinements in separation of stray hairs from the background throughout the mode.

In these portraits I shot of a good friend, in addition to of a canine statue with a furry tail, there was a major enchancment, notably at 2x zoom (which is the extent I at all times use for portraits on an iPhone anyway). The iPhone 16 Professional blended some bits of hair (and fur) that caught out of the silhouette into the mudded background, whereas the iPhone 17 Professional managed to precisely hold each in focus.

Once I in contrast the portraits by the iPhone 17 Professional to these from the Pixel 10 Professional, it was an in depth battle. Whereas the Pixel was higher at holding definition alongside my good friend’s temples, the iPhone was barely higher at mimicking the falloff in focus you’d get from a standalone digicam with a big sensor. That is particularly noticeable with the tuft of blonde hair poking out of her post-cardio ponytail, which the Pixel blurred utterly into the background, whereas the iPhone 17 Professional stored it extra in focus.

I’ll level out that I nonetheless want Google’s method with regards to capturing in portrait mode. Within the devoted mode on iPhones, you need to wait until the interface lights as much as take your shot. That is exterior of the same old picture mode the place the impact kicks in as quickly because it detects faces of individuals and a few animals. On a Pixel, you’ll be able to merely swipe to Portrait mode, intention your digicam and snap — no want to attend for the system to let you know it is okay to shoot.

It’s additionally price noting that folks may want how they appear with the coloration of the iPhone pictures in comparison with the Pixel’s, no matter which is more true to life. You may at all times edit an image in post-processing to get it to your required illustration, after all, and Apple’s portraits are additionally topic to the precise fashion chosen by the photographer.

I do wish to shout out how a lot I like Apple’s Photographic Types, that are principally refined filters that apply results primarily based on depth maps. This yr, the corporate added a brand new Vibrant fashion, which makes all the things pop in a pleasing manner (and is much like my once-favorite Instagram filter “Oslo,” that’s sadly now not out there).

Middle Stage sq. sensor for portrait and panorama selfies

Apple’s newest selfie-camera replace is, fairly merely, a stroke of genius. I do know it sounds hyperbolic, and I wish to reassure the skeptics that I used to be in your facet. At first. However I used to be received over when, nearly instantly after saying I didn’t see the sensible use for Middle Stage in selfies, I used to be pressured to show my iPhone horizontally so I might squeeze in an additional individual when attempting to seize a photograph of myself and my podcast friends Karissa Bell and The Verge’s Allison Johnson. Nothing convinces as rapidly as immediate disgrace.

I used to be all of the extra persuaded once I paired Middle Stage with a timer or distant management of the selfie digicam and positioned the iPhone 17 Professional Max on a desk. A bunch of seven or so associates and I gathered in entrance of the gadget and watched it flip into panorama mode as extra of us received into the scene. It has been useful in quite a few sudden methods.

In case you’re like me and have grown used to zooming out everytime you flip over to the iPhone’s entrance digicam, you’ll discover that tapping the onscreen button to take action will disable Middle Stage for that picture session. Don’t fret although, everytime you exit the digicam app and relaunch it, Middle Stage might be on once more. You may flip it off altogether by tapping the button on the highest proper of the viewfinder and disabling each the zoom and orientation choices. Or you’ll be able to choose one of many two, whichever you like to have.

I’ll additionally level out that the digicam is sharper now, because the 24MP sq. sensor delivers 18MP selfies, in comparison with the 12MP TrueDepth system earlier than. Although I‘ve seen some points with FaceID, no modifications have been made to both TrueDepth or FaceID, so it’s seemingly my struggles had been to do with the way in which I had set it up on the iPhone 17 Professional in comparison with the 16 Professional.

I’m not normally a fan of higher-resolution selfies, and did discover my freckles had been much more outstanding in some sunlit pictures, however by and huge the photographs haven’t been jarringly totally different.

Middle Stage additionally works on FaceTime calls, though there it principally tries to maintain your face centered, equally to the way it capabilities on iPad and Macbook. Nevertheless, the execution is barely totally different, because it’s meant for hand-held calls as you’re strolling on the road, for instance, or while you don’t have a steady floor to position your telephone. I’d have cherished it if my associate had Middle Stage when he FaceTimed me from the streets of New York throughout a wild night time out in town.

Once I referred to as my coworker and paced round a big assembly room, we each seen the distinction with Middle Stage and after I turned it off. It was most evident once I stood nonetheless, held out my arm and didn’t transfer it, then shifted my head round. The iPhone 17 Professional adjusted the background and examine of the decision to maintain my face absolutely in body. Now I wish to use Middle Stage every time I’m pressured to carry my telephone throughout a FaceTime (like an impromptu remedy session, as an illustration), so I can fear much less about whether or not I’m in view and give attention to the dialog.

Twin-camera video recording

I don’t find out about you, however my selfie video angle is sort of totally different from my common angle. That’s to say, I maintain my hand stretched out farther away from my physique, typically increased up than my face, tilted barely down. I discover it extra flattering. Once I shoot something utilizing the rear cameras, I merely maintain it up in entrance of my face, not as far-off as it might be for a selfie.

What I’m attempting to say is: I didn’t like a lot of the dual-camera movies I shot as a result of I might both prioritize the angle for the selfie digicam, which could not be nice for the rear sensor. Or I might give attention to capturing what was behind the telephone and embrace stunning footage of my brow. And I’ll be sincere, I ceaselessly discovered myself looking at my face within the little picture-in-picture field and typically even moved the telephone round to point out landmarks behind me, solely to comprehend the principle digicam (and the remainder of the display screen) had already been recording all of it alongside.

I don’t suppose there might be too many conditions the place dual-camera movies might be helpful or share-worthy, however a minimum of it’s a mode you activate solely while you need and isn’t in the way in which. Plus, for the precise occasions while you wish to showcase the place you’re at whereas proving you’re additionally within the scene, it’s a pleasant device to have helpful. I did find yourself liking one dual-camera video I shot of myself having fun with the breeze by the Hudson River.

Better battery life

I had one objective throughout this evaluation, and that was to see if the iPhone 17 Professional or Professional Max would be capable to final throughout my testing interval while not having a cost. Since there was supposedly more room and higher effectivity due to the redesign creating extra room for the battery, I believed, maybe naively, that perhaps there could be a leap in endurance.

Alas, I used to be fallacious. The smaller Professional fell in need of these admittedly nice expectations, the Professional Max did come shut. Normally, the bigger handset lasts about two full days as I am going about my evaluation course of, which usually principally includes digicam testing, messaging and gaming. I are inclined to spend extra time on the smaller gadget, utilizing it for duties like banking, emailing, social media searching and posting, all along with the issues I do on the Max. All that’s to say that the 2 days I usually get out of the Professional Max is probably going due partly to the truth that I take advantage of it lower than the Professional, so don’t count on yours to final that lengthy.

With that in thoughts, the iPhone 17 Professional Max made it to the tip of Saturday earlier than it dropped to twenty %, having final been charged to about 95 % on Thursday at 8:54AM. In the meantime, the iPhone 17 Professional usually will get from 7AM until about 11pm ET with out breaking a sweat. I nonetheless plugged it in in a single day although, as a result of I typically don’t like leaving the home within the morning with lower than 50 %, and the iPhone 17 Professional normally ends the day near 25 %. To this point it mirrors my expertise with the iPhone 16 Professional, although I’ll want a bit extra time to higher gauge the variations.

iOS 26 updates and different areas of enchancment

I can’t write a evaluation of the iPhone 17 Professional and Professional Max and never point out their display screen sizes, so right here: they’re 6.3 inches and 6.9 inches respectively. ProMotion’s adaptive refresh charges of as much as 120Hz proceed to make scrolling Reddit a breeze, and whereas Apple has improved the anti-reflection remedy right here, it’s been arduous for me to find out what’s modified.

The extra apparent refresh when utilizing the iPhone 17 Professional is in iOS 26, which rolled out this week to the general public. Pals have already begun to complain about or praise the brand new Liquid Glass aesthetic, and one buddy instantly needed to activate the “scale back transparency” possibility.

There’s so much I might say about how a lot I respect the larger buttons all through the system, or the brand new lock display screen kinds. I might additionally go on about how I needed to regulate to the brand new Screenshots interface and hate that it now requires an additional swipe to dismiss. The revamped Images, Digicam and Telephone apps are… nice. I don’t hate the modifications, and truly like the brand new Telephone format.

Finally, iOS 26 looks like a major refresh that matches the vibes of Apple’s new {hardware} — particularly the Air. However as a result of it additionally rolls out to a number of earlier generations, it’s not one thing that can influence your (or my) analysis of the iPhone 17 Professional and Professional Max.

Why a Professional and never an Air or the iPhone 17?

This yr, the iPhone Air really feels just like the standing image mannequin for many who have to personal fancy {hardware} for exterior validation. It’s impressively svelte, has an A19 Professional chip and is simply one thing I can’t cease attempting to wave in individuals’s faces to get them to the touch. It supplants the Plus mannequin, a minimum of this yr, and has a medium-sized 6.5-inch display screen that is likely to be best for a lot of. And regardless of its skinny profile, the iPhone Air nonetheless managed to ship respectable battery life, in response to my colleague Sam Rutherford.

If a 6.5-inch display screen or an excellent skinny telephone is one thing you merely will need to have, by all means go for the iPhone Air. However as a result of I like to shoot ultrawide pictures in addition to closeups of distant, skittish wildlife, a flexible multi-camera setup is a should for me. If that sounds such as you, choose a Professional. Whether or not you go for the Max boils all the way down to your desire for dimension (and I’ve to confess utilizing the bigger 6.9-inch display screen was so much simpler on my eyes).

These with limitless sources can, after all, get each. Congrats on the wealth.

Individuals with companions or members of the family that wish to improve on the identical time can take into account getting one among every. I’ve instructed that to my associates who’re married, so the one who cares extra about pictures will get the Professional and the one who hates bulk will get the Air. Neither is a foul buy, however the Professional is barely extra dependable. In change, you’ll must fork over extra money and quit some pocket area.

Lastly, it’s price wanting critically on the iPhone 17 this yr. With its new ProMotion display screen, twin 48MP rear cameras and Middle Stage selfie setup (that helps the identical dual-camera video characteristic because the Execs), it’s a compelling package deal for a whole lot much less. You’ll even get the identical Portrait mode that the 17 Execs supply, whereas the Air has its personal particular picture pipeline that permits automated depth seize with a single digicam.

In case you’re a video creator or producer, I ought to level out that the iPhone Air’s USB-C port is barely rated for USB 2 switch speeds of 480Mbps and does not help DisplayPort for video out. The common iPhone 17 can also be USB 2, however does help DisplayPort, whereas the Professional line can deal with USB 3 speeds of as much as 10Gbps and DisplayPort.

Wrap-up

This yr’s iPhone lineup is forcing me to re-think the concept of a Professional telephone. Is it one which appears and feels costly or is it one which’s barely extra sturdy and perhaps doesn’t seem as trendy? I’ve seen some discourse on-line about how the iPhone 17 Professional and Professional Max don’t look as stylish as earlier than and that the iPhone Air appears to be the extra premium of the household. And whereas I agree that the Air is a shinier, extra enticing gadget, for my wants the iPhone 17 Professional remains to be the way in which to go.

After all, it might be higher if Apple didn’t create this conundrum with this yr’s iPhones, but it surely nonetheless has to obey the legal guidelines of physics. I like a dependable, sturdy telephone that simply lasts all day, takes nice footage from all distances and angles and received’t burn a literal gap in my pocket. It’d expend your pockets, for the reason that $1,099 value is actually not one thing everybody can afford, but it surely does purchase some safety and longevity.

The iPhone 17 Professional and Professional Max are a major replace from earlier fashions, and I haven’t felt this excited by a brand new era of iPhones in a really very long time.