With companies like Apple refreshing their flagship phones every 12 months, the annual differences can sometimes feel a little underwhelming. But for those still using older hardware, the improvements are a lot more obvious.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max will turn two years old when the iPhone 17 Pro Max arrives in September, and we’re expecting a solid set of improvements. Here are the seven biggest upgrades that have so far been tipped.
A whole new look
The iPhone 15 Pro Max looks largely the same as its predecessor, which in turn looks a lot like the current iPhone 16 Pro Max.
That’s all set to change with the iPhone 17 family. According to Jon Prosser and his Front Page Tech YouTube channel, the new iPhones are getting a new look, with the camera block now set to stretch across the back of the handset, rather than being a raised block on the left-hand side.
Dynamic Island is also set to get smaller, giving you more screen space to play with on the new model.
The power of A19 Pro
While the iPhone 15 Pro Max uses the A17 Pro, this year’s Pro models will adopt the A19 Pro chipset. While this is no longer expected to be manufactured to the 2nm process, production will use an improved version of TSMC’s 3nm process, promising boosts to both performance and energy efficiency.
While performance increases are typically only around the 20% mark between generations, the two-year gap between phones means we’re hopefully looking at 40%. A big improvement, in other words.
Vapor chamber cooling
Reportedly, Apple has been experimenting with vapor chamber cooling since 2021, and the technology could finally be ready for showtime with the iPhone 17 Pro range.
A vapor chamber uses liquid to cool down chips and prevent them from overheating, which in turn reduces the need for performance reductions via throttling. In short, your phone should cope better with intensive use, without slowdown.
More RAM
The basic iPhone 16 handsets got an upgrade to an iPhone 15 Pro Max-matching 8GB RAM this generation, to better cope with Apple Intelligence.
It appears that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will regain the advantage in 2025, with both Jeff Pu and Ming-Chi Kuo tipping the handset to get an upgrade to 12GB RAM. That should not only give the new phones a general performance boost, but be especially useful for Apple Intelligence.
An enhanced telephoto lens and improved selfies
Perhaps the biggest rumored improvement for the iPhone 16 Pro Max is an upgrade to the telephoto lens. According to reports, the new Pro models will see their 12MP zoom lenses upgraded to 48MP for more detailed long-range shots.
The same reports add that the front-facing selfie camera will also get uplifted. The 12MP TrueDepth camera has been in place since the iPhone 11 Pro, but will reportedly be replaced by a 24MP sensor.
Add in the 48MP ultrawide camera introduced with the iPhone 16 Pro Max — an upgrade from the 12MP version on the 15 Pro Max — and you’ve got a seriously substantial set of upgrades for photographers.
Added Camera Control button
That’s not the only expected hardware change related to photography, of course. Last year’s iPhones introduced a Camera Control button on the side, so we’d expect it to be retained for the iPhone 17 Pro Max.
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The capacitive button allows you to capture easily missable moments more quickly for posterity. A single click launches the camera, while a second press lets you snap a picture. A longer press, meanwhile, starts a video recording, and you can also control zoom, exposure and depth of field by sliding your finger along the button.
Faster charging at last
Relatively slow charging speeds have long been a bugbear for iPhone users, but the iPhone 17 Pro Max is finally tipped to improve things… a little.
According to the investment firm GF Securities, all models are expected to get 35W wired charging, which is an improvement on the 20W speeds offered now, even if it's pretty dismal compared to the 100W speed offered by the OnePlus 13.
However, it may not actually be that big of an improvement. Even though officially marked as being capped at 20W, the iPhone 13 Pro Max was proven capable of hitting 27W speeds back in 2021.
iPhone 17 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Pro Max outlook
While iPhone 16 Pro Max users may have not that much to get excited about, those still on the previous generation should see plenty of benefits by upgrading. Not only will they enjoy two generations of speed improvement, but they’ll get more RAM, three improved camera lenses, the Camera Capture button and a whole new look.
We’ve still got six months until the iPhone 17 series launches, so there’s plenty of time for more improvements to be revealed. But even with just the above, it seems like the iPhone 17 Pro Max will be an extremely worthwhile upgrade for iPhone 15 Pro Max users.
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