iPhone 17 Pro Max review

iPhone 17 Pro Max: Design & Build Analysis

Aspect	Verdict	Key Details
Overall Design Language	Evolving & Nostalgic	Significant DNA change from previous models Evokes feelings of older iPhones Soft edges improve hand feel vs. previous flat designs Subjective appeal – “a matter of taste”
Materials & Build	Premium but Delicate	Full metal body (frame + body) with aluminum Provides a “cool and cute” premium feel Only bottom back is glass Major Concern: Highly prone to scratches and scuffs Camera bump edges particularly vulnerable Case recommended for protection
Color & Finish	Inconsistent	Noticeable color mismatch between glass and aluminum parts Particularly apparent on orange model (turns white in middle)
Display Protection	Improved	2nd Gen Ceramic Shield (3x more scratch-resistant claimed) New anti-reflective coating reduces glare Still not as good as S25 Ultra but better than previous gen
Ergonomics & Practicality	Thoughtfully Updated	Speaker/microphone positions swapped to prevent hand covering Better for voice calls and horizontal video watching Soft edges less irritating to hand Particularly comfortable on smaller Pro version
Buttons & Controls	Controversial	Camera Control button: “Most useless button Apple has ever made” Tiny antenna line on right edge above power button Action button and volume buttons remain
Internal Architecture	Redesigned	Complete internal structural overhaul Antennas moved to edges for better signal transmission Largest antenna placed where no metal interferes Should significantly improve connectivity
SIM Card Tray	Region Dependent	No physical SIM tray in some models Availability varies by region/part number
Packaging	Eco-Conscious Trade-off	Minimalist “cool package with salt” Aluminum considered a loss compared to titanium Has some positive aspects to be discussed later

Review of the iPhone 17 Pro Max, which is the most important iPhone for at least the next 1 year, and in this article I want to tell you all the things you need to know about it. Whether you plan to buy it or not, watch this article about the iPhone 17 Pro Max review to the end.

The first part is the design section, where the DNA of the design has changed a lot, both in terms of the design language and the material used in it. First of all, I will tell you that design is a matter of taste, meaning that you should like it no matter how you look at it. I myself liked this design, it was a bit ugly to me at the first stage, but now that I have been working with it for a few days, I hold it in my hand and feel it, it has a cute feeling.

One of the most important reasons why this happens is that the body is all metal, meaning that the frame and body are metal and a handle give it a more cute feeling. It reminds me of old iPhones and this is a cool feeling. The flat glass front and back are no longer a thing. It has soft edges that are less irritating to the hand than the previous iPhone, and it feels better in the hand, especially in the Pro version, which is a bit smaller. This is really the smoothness and the fact that it is made of aluminum gives you a cool and cute feeling. Only the bottom back of the phone is glass.

One of the biggest problems that these iPhones have in my opinion is that the color difference between this piece of glass and this piece of aluminum is too much. Especially on the orange color, it turns white in the middle, which doesn’t give you a very good feeling. Of course, the point is that you probably saw in various review videos that this iPhone is very prone to scratches and scuffs. I myself wrote a story for you, and it is really very dangerous because it scratches and scuffs. It is probably one of those iPhones that you have to use with a case after a long time, and it is not very resistant to scratches and scuffs, and it has not received high scores in various resistance tests. We don’t have any of these tests, but the point is that this top piece where the cameras are located has a protrusion, the edges of that protrusion are more prone to scratches. So if you want to buy a case, get a case that covers these edges, meaning that it fits over these edges.
The front panel has the second-generation Ceramic Shield, which Apple claims is up to 3 times more resistant to scratches. One thing that is worth mentioning is that it has an anti-reflective coating compared to the previous generation, meaning it can give you a little less reflection from light reflections. Of course, it doesn’t reach the S25 Ultra, but it does reflect a little less light compared to the previous generation when you put them side by side.
Overall, this is a tasteful design that I think is a beautiful design. You should probably feel it yourself. A few other points, for example, the speaker and microphone are now in the wrong place under the phone. The speaker used to be on the right, but the microphone on the left is now reversed. The microphone is on the right side and the speaker is on the left. When you hold this phone, you probably put your finger in front of the microphone while you were sending a message on WhatsApp, and the voice would not work. Now this problem has been solved, meaning the microphone has been reversed so that your finger will no longer be in the way. But another problem that it fixes is that when you hold the phone horizontally, your hand will probably put it in front of the speaker, meaning that if you want to watch a video, it will happen like this and you will block the sound. It is useful for those who mostly use voice calls rather than watching videos in horizontal mode.
The camera control button is the most useless button that Apple has ever put on its phones. It is here too, unfortunately, and I would have liked it to be removed. There is a tiny antenna line on the right edge of the phone above the power button, but the antenna itself has gone up here. Another important point in the design of this phone is that the internal structure of the iPhone has changed a lot and the antenna has come to the edges and the largest one is here, which means where there is no metal that can pass the signal better. This top has become very wide, but in the internal design of the antennas, the edges of the frame and can be in the antenna and your connection to the signals work much better. This is where we see the action button and the volume up and down buttons as always, and the point is that there is no longer a SIM card tray. In some part numbers, which I will explain again at the end of the review. What is this SIM and which part number should we buy? The package is a cool package with salt that has a very strange upgrade that it has nothing, aluminum is a loss compared to titanium, but it has some good things that we will get to later.

iPhone 17 Pro Max Screen Review

Feature	iPhone 17 Pro Max Display
Screen	6.9-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED
Verdict	Top-tier for color accuracy, naturalness & brightness
Key Improvements	• Higher brightness (up to 3000 nits) • Better anti-glare coating • Higher PWM rate (reduces eye strain)
Features	HDR10+, Dolby Vision, Adaptive 1-120Hz refresh rate
Design Change	Larger display (6.9″ vs 6.7″ on 16 Pro Max) but with larger bezels

The screen section, where we have a 6.9-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED screen. The best display in terms of color accuracy and naturalness, which has been proven in various tests. It has a few changes compared to the previous generation, which we will mention below.
First, its brightness has increased by 100 nits, which means that you will have less problems under direct sunlight in very bright places. 3000 nits is an incredibly attractive brightness that we can see this number on many phones in the last year or two. Another point is the anti-glare, which again affects visibility in bright places. Another point is that the PWM rate or the light jump has decreased and if you don’t encounter it much with the naked eye, for example, but your eyes will probably get less tired with this PWM rate, it will be better and you will get less tired.

Overall, it’s a display that I think is really the best display you can have on a phone in terms of brightness, color quality, color accuracy, and naturalness. It has everything you want from a display, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, and all of that. 120Hz also switches from 1 to 120 for you. It’s a great display.
A few points; First, the display bezels have increased compared to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which usually companies reduce the bezels every year, but Apple probably made these edges a little bit more curved, and the bezels have increased a lot. The 17 Pro Max’s display is 0.2 inches larger than the 16 Pro Max, which means you’re dealing with a smaller phone. This didn’t happen on the iPhone Pro, the display was 6.3 inches and is 6.3 inches, but this phone has gone from 6.7 inches to 6.9 inches, which gives you a larger display.

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Review

Category	Key Points
Battery Capacity	• First iPhone with a 5,000mAh battery (Pro Max without SIM tray). • Models with a physical SIM tray have ~200mAh less capacity.
Battery Performance	Excellent, especially on the Pro Max. Example usage for 1 hour: • Gaming (CoD): ~8% drain • Instagram: ~7-8% drain • YouTube: ~6-7% drain
Charging (Wired)	• Supports 40W fast charging. • 50% charge in 20 minutes. • Full charge in ~1 hour 5 min (fastest in iPhone history).
Charging (Wireless)	• Qi2 technology at 25 watts.
Comparison	Pro Max battery life is significantly better than the Pro model.

All this getting bigger and thicker comes down to the battery. That means you actually have a better battery on the new iPhones. So the battery department is the first place we see Apple finally being able to experiment with a 5,000mAh battery on a series of its phones. Now, which series of its phones? The Pro Max phones that don’t have a SIM card tray. The point is that the part number that the SIM card tray takes up is 200mAh less battery capacity. That means if you prefer a physical SIM card, you’ll also get a slightly weaker battery.
But how is its battery performance? 1 hour of Call of Duty reduces the charge by about 8% on the Pro Max, and 10% on the Pro. You can almost scroll through Instagram for 1 hour with this phone and only lose 7-8% of your charge. Watching 1 hour of YouTube video with VPN on and connected to WiFi will drain your battery by 6-7%. In the 3D Mark benchmark tests that the guys ran for 20 minutes, the heavier DMark benchmark, which is graphics-intensive, drained 10% of the battery, which shows that it has really improved compared to previous generations in terms of battery efficiency and the capacity it provides, and it can really compete with other flagships in terms of charging speed. In my opinion, one of the best battery performances on the Pro Max versions was on this phone that we worked with here, and you should also pay attention to this point. I will give you a complete summary in the e-SIM section. The best accessories for Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus

This is the first time that Apple supports a 40-watt charger. You can charge your phone to 50% in 20 minutes with Power Delivery, chargers that have Power Delivery. It takes about 1 hour and 4-5 minutes to fully charge, which is the fastest model we’ve ever seen in the history of iPhones, and I think this is an improvement for Apple, but not an improvement we’ve seen in Android phones before. Of course, you can fully charge the phone in an hour, but it won’t be full, it will be about 93-94% in an hour, so that’s still good. That is, you look at it as an improvement. On the other hand, you can also charge it wirelessly with Qi2 technology at 25 watts, which is also useful, meaning that its speed is more optimized, and in terms of overall charging and charging, I think it has a good improvement compared to its previous generation and can compete well with other flagships. You can really get a good charge from this phone in the Pro Max version. In the Pro version, for example, if your Pro Max screen time is 7 hours, in the Pro it is 5 and a half hours, and this is a bit annoying.

iPhone 17 Pro Max Camera Review

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The camera section is a bit complicated and simple. The important thing that has happened in the iPhone 17 Pro Max is that in the iPhone 17 Pro series, both the Pro and the Pro Max, there is no difference in terms of the camera. This is that all three of their lenses are now 48 megapixels. This gives you the opportunity to no longer see the loss of quality and loss of image quality when you want to switch. That is, from the point where you take half an X with the ultrawide sensor to the point where you cut it to 8X, which is optical quality, you see a single piece of material, some images are indistinguishable from each other. This is the biggest change.
The ultrawide sensor is a neat and tidy sensor like the previous generation, with a bit better quality that goes back to the processing that is done in it. We have already seen the main 48 megapixel sensor, it is the same sensor, but it really gives you better processing compared to the previous generation. The photos you take are sharper, the dynamic range is incredibly good. Xiaomi Poco X7 Pro Review

The telephoto sensor is now 48 megapixels, an almost two-fold improvement over its predecessor. It gives you 4x optical zoom. Previously, we had a 12 megapixel sensor on the 16 Pro Max that gave 5x optical zoom, now it’s 48 megapixels but gives you 4x optical zoom. At first glance, this is a regression, and it really is a regression. You have a larger sensor size, you may get more detail, but you can zoom less. Shouldn’t the telephoto give you more zoom? Well, it has reduced it. Now Apple has come up with a trick and says, you can use this 48 megapixel sensor to crop the middle of the sensor, I’ll record it for you, I’ll give you an 8x optical quality. That is, if you take a 4x photo with a 48-megapixel telephoto sensor and enlarge it 2x, you will not achieve the quality that Apple itself gives you with 8x. In fact, it has put a process in the middle of the 48-megapixel telephoto sensor and records it for you as 8x. In fact, it is digitally zooming on that 4x, but there is a process that has been put in place called optical quality and you can experience 8x.
But the range of photos that you can take with this phone is very cool. The focal length that is from 13 mm to 200 mm, the frames that you can close really open your hands, and this closeness of the type of images in all three sensors helps you to see everything that you see in the wide angle, the same type, the same color, and the same quality in the telephoto, and up to 8x it gives you really good detail. Of course, sometimes it happens that when you are taking a picture of a subject, it is 4x, 4x is clean, but suddenly, for example, you take a picture of an object, for example, a painting, it becomes something like that. That is, sometimes it happens that you run into trouble in that trap. You can zoom up to 40x, which is not much of a compliment at all.
Its photos are truly unique. Let’s move on to its videos. The videos it takes are amazing. Apple has always been the leader in videography. Now you can say that Vivo has arrived, Samsung, I don’t know, Xiaomi, Huawei, which is already ranked as a DxOMark. Each of these can speak for itself in photos, but in video, the iPhone can really shoot amazing videos in terms of stabilizer, dynamic range, and white balance, and you can get clear, sharp, and clean videos from it, which are now closer and more similar in all three sensors, ultrawide, wide, and telephoto. One thing that can be mentioned about the cameras of this phone is the better and more attractive portraits, which have been improved a lot compared to the previous generation. That is, the portrait photo it takes is much more beautiful, both the subject and its separation from the background, and the coincidences that occur in the background. Of course, there is one point: if your background is busy and a subject like a hand with 5 blades coming out of it like this, it sometimes gets blurry, but when you want to take a picture of a subject, the captured photos are very good. I can almost say that what’s happening in the camera is the same thing we saw in the 16 Pro Max, we saw in the 16 Pro, it’s just a little bit more optimized, a little bit better. What’s happening in the photo is 90% of the time the same thing we saw in the previous generation, now it’s a little bit more optimized here. Another thing that Apple has done this year is that there’s really less noise in low light, which means you can take much cleaner and clearer photos in low light. Another improvement that it’s made compared to the previous generation. But it has a few bugs, for example, when you’re shooting a video in low light, a light source, a series of light spots, light reflections are visible in the camera. I would say that it’s an optimized package that’s working in the best possible way. There’s no difference between the 17 Pro and the 17 Pro Max. They’re the same in photography and videography.

Now it has a Pro Res Video. This is how you can take the video you took and then correct the color and light. Then you can take the video you took with Pro Res and take it to Final Cut and even change the white balance and ISO. For example, if there is a dark image, if you take a ProRes, you can take it to Final Cut and give it color, give it light, and brighten that image. The point is that every minute you take in ProRes takes 6 GB. That is, ProRes is almost for those who pay 2000 dollars and get a 1 TB or 2 TB iPhone. If I take a 10 minute video with it, for example, it takes 6 GB. They usually maneuver it like this, saying, “This Pro Res takes log, takes raw, takes raw,” but I don’t think the size and heat it up is really worth it. There is no mention of 8K video recording, which I don’t think is really necessary.
Now why did I say the camera like this? Because I want to make a specialized video review of the camera soon with our own Amir Hossein for you, that is, a video in which we will completely examine the camera in all its parts, both in photography and videography. There you will get a nice idea of ​​what it is like, how many dead people. Now, in addition to this Pro Rose, there is a feature that you can, for example, put 20 iPhones next to each other and connect them, which is not useful for us.
But the 18-megapixel selfie sensor. This is the first time that Apple has put a sensor in the entire series. Both the 17, 17 Air, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max have the same sensor. What happens is that it is a square sensor that comes with a frame in the middle of the square sensor for you. That is, if you hold the phone vertically, it can take a vertical image for you, it can make it wider, it can make the vertical image horizontal. What you are seeing in the image now when taking a selfie is interesting, I think. For example, if you want to take a group selfie, now the sensor size is larger and gives you better detail. Of course, the detail is actually crappy from those sizes, but the detail is really better. The point is that it has a Center Stage that puts you in the middle of the photo. It used to be on the iPad, but now it’s on my iPhone, so for example, the camera can leave you out to some extent, which I find funny.

Review of the processing performance of the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max

In this section, we see the A19 Pro chip. It can be said that it is one of the best processors that the history of smartphones has ever seen. On the day this phone was introduced and the A19 Pro processor came out, the new fifth-generation Snapdragon processor had not yet arrived, but until then, this is the best processor you can have on your phone. Honor Play10 Review

This is exactly what happens in our tests. In the user environment, which is a joke. There are lags and bugs in the software, I’ll tell you. But in gaming, you can experience the lowest frame rate, the lowest level of instability, that is, the lowest level of stability, the lowest level of heating in the history of iPhones on this phone. One thing that happened in the hardware is that next to this A19 Pro, Apple has put a Vapor Chamber system for the first time. That means you have a vapor chamber for cooling. That is, a cooling system that has never been on any iPhone before. Apple probably guessed that this processor can produce a lot of heat due to its high power. This is why it put a cooling system and made it aluminum so that it can more easily dissipate heat from itself. This phone really works. In stability tests and stress tests, you really see the lowest level of stability drop on the Pro Max. In the 3D Mark tests and various benchmarks that the guys took, you see very little stability drop, which I think is ideal and this phone is one of the best phones even for gaming. It is very attractive because it gives you a good cooling system that does not heat up. Its temperature rarely rises above 40 degrees Celsius, even in the toughest environments you’re working on. It gives you a great screen, a good sound system and speakers. Its package is even ideal for gaming.

iPhone 17 Pro Max Software Review

But let’s move on to the user interface. After the introduction of these iPhones, Apple’s stock fell flat. That is, it dropped a lot. You probably saw the news. The reason was not that these iPhones are not good iPhones. The reason was that Apple did not say anything about AI. In other words, it bypassed AI 2 times 3 times and everyone said that sir, in a world where all phones have an artificial intelligence option, Apple has not yet given AI and promises next year. What does it want to do next year? The processor it put in is very suitable for AI tasks, but nothing has happened to it.
iOS 26 came to all iPhones at the same time as the launch of this phone, and it is also on this phone, but it seems that we still have to wait for iOS 26.1, which will fix these small bugs, of course, the bugs are usually not serious things, for example, when the phone and its screen are turned on, it takes a little while to charge the battery. Or when you’re texting someone, the frame around where the text is written suddenly turns white. For example, the light shadow of the logos on the black background sometimes looks a bit washed out. But anyway, it’s Apple and Apple has a strong ecosystem, and usually people who have been using iPhones for years and have been given an Android phone will get bored, they don’t have the patience for it.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max Speaker Review

Let’s move on to the speaker section. Not the last section because I’m going to give you some more explanations about eSIM. Apple usually has the best speaker. The sound is stereo. The bass seems to be a little less loud than previous generations, but the quality and resolution are really attractive.

iPhone 17 Pro Max eSim Review

Let’s move on to eSIM. ESIM is a very important issue. I myself said at first that it requires Apple’s permission. Then when I searched, it said that it doesn’t necessarily require Apple’s permission.
What is eSIM anyway? Instead of the physical SIM card you always had, now you have this SIM card in your phone. It’s so convenient. Instead of putting it in your phone yourself, this SIM card is in it. That means you don’t have to put it in yourself anymore. What data should this SIM card in it receive? Your operator should come and give you a code, a QR code, which you can set on the phone and your SIM card information will be on the phone. So it’s not too scary.
Now, when will the operators bring it, how will it come, can we make our previous SIM card an e-SIM? Should we go to (ZA/A) that takes one physical SIM card? Should we go to China (CH/A) that takes two physical SIM cards? Probably, the operator will bring it. When it comes, your problem will be solved. Now, whether you can change your old SIM card to e-SIM or you have to buy a new e-SIM card, it’s possible, but I won’t risk saying that it’s possible that I’ll be wrong later. It’s possible that it will come and you can use e-SIM and have more battery capacity.
But you know what, because it gives you one physical SIM card plus one e-SIM. Previously, this version took two physical SIM cards, now it takes one physical SIM card, and one e-SIM.. The Chinese part number takes two physical SIM cards, which have a smaller battery capacity. The e-SIM version doesn’t take any SIM cards, it gives you more battery capacity, but it’s still unclear when and by what method the e-SIMs will come.
Is the iPhone 17 Pro Max worth buying?
But let’s get to the conclusion. First, let me tell you in parts:

• Its design is tasteful, but it’s dangerous, it gets scratched.
• The screen is amazing, especially on the Pro Max, which is bigger. I love the bigger screen.
• The battery is really good. It has really improved in terms of charging and charging.
• The camera is amazing.
• The hardware is amazing.
  This iPhone is one of the best iPhones ever. But the point is that it is not very special compared to its previous generation. It is not like that. That’s why I said at the beginning of the video that the best iPhone ever, the worst to upgrade. Why? Because the iPhone 16 Pro Max, with this camera, is a bit weak only in telephoto mode. Its processor is a little weaker in benchmarks. Its screen is two-tenths of an inch smaller. Nothing has happened that you can say, “Wow, I’m going to get into it now.” I mean, it’s a cool feeling with a salty taste that if, for example, you want to go from the iPhone 14 to the previous one, it’s a good idea to upgrade.
  I think if you want to upgrade from the 13th or 14th generation, don’t go to the 16th, go to the 17th because it feels cool. Just put a frame on it. It doesn’t have a black color, that’s one of the drawbacks. I’m a black fan myself. You know what the problem is? The orange ones are cool, but when you hold them from the back, there’s an orange around the screen. I wanted to get the silver one, my screen is silver around the screen. Every time I pick up the phone, I see white, it’s not cool.
  So in the end, my conclusion about the 17 Pro series is that they are very good phones, but they are not worth upgrading from the 15th and 16th. They are iconic, cool, and important, and there is no bombshell in them. Share your thoughts with us in the comments. Do you think these iPhones are bombs or crackers?