. I thought I’d never say that. It’s up to the mercyless test of time to see how good this flagship will be in real life, but right now, things look more than OK on paper.
I’m often accused of being a CCP agent – the way I praise Chinese phones is too much to handle for some, I guess. Others say I’m an Apple hater who disregards iPhones out of pure spite.
Both charges are wrong – the CCP doesn’t pay me (or they’ve forgotten to send me the bank account details), and is Apple’s phones are not unusable. I just think it’s funny how the company that practically ignited the smartphone boom allowed itself to lag behind the competition with pathetic 60Hz screen refresh rates, laughable batteries and slow charging speeds, 12 MP tiny camera sensors on flagships and whatnot – for years.
that excel in terms of battery, camera, gaming capabilities, or whatnot. We’ll mention those below.
Obviously, this article is only for those of you deep in the Apple cult. If you can’t detach yourself from Cupertino, you might as well just make the right decision: that’s the way I see it.
So, if you need the best Apple pocket monster in 2025, don’t waste time on the paper-thin iPhone Air, the vanilla iPhone 17 or even the smaller iPhone 17 Pro. No, you need the 17 Pro Max.
. In all honesty, I was expecting the
to arrive at $1,300 (at least), given that everything else has been getting more expensive, too. Apple is playing a game here and the maxed-out flagship stays at $1,199 – just like its predecessor.
The very first Pro Max model – the iPhone 11 Pro Max from 2019 – was sold for $1,249 for the 256 GB variant. Since then, the price has been $1,199.
Now, let’s play a game: in what year – 2019 or 2025 – could $1,200 buy you more groceries, for example? Could it be the case that today’s $1,200 doesn’t have the same value as six years ago?
Sure, $1,199 is still a lot of money, inflation or not. There are amazing ~$700 Android flagships that will make you happy beyond belief.
But we’re not talking about those. We’re talking about the iPhone 17 Pro Max. So let’s see what you’re getting for $1,199.
Battery and charging
Image by Apple
I’m a fan of tools and gadgets that don’t die on you, gasping for a charger in the most inconvenient of times.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max was already great on the battery front in our in-house PhoneArena testing, but the iPhone 17 Pro Max is going to push the envelope. Of course, Apple doesn’t share official mAh numbers with the rest of us, but there are indications that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will be offered in these two distinct variants:
- iPhone 17 Pro Max – 4,823 mAh
- iPhone 17 Pro Max (eSIM) – 5,088mAh
So, if you want to get the absolute best in terms of iPhone battery, be sure to snag an eSIM-only variant.
Yes, there are 6,000 and 7,000 mAh monsters from China – like the Vivo X200 Ultra, the cameraphone that topped our battery score list several months ago.
But a ~5,000 mAh iPhone is sensational, since Apple is known for its power-efficiency software solutions.
To make things even better, there’ll be a faster charging, too. Sure, it won’t get to crazy 100W speeds like the Chinese flagships offer, but “faster” sounds way better than “the same”.
Camera goodness: that telephoto, though!
Image by Apple
Finally, we have all three cameras on the back of the iPhone utilizing 48 MP sensors.
While there are camera-centric champions like the Xiaomi 15 Ultra or the Oppo Find X8 Ultra that sport a huge 1-inch sensor in their setups – and the iPhone 17 Pro Max doesn’t – Apple’s newcomer looks like a serious tool.
Again, this isn’t the best cameraphone of them all, this is the best iPhone camera right now.
Obviously, compromises have to be made with the 17 Pro Max, but they won’t be as grave as with the 16 Pro Max or any other iPhone.
Why? Because there’s a 56% larger sensor for the 48 MP dedicated camera – coming from the iPhone 16 Pro Max and its 12 MP telephoto, that’s a huge win.
What’s more, the zoom on the new model is now sporting an updated 4x zoom lens (100mm equivalent focal length), that can go to 8x (200mm) via sensor crop-in. 4x is cool for portraits and street telephoto, while the 8x is reserved for wildlife and other specific scenarios.
Image by Apple
On the front, there’s a new sensor, too. It’s got a great new feature on it. It’s probably simple-minded to celebrate it, but here it is. Are you ready? The new front-facing camera allows you to take landscape-oriented selfies while holding the phone vertically.
It’s not a serious “pro” argument, but there you have it. It’s handy. This new Center Stage functionality is made possible by utilizing a square sensor that allows you to shoot both in portrait and in landscape orientation.
Vapor chamber and A19 Pro chip
Image by Apple
For the first time, Apple offers a custom vapor chamber that improves thermal efficiency and performance. Inside, deionized water circulates within a laser-welded aluminum chassis, pulling heat away from the A19 Pro chipset and spreading it evenly through the unibody to keep the device cool and comfortable.This setup lets Apple’s beast of a chip go all out without breaking a sweat, sustaining up to 40% better performance than the previous A18 Pro silicon.
The A19 Pro itself features a 6-core CPU, the “fastest ever” in a smartphone (hey, Apple’s claim, not mine), and a 6-core GPU with built-in Neural Accelerators, expanded cache, and additional memory. I’m personally interested in the A19 Pro’s power efficiency gains. Working with the new 16-core Neural Engine, the GPU supports demanding AI tasks, advanced graphics, and console-level gaming with hardware-accelerated ray tracing.
With the vapor chamber keeping things chill, the A19 Pro should hit real hard.
New design: yay or nay? As long as it’s new, it doesn’t matter
Image by Apple
Though I’m able to enjoy and appreciate the beauty in life – as rare as it happens to stumble upon it – I personally don’t care how a phone looks. Yeah, I know, pretty heretic, given that I work for PhoneArena. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice if a phone looks cool – like the Galaxy S24 Ultra, for example – it’s just that design is nothing more than a bonus for me.
If the phone looks and performs great – cool. If it just performs great, but looks like garbage – cool, again. I’m not going to sweat it over the geometry of a thing that stays in my pocket most of the time.
That’s why I won’t argue with any of you if you say the iPhone 17 Pro Max is the ugliest phone ever. There’s a redesign present and a “plateau” on the back – that’s what Apple calls the new huge camera island, which is as big as the Vatican.
I have no problem with the plateau; more importantly, I think it’s nice for Apple to offer fresh designs.
Is that the one for you?
Image by Apple
OK, you need a new iPhone: why not get the iPhone 17 Pro Max? You won’t have to worry about battery life, about having an inferior telephoto camera or a device that runs really hot.
Oh, it’s expensive? Yeah, I know.
But $1,200 in 2025 is so much “cheaper” than $1,200 in 2019.
By the way, the smaller (non-Max model) iPhone 17 Pro is out of the picture. I don’t recommend it. For just $100 more (the 17 Pro starts at $1,099) you get a large screen that’s great for editing on the go.
What about me? Was I really an Apple hater? Am I an Apple fanboy now?
No, and… no.
I just like to criticize and praise. Preferably – in the same breath. And Apple provides me with lots and lots of opportunities to do just that.
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