Apple Announces iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max With New Design, Larger Battery, and More

Apple today introduced the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Both devices feature a new aluminum unibody design, with the Ceramic Shield now protecting both the front and back sides. Apple says the front side is now Ceramic Shield 2, which offers 3x better scratch resistance, while the rear Ceramic Shield is advertised as 4x more resistant to cracks compared to the back glass on previous iPhone models.

iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max have 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch displays, respectively, with a higher 3,000 nits of peak outdoor brightness and 2x better outdoor contrast.

A larger rear camera plateau houses three 48-megapixel Fusion cameras, and the antenna system now wraps around it. The upgraded Telephoto camera offers up to 8x optical zoom, which is up from the 5x limit on the iPhone 16 Pro models. Plus, there is now an 18-megapixel front camera with Center Stage support.

The optical zoom options available include 4x at 100mm, and 8x at 200mm. The camera system supports ProRes RAW, Apple Log 2, and genlock for multi-camera video syncing.

Other key features for these devices include an A19 Pro chip with a 6-core CPU and 6-core GPU for up to 40% faster sustained performance compared to iPhone 16 Pro models, a larger battery, a vapor chamber cooling system for improved thermal management, and an Apple-designed N1 chip for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread.

New color options include Silver, Deep Blue, and Cosmic Orange.

iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are eSIM-only in Bahrain, Canada, Guam, Japan, Kuwait, Mexico, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the U.S., and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to Apple. These models are equipped with an even larger battery that fills the space formerly occupied by the physical SIM card tray.

Apple says the iPhone 17 Pro Max offers the longest battery life of any iPhone model ever, with up to 39 hours of video playback per full charge.

In the U.S., the iPhone 17 Pro starts at $1,099 with 256GB of storage, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max starts at $1,199 with 256GB of storage. Pre-orders start Friday, September 12, ahead of deliveries to customers and in-store availability beginning Friday, September 19.

Both devices can be configured with an all-new 2TB storage capacity, which is an increase over the previous 1TB maximum.

There are new accessories, including a Crossbody Strap and TechWoven cases that are the spiritual successor to Apple's ill-received, discontinued FineWoven cases.

Apple also announced that iOS 26 will be released on Monday, September 15.Related Roundup: iPhone 17 ProTag: September 2025 Apple EventRelated Forum: iPhoneThis article, "Apple Announces iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max With New Design, Larger Battery, and More" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums