I tested the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s new telephoto lens and it blew me away

Macworld

Picture this: you are out and about with your iPhone Pro, spot a distant subject worth capturing, take out your smartphone, and switch to the telephoto lens—only to end up with a grainy mess that doesn’t do it justice. This was my overall experience with the iPhone’s telephoto camera over the past few years.

With the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max, Apple upgraded the telephoto sensor from 12MP to 48MP. I was skeptical, so I decided to test it myself and see whether this year’s highest-end iPhone finally addresses the camera zoom’s shortcomings. The best way was to grab my iPhone 16 Pro Max and 17 Pro Max and take the exact same shots side by side. Here’s what I found.

Getting started

Before we compare the two iPhones’ telephoto shots, there are a few things we need to break down. The iPhone 16 Pro Max’s 12MP sensor supports 5x optical zoom and up to 25x digital zoom, while the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s 48MP sensor offers 4x and 8x optical zoom options, with 40x max digital zoom.

The photos below were taken in the same spots with my iPhone 16 Pro Max and 17 Pro Max running the latest iOS 26.0 stable build. I used the default settings in Apple’s built-in Camera app on both phones, and the output was not edited, cropped, or manipulated in any way. The samples merely aim to expose the unprocessed power of each telephoto lens. You’re bound to get better results with either phone if you spend more time perfecting the composition and tweaking elements such as exposure, highlights, saturation, Photographic Styles, etc.

5x vs 4x: Portrait mode

Our journey starts in my apartment, where I was captured doodling on my iPad using Portrait mode. Unlike regular photos, Portrait mode with the telephoto lens limits you to 5x on the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Meanwhile, the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s preset zoom levels display 4x, but you can manually pinch to reach the hidden 5x value. Since many users opt for the preset zoom levels in Portrait mode, I shot at 5x and 4x using the two phones, respectively.

5x iPhone 16 Pro Max (left) vs 4x iPhone 17 Pro Max (right), Portrait Mode

The iPhone 16 Pro Max is clearly the winner in this round, as the colors look more vibrant and natural, and the blur effect is on point. Conversely, the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s shot looks washed out, and in certain cases—particularly around the Apple Pencil—the blur looks artificial and inaccurate. To be fair, Portrait mode is primarily designed for close-up subjects. Had I sat closer to the iPhones, the 17 Pro Max’s output would’ve been better.

25x vs 25x: iPhone 16 Pro Max limit

25x iPhone 16 Pro Max (left) vs 25x iPhone 17 Pro Max (right)

I then headed to the balcony to test the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s digital zoom limits. While the 17 Pro Max can go up to 40x, I set it to 25x to get the exact same shot and compare the quality. While you can tell in the first photo that you’re looking at a lighthouse, the details are distorted with a high amount of grain. The 17 Pro Max’s shot, on the other hand, is both brighter and cleaner.

25x vs 40x: iPhone 17 Pro Max limit

25x iPhone 16 Pro Max (left) vs 40x iPhone 17 Pro Max (right)

I was curious to see whether the iPhone 17 Pro Max shots similarly get noisy when opting for the 40x max zoom limit. Surprisingly, the iPhone 17 Pro’s zoom still manages to look more vibrant and clear than the iPhone 16 Pro at 25x, despite nearly twice the zoom distance.

5x vs 5x: Up close

5x iPhone 16 Pro Max (left) vs 5x iPhone 17 Pro Max (right)

For the next test, I set both phones’ cameras to 5x and photographed a framed display of the original iPhone. Despite the iPhone 16 Pro Max using its default optical zoom level, the output was still grainy and barely usable. The 17 Pro Max, in contrast, outputs legible text that you can easily read, and the framed parts look crisper.

5x vs 8x: Distance

5x iPhone 16 Pro Max (left) vs 8x iPhone 17 Pro Max (right)

Next, I walked to the Mediterranean Sea and shot beachgoers swimming and tanning at the max optical zoom for the two phones, 5x and 8x zoom levels. This is another obvious win for the iPhone 17 Pro Max, as the hues look more saturated, and the faraway humans are more detailed.

5x vs 8x: Up close

5x iPhone 16 Pro Max (left) vs 8x iPhone 17 Pro Max (right)

Then I tried the same zoom levels on a feline within close range. The iPhone 17 Pro Max’s output was similarly more lively than that of the iPhone 16 Pro Max. The newer sensor also produced sharper cat fur.

5x vs 4x: In the middle

5x iPhone 16 Pro Max (left) vs 8x iPhone 17 Pro Max (right)

On my way back home, I captured a mural using the 5x and 4x optical zooms. Like previous shots, the iPhone 17 Pro Max, yet again, output a vivid image with very little noise. For example, zooming in on the top-left pots reveals individual flowers in the 17 Pro Max shot. Meanwhile, the same spot in the 16 Pro Max looks like a jumbled color salad.

10x vs 10x: Low light

10x iPhone 16 Pro Max (left) vs 10x iPhone 17 Pro Max (right)

I ran back home to watch the sunset and share how the telephoto lenses perform in dimmer environments. I set the zoom to 10x on both iPhones, and the difference was like night and day. In the 16 Pro Max shot, the sky and sea are noticeably pixelated, and so is the sign towards the bottom right. With the iPhone 17 Pro Max, despite the challenging conditions, I was able to get a clean shot across the entire frame.

5x vs 8x: Night mode

For the final test, I went out at night and opted for the maximum optical zoom levels of 5x and 8x. I set Night mode to auto, which took 3.5-second and 2.6-second long exposure photos on the iPhone 16 Pro Max and 17 Pro Max. Beyond the different zooms, the two photos look quite similar in terms of color reproduction and detail preservation. This got me thinking—if Apple were to allow iPhone 16 Pro Max users to take long-exposure shots in the daytime, the output would similarly look less grainy in well-lit setups.

15x vs 24x: Video

I then wandered the streets of Beirut to run some outdoor tests. To evaluate the performance in the video department, I hit record on both phones and pinched to reach the 15x and 24x respective digital zoom limits. This is the only test that utilizes the ultra-wide and wide sensors on both phones, as the videos start at 0.5x zoom and gradually increase to hit the aforementioned limits. While you get a longer zoom range with the iPhone 17 Pro Max, the maximum 24x zoom level in video looks almost as grainy as that of the 16 Pro Max’s 15x.

The verdict

I’m pleasantly surprised by the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s telephoto lens. Not only does the optical zoom perform better than last year’s model, but the digital zoom has also eliminated noticeable pixelation—even when hitting the 40x limit.

Given that users now get 4x and 8x optical zoom levels, one can easily switch between the two based on the subject’s proximity. Including a 5x zoom shortcut in the preset selector, however, would be a welcome change for those accustomed to last year’s range. iOS already lets us easily switch between 1x, 1.2x, and 1.5x, so a future update could realistically introduce that.