The iPhone 17 Professional Max has a brand new design, main digital camera upgrades, a great deal of energy, a vapor chamber, and a number of the greatest battery life you may discover in a cellphone, although the display hasn’t been modified a lot.
Execs
- Helpful digital camera upgrades
- A vapor chamber
- Very good battery life
Cons
- Little change to the display
- New design may very well be divisive
- Greater and heavier than iPhone 16 Professional Max
The iPhone 16 Professional Max stays an outstanding smartphone, with extra energy than most customers will want and good all-round specs. However its cameras, efficiency, and battery life cannot match that of the iPhone 17 Professional Max.
Execs
- Iconic design
- Very highly effective
- Nice display
Cons
- Solely a 12MP telephoto digital camera
- No vapor chamber
- No 2TB mannequin
iPhones do not all the time get enormous upgrades over their predecessors, however Apple has actually shaken issues up this yr, making a number of the largest adjustments to the lineup in a very long time.
Certain, there aren’t any new buttons this time round, however the iPhone 17 Professional Max has had a visible overhaul from the iPhone 16 Professional Max, and there are even greater adjustments behind the scenes.
So is the iPhone 17 Professional Max price upgrading to? Or must you stick to the iPhone 16 Professional Max? Beneath, we’ll take a more in-depth have a look at how these two telephones examine, that can assist you make that call.
iPhone 17 Professional Max vs iPhone 16 Professional Max: specs comparability
You’ll discover a detailed have a look at the specs and options of those telephones beneath – together with their costs – however first, right here’s only a temporary overview of their specs sheets, so you possibly can see how they examine at a look.
| Header Cell – Column 0 | iPhone 17 Professional Max | iPhone 16 Professional Max |
|---|---|---|
Dimensions and weight: | 163.4 x 78 x 8.8mm, 233g | 163 x 77.6 x 8.3mm, 227g |
Show: | 6.9-inch 120Hz | 6.9-inch 120Hz |
Peak brightness: | 3,000 nits | 2,000 nits |
Chipset: | A19 Professional | A18 Professional |
RAM: | 12GB | 8GB |
Rear cameras: | 48MP huge, 48MP ultra-wide, 48MP telephoto | 48MP huge, 48MP ultra-wide, 12MP telephoto |
Entrance digital camera: | 18MP | 12MP |
Battery: | 5,088mAh / 4,832mAh | 4,685mAh |
Storage: | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB |
iPhone 17 Professional Max vs iPhone 16 Professional Max: worth and availability
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The iPhone 17 Professional Max was out there from September 19, although on the time of writing you is perhaps ready longer than that, because it’s in excessive demand.
The iPhone 16 Professional Max, in the meantime, launched in September of 2024, however Apple has now discontinued it, so you possibly can’t purchase it from Apple direct. Shopping for it new from retailers continues to be doable proper now, nevertheless it may change into more and more difficult over the following few months until you are joyful to have a look at pre-owned or refurbished items.
As for the associated fee, the iPhone 17 Professional Max begins at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,149, for which you get 256GB of storage. You can even pay $1,399 / £1,399 / AU$2,599 for 512GB of storage, $1,599 / £1,599 / AU$2,999 for 1TB of storage, or $1,999 / £1,999 / AU$3,799 for 2TB of storage.
The iPhone 16 Professional Max begins at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,149, which once more will get you 256GB of storage. So the beginning worth is an identical – although in apply you could properly have the ability to discover the iPhone 16 Professional Max for much less, if you will discover it new in any respect.
If you happen to transfer up the value brackets then the iPhone 16 Professional Max’s pricing stays an identical to that of the iPhone 17 Professional Max, outdoors Australia at the least, the place the brand new cellphone is barely dearer. Although word that the iPhone 16 Professional Max tops out at 1TB of storage, so you possibly can’t get a 2TB mannequin.
Winner: tie – until you will discover the 16 Professional Max for much less (or already personal it!)
iPhone 17 Professional Max vs iPhone 16 Professional Max: design
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The obvious distinction between these telephones is their designs, because the iPhone 17 Professional Max has a redesigned again. Right here, you get a big digital camera bump working throughout the width of the rear, whereas on the iPhone 16 Professional Max there’s a smaller digital camera housing within the top-left nook.
The highest half of the rear and the perimeters of the iPhone 17 Professional Max are aluminum, with a glass panel on the underside half of the again – whereas the entire rear of the iPhone 16 Professional Max is glass, and its sides are titanium.
From the entrance, although, the 2 telephones look much more comparable, as they each have a flat display with a Dynamic Island on the prime. Each telephones even have an Motion button and a Digicam Management key.
Their weights and dimensions do differ, although, with the iPhone 17 Professional Max coming in at 163.4 x 78 x 8.8mm and 233g, whereas the iPhone 16 Professional Max is 163 x 77.6 x 8.3mm and 227g. So Apple’s newer cellphone is barely taller, wider, thicker, and heavier.
The colours additionally differ, with the iPhone 17 Professional Max being offered in Silver, Cosmic Orange, and Deep Blue shades, whereas the iPhone 16 Professional Max is obtainable in Black Titanium, White Titanium, Pure Titanium, and Desert Titanium.
Some much less seen design components embody their water and mud resistance, with each telephones having an IP68 ranking, and the safety on their screens, with the iPhone 16 Professional Max utilizing Ceramic Protect whereas the iPhone 17 Professional Max makes use of Ceramic Protect 2 – which is alleged to supply 3 times higher scratch resistance.
These are each good trying telephones and will probably be subjective which you favor, with our iPhone 17 Professional Max overview describing it as having “a recent, presumably divisive look” and our iPhone 16 Professional Max overview praising its “iconic design with wonderful supplies.”
Nonetheless, whereas the appears to be like themselves are down to private choice, the development in scratch-resistance alone offers the brand new cellphone a slight benefit right here.
Winner: iPhone 17 Professional Max
iPhone 17 Professional Max vs iPhone 16 Professional Max: show
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The iPhone 17 Professional Max and iPhone 16 Professional Max each have 6.9-inch 1320 x 2868 OLED screens with a 120Hz refresh charge and 460 pixels per inch decision.
Each have a Dynamic Island, each assist always-on show, and each have a 2,000,000:1 distinction ratio. So there’s actually little or no to decide on between them on this entrance.
Nevertheless, they’re not fairly an identical. You see, whereas the iPhone 16 Professional Max’s peak outside brightness is 2,000 nits, the iPhone 17 Professional Max will increase that to three,000 nits. On prime of that, the iPhone 17 Professional Max additionally has a brand new anti-reflective coating on its display.
The result’s that the newer cellphone’s show ought to look much less washed out in shiny daylight, and may decide up fewer reflections.
There hasn’t been a lot in the way in which of display upgrades in any other case, however that’s okay – as a result of they weren’t actually wanted. As our iPhone 17 Professional Max overview has it “pictures pop and blacks are as inky and darkish as you’d hope they’d be”.
Winner: iPhone 17 Professional Max
iPhone 17 Professional Max vs iPhone 16 Professional Max: cameras
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Whereas the iPhone 17 Professional Max’s display hasn’t had many upgrades, its cameras actually have. This cellphone has a 48 MP f/1.6 predominant digital camera (additionally able to optical-quality 2x zoom images), a 48MP f/2.2 ultra-wide digital camera with a 120-degree discipline of view, and a 48MP f/2.8 telephoto digital camera able to 4x optical zoom or 8x optical-quality zoom. The place we point out ‘optical-quality’, that’s achieved by cropping into the sensor.
The iPhone 17 Professional Max additionally has an 18MP f/1.9 front-facing digital camera with a brand new Middle Stage characteristic that may rotate between portrait or panorama photographs as wanted, with out you having to alter the angle you maintain the cellphone at.
The iPhone 16 Professional Max has comparable 48MP predominant and ultra-wide cameras, however its telephoto snapper is simply 12MP, and might solely take images at 5x optical zoom. Its selfie digital camera can also be simply 12MP, and lacks the Middle Stage characteristic. However each telephones can document video in as much as 4K high quality at as much as 120fps.
So the iPhone 17 Professional Max is a considerable improve when it comes to its telephoto and front-facing cameras, and our overview described this as “Apple’s greatest digital camera array ever”. The iPhone 16 Professional Max isn’t any slouch right here both, after all, with our overview of that saying it has “an important array of lenses” – however the 17 Professional Max does beat it general.
Winner: iPhone 17 Professional Max
iPhone 17 Professional Max vs iPhone 16 Professional Max: efficiency and software program
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You’d count on a brand new iPhone to be extra highly effective than an older one, and such is the case right here, however the upgrades are literally even larger than normal.
First, there’s the bit you’d count on: the iPhone 17 Professional Max has a brand new A19 Professional chipset, instead of the iPhone 16 Professional Max’s A18 Professional. This offers the generational improve in efficiency you’d count on, however the iPhone 17 Professional Max additionally has extra RAM, with 12GB quite than 8GB, and it contains a vapor chamber which helps hold it cool – thereby permitting it to maintain peak efficiency for longer.
So the iPhone 17 Professional Max is a significantly highly effective handset, with our overview describing it as “quick and efficient in each situation”. That mentioned, the iPhone 16 Professional Max continues to be a really highly effective cellphone even a yr on from launch, so until you’ve actually high-end efficiency calls for, you won’t discover a lot distinction.
You shouldn’t discover any distinction within the software program, both, as each of those telephones run iOS 26 – although the iPhone 17 Professional Max will most likely obtain software program updates for one yr longer than the iPhone 16 Professional Max now will.
Winner: iPhone 17 Professional Max
iPhone 17 Professional Max vs iPhone 16 Professional Max: battery
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Whereas Apple doesn’t element the capability of its telephones’ batteries, certifications have revealed that the iPhone 17 Professional Max has a 5,088mAh cell within the US and a 4,832mAh one elsewhere. The distinction is as a result of the cellphone is eSIM-only within the US, so there’s area for a bigger battery.
The iPhone 16 Professional Max, in the meantime, has a 4,685mAh battery wherever you purchase it, so it’s a decrease capability, and that interprets to worse life.
Apple claims the iPhone 17 Professional Max will final for as much as 37 hours of video playback between costs, whereas the determine for the iPhone 16 Professional Max is 33 hours.
Our personal assessments equally discovered that the brand new mannequin lasts longer, and it costs sooner too, with a 40W or increased charger in a position to juice it to 50% in round 20 minutes, whereas the iPhone 16 Professional Max will take round 35 minutes to succeed in the identical stage of cost.
However whereas the iPhone 17 Professional Max is the clear winner for battery life, the iPhone 16 Professional Max nonetheless has many telephones beat, so neither handset ought to disappoint on this entrance.
Winner: iPhone 17 Professional Max
iPhone 17 Professional Max vs iPhone 16 Professional Max: verdict
This might not be an enormous shock, however the iPhone 17 Professional Max is an improve over the iPhone 16 Professional Max in each class above apart from worth, with all the things from its chipset to its RAM, its cameras, its display brightness, and its battery life all improved over the earlier mannequin. Plus there’s the brand new vapor chamber, which ought to enhance efficiency.
The show hasn’t been massively upgraded, admittedly, and the brand new design may show divisive, however in most methods the brand new mannequin is a greater cellphone, and Apple hasn’t even needed to elevate the value to attain this.
Whether or not it’s price shopping for if you have already got the iPhone 16 Professional Max is extra debatable, and also you would possibly need to learn our full iPhone 17 Professional Max overview earlier than deciding. However of the 2 it’s clearly the higher cellphone, and for those who’re rocking a handset that’s a number of years previous then upgrading to the iPhone 17 Professional Max ought to make an evening and day distinction.
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