Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max reviewed: the biggest and best

At 6.9 inches, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is easily one of the biggest phones around. But armed with an impressive camera and system spec, it may also be one of the best.

Phones may well be much bigger than they’ve ever been, but big phones are not created equal. A phone can be large and bring a sizeable screen and equally big battery, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get an amazing handset with solid performance and camera alongside.

Sometimes size doesn’t suggest something especially solid, though it can.

In the case of the iPhone Pro Max range, however, Apple has long provided pretty much everything you could want in a big phone, joining the rest of the iPhone range with the biggest and brightest.

Often the best of the best for the brand, the Pro Max model marries the biggest screen to the biggest battery, while still delivering the best chip, camera, and feature set to the handset.

It’s no wonder that year after year, the Pro Max is often the best iPhone you can find.

In recent years, however, the big Pro Max model and the slightly smaller Pro model have been pretty much identical if not for the screen and battery. The features are so similar, you might struggle to work out what’s different.

With this year’s iPhone 17 Pro Max, that continues, as Apple simply offers a bigger excellent pro-level iPhone with more battery life.

Is that enough to push the 17 Pro Max into pole position, and can it keep the handset going for years, making it a several year phone purchase, rather than needing an update annually?

Design

There’s a new big iPhone every year, but for the past few, the design has largely stayed the same. Three cameras in the top left at the back and a slight wobble when left on a surface has been something of the design for Apple’s Pro Max models, like it has the slightly smaller Pro variation.

In 2025, that changes.

With the iPhone 17 Pro Max, Apple is keeping the front and the side of the Pro Max the same, but shifting strategy on the back, almost borrowing a page from Google’s Pixel Pro XL models with its camera bar, but expanding the look even more so.

That means you get a changed back, and the knowledge that this year you definitely need a new phone case if you want to upgrade to a new phone, though the 17 Pro Max cases also work on last year’s 16 Pro Max phones.

The design you get is similar but different, with a shift from titanium last year to aluminium this year, anodised and featuring a colour, which in our iPhone 17 Pro Max review unit was that almost rusty orange Apple introduced.

Like the iPhone 17 Pro we reviewed before this, the look is a little different, but very easy on the eyes, with Apple’s typically excellent industrial design at play once again, and a thickness of 8.75mm.

It’s a little thicker than last year’s 8.25mm iPhone 16 Pro Max, but not enough for people to notice. We’re not talking a full millimetre here, and the weight of 231 grams isn’t as huge increase on last year’s 227 gram phone, so it’s not as if your pants will notice the change.

Features

A little thicker and a little heavier, the new phone sports an updated feature set and processor not unlike its 17 Pro sibling, hardly a surprise given they share so much. About the only change this year is the battery and screen size, both of which are larger in the 17 Pro Max because it’s the “max” model.

They both rely on Apple’s latest spot of hardware, the A19 Pro processor running a 6-core CPU and 6-core GPU, complete with a 16-core Neural Engine for AI functionality.

You’ll also find an assortment of three cameras on the back in this model, made up of a 48 megapixel F2.2 ultra-wide, 48 megapixel F1.78 wide, and a 48 megapixel 4X telephoto.

That entire stack of cameras is called the “48MP Pro Fusion camera system” because it’s three cameras working together with Apple’s Fusion system, complete with its Photonic Engine and Deep Fusion, a combination of algorithmic and software stacks designed to process images clearly.

Support for 4K video is found here, complete with up to 120fps for 4K capture and up to 240fps for slow motion Full HD, though you can also capture 8 megapixel images while capturing video, and record video with spatial audio. There’s also support for ProRAW and ProRes RAW depending on how “pro” you want to go, as well as Log, Academy Colour Encoding, and more.

At the front is a new camera, though, the previous 12 megapixel FaceTime HD camera replaced by the 18 megapixel head-tracking Centre Stage selfie camera, offering up an aperture of F1.9 and 4K video, too.

Apple also has a new hardware stack for wireless connections, covering 5G, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be WiFi 7, Bluetooth 6, GPS, Near-Field Communication (NFC) for Apple Pay, and Ultra Wideband radio for AirTags. Apple’s new N1 wireless networking chip is part of that stack, providing WiFi, Bluetooth, and Thread in the one chip.

Oh, and USB-C can be found at the bottom, supporting 10Gbps data over USB 3 and DisplayPort, while also offering wired charging. If you don’t want to use wireless charging, that’s here, too, supported by Qi2 25W and MagSafe.

As usual, some of the Apple staples are here, including Face ID security, emergency SOS, crash detection, satellite connectivity, Apple Find My, Thread support, and dual SIM using either two eSIM or a nanoSIM and eSIM collectively.

Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro Max is also rated for durability, supporting a rating of IP68 for water and dust resistance, with Apple’s first-gen Ceramic Glass protecting the back of the phone, which is otherwise made from aluminium and glass.

Display

The other big feature is the display, which sits atop all of this.

One of the largest phone screens around, the iPhone 17 Pro Max provides a 6.9 inch OLED display running the resolution of 2868×1320. That screen is an “always-on” model running between 1 and 120Hz (you’ll see 1Hz when the phone is on standby), complete with Apple’s “dynamic island” sitting in the top centre.

The screen itself is bright and clear, offering up to 3000 nits peak brightness outside, but you’ll also find it fairly protected, with a layer of the newly improved Ceramic Glass 2 protecting the screen.

In-use

The specs might have changed, but nothing about how you use this generation of the iPhone does.

As usual, there’s a big bright 6.9 inch touchscreen, support for Apple’s ProMotion technology which stops the screen down to 1Hz to show your wallpaper as an always-on display with notifications, a slightly customisable action button where the mute switch used to be, and a camera controller on the right side as well, last year’s contribution to the iPhone control scheme which isn’t always the preferred way to use the camera.

You don’t have to use these extras if you don’t want, and can just push and prod and touch the iPhone 17 Pro Max as you might expect; it’s an iPhone and easy to use.

Apple provides home screen customisation aplenty with more control for icon placement, widgets, and even a way to ensure icons don’t have to line up in an annoyingly perfect grid, much like Android has offered for years.

It’s probably among the best approach to customisation you can find in phones today, giving users the choice to make their phones the way they want to do it.

Performance

There’s virtually nothing about using the phone that changes, but the performance increase between the new A19 Pro processor and pretty much anything that came before it is definitely noticeable.

A good seven generations of tracking iPhone Pro Max models in our benchmarks shows the increase year on year, and this year’s model has the best performance of the lot.

Whether you’re upgrading from an old iPhone or just buying a brand new one, the performance is definitely there, thanks in part to a better processor and more memory, both of which the 17 Pro Max offers compared to its predecessors.

Interestingly, though, the performance gains go beyond simply comparing older iPhones.

While the story of comparing an Apple phone to an Android is almost a literal example of comparing apples and oranges (thanks in part to how different the operating systems and hardware can be), benchmarks showing this year’s iPhone 17 Pro Max compared against other large flagships paint a picture of Apple in the lead, as well.

Synthetic benchmarks don’t always send the right message, mind you; while the iPhone is out ahead in front of every other flagship comparatively in the above benchmark, each one of these performances excellently when used individually, even the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL which seemingly stutters through its graphical benchmark.

However, the comparison is impossible to look past, showing just how strong the iPhone 17 Pro Max is as a mobile, and sending a different message altogether: this phone should keep you going for years to come.

It’s a similar result for 5G performance, which saw speeds as high as 567Mbps in our tests on the Telstra network by way of Belong mobile in Sydney, Australia (before Belong’s speed limiter kicked in).

That means anyone with a decent connection should be able to get capable speeds out of 17 Pro Max, with the phone able to deliver high speeds from a 5G internet connection. Nice.

Camera

The chip isn’t the only increase under the hood, with changes to the camera, as well. You’d notice that clearly from the design change, and that new camera bar, but you’d never really realise it simply eye-balling Apple’s three camera approach over the past few years.

However, the specs have changed and the sensors with them, as each camera in Apple’s three-camera array now supports 48 megapixels. That’s 48 megapixels for the 0.5X ultra-wide, 48 megapixels for the 1X wide standard camera, and 48 megapixels for the new 4X telephoto replacing last year’s 12 megapixel 5X camera.

This combination allows Apple to do some interesting things.

For instance, you can now capture in both 24 and 48 megapixels regardless of the sensor, the Fusion camera system Apple operates now has the same megapixels assortment across the board, increasing quality.

Perhaps more interestingly is how Apple now blends the difference between focal lengths in the camera.

You see, because a phone lens doesn’t move in and out physically, there’s no actual mechanical zoom happening, so camera makers like Apple have to make up the difference with extra cameras on the phone. But in the 17 Pro Max (and the 17 Pro, too), Apple is using a trick of cropping the sensor to get extra zoom lengths, something Leica also uses in its Q compact cameras that also use a fixed lens instead of something with manual or mechanical zoom.

It means that when you capture at 1X on the 48 megapixel wide iPhone camera, you can also crop to 2X at 12 megapixels. And when you capture at 4X on the 48 megapixel telephoto iPhone camera, you can also crop to 8X at 12 megapixels there, as well. This approach gives you a little more range to work with, effectively allowing you to zoom in, even if you lack a zoom lens, so to speak.

As a result, the range and versatility of the phone is quite solid, providing great wide angle shots and lovely close photos, as well.

In daylight, images are sharp, bright, and clear, while night time doesn’t lose any of that really, either. Apple’s excellent photo processing system delivers consistently solid images, whether you’re capturing a simple photo of family and friends, expanding it with a portrait photo, or getting up close and personal with details and the phone’s telephoto camera or macro lens.

Spending more time with the camera also shows you just how capable the image processing system really can be.

Macros that offer plenty of clarity when you pay them the time and patience macro photography really deserves, and black and white photography thanks to Apple’s improvements to its “styles” modifier, giving you a little more control over colour, tonality, and in this case, monochrome.

We’re still not at the point where the iPhone can really rival a proper camera, let alone a black and white marvel like one of Leica’s dedicated monochrome cameras (a “Monochrom”), but for those of us who can’t afford one of those models, the iPhone’s style mode offers plenty to work with.

Not only do you get a versatile and capable camera system that can capture lovely black and whites, but it can also store the original editable file for its eventual return to colour, should you want that, too.

Event the front-facing Centre Stage selfie camera setup of an 18 megapixel front-facing camera that can shift its orientation and framing to match your face

Apple has developed such a lovely camera system with the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Battery

It’s not just a great camera system, but a great battery, too.

Tested over several weeks, we found the iPhone 17 Pro Max battery would typically last well over a day of use, often needing a charge into the second day.

Your usage will depend on how often you lean on the hardware, with the screen, GPS, and camera eating into the battery life severely based on what you do, and how you use the phone.

For instance, while our battery tests typically delivered to 6 to 8 hours of screen time when using the 17 Pro Max, there were times when it would need a charge even earlier, largely because we were using the GPS more.

In regular day-to-day testing, most users will likely want to charge nightly, but the point with this phone is that you may not need to. We found you can totally get by in regular use over two days of intermittent use, with that battery life delivering 7-ish hours of active screen time.

Apple’s own testing suggests closer to between 33 and 37 hours if possible with the 17 Pro Max, but our testing couldn’t verify either of those claims, both of which are testing using media from the Apple store.

However, our BatteryBench test delivered one of the best results of the year in testing, achieving a runtime of nearly 26 hours, beating the nearly 24 of its iPhone 17 Pro sibling.

Sufficed to say, there’s a lot of battery life here, and should you need to top it up, there’s also support for both wired and wireless charging.

Value

The price is where things get complex, because the combination of great camera, screen, design, and battery isn’t necessarily going to come cheap, starting in Australia from over the $2K price.

Yes, in Australia, the iPhone 17 Pro Max 256GB model is priced from $2199 in Australia and $2549 in New Zealand, making it one of the more expensive phones you can find to date. Granted the starting price isn’t as high as say the nearly-$3K Samsung Galaxy Fold 7 starting price, but over $2K isn’t a cheap price for a phone in either country.

That said, while the price is high, the argument for value is complex because this phone is clearly one of the best devices you can find. This year, it is easily one of the best phones, not just one of the best big phones.

There’s so much going for the iPhone 17 Pro Max. Its price may stop you, but its feature set and capabilities will keep you going. It’s a stellar device.

What needs work?

Outside of price, there’s not a lot that the iPhone 17 Pro Max fails with, if anything.

The omission of titanium is a bit of a point, but not one that you’ll probably get angry about. Apple’s design is lovely in aluminium, and the increase in weight is only by a few grams, so you won’t notice it at all.

About the only other concern we have is the long-term durability, a factor we’ve noted on the iPhone 17 Pro review.

Simply put, Apple’s approach to the colours may be easier to scratch in this generation, making us wonder what our orange 17 Pro Max will look like in a year’s time, or maybe even two, if there’s no case.

Most owners will case up (much like Barney Stinson’s “suit up” phrase), and so hopefully won’t have to deal with this. Adding a case also helps balance out the back and prevent wobble, too, so there’s that.

Right now, it’s really the omission of titanium that makes the 17 Pro Max feel less premium, sharing aluminium with the lower priced standard iPhone 17.

What we love

But the niggle of missing titanium isn’t an issue in the grand scheme of things.

The phone feels absolutely and utterly lovely in the hands, and even manages to rest on surfaces better than its predecessors did.

The camera bar makes a big difference, and the cases help to keep the whole thing flat. This phone doesn’t wobble, at least not in the most obvious ways other iPhones did. Certainly not in the ways most Android phones have to deal with.

Overall, Apple has made what appears to be the perfect big phone, with absolutely no compromises whatsoever.

Yes, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is pricey. Every “Pro” iPhone is, and while this is the first time an iPhone has approached the $4000 mark, it’s highly unlikely many will upgrade to the 2TB model costing that much (and if they did, this phone would keep them going for several years, anyway).

We’re not going to justify charging that much for a phone, but a 2TB model isn’t going to be the model most people opt for. Indeed, it wasn’t even the model Apple sent; we’re reviewing the 1TB model, and there’s no difference in specs between the variations.

What we can say, however, is that while the iPhone 17 Pro Max is on the pricey side, the hardware is easily at the top of its game.

Final thoughts (TLDR)

Like the smaller iPhone 17 Pro, the 17 Pro Max is the same tech with more battery life, achieving more or less the same value argument, but with a little extra in the tank. And for many, that’s what will count as the main conclusion, delivering the best features with the best battery life an iPhone owner can hope for.

There are some catches, of course, and your usage will determine whether or not you even get that full 1.5 day battery life.

Use the phone more, and you’ll likely see less, like we did when we pushed the GPS and camera more on a holiday. Use the phone less, however, and the battery life could be even better. After a few updates, it just might be, anyway.

But right now, the 17 Pro Max is a handset itching to deliver years of life.

If you love a big phone and the best camera around, the iPhone 17 Pro Max has your name on it, delivering the biggest and best in the brightest way.