Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max review: Debatable design, undeniable performance

Best Prices Today: Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max

Apple flipped the script a little with its iPhone launch this year. Usually, we get a regular iPhone model, a Plus and a couple of new iPhone Pro models. This time around, the Plus has been swapped for a new super slim iPhone Air and the two iPhone 17 Pros have had a design overhaul. 

That fresh design is a little like Marmite. You might love it, and most people I ask seem to. Or, like me, you might feel a little uneasy about the dual-texture finish and miss the sleek look of the previous iPhone Pro. If you’re looking for the best of everything Apple has to offer from its smartphones though, the iPhone 17 Pro models are it.

With a starting price of £1,199 for the iPhone 17 Pro Max however, and a top price of £1,999 if you opt for the new 2TB model, is Apple’s biggest and best iPhone worth the money? I’ve been using it since before it went on sale and this is what I’ve learned.

Design & Build

• Aluminium frame with glass, IP68 rated
• 231g; 8.75mm thick
• Ceramic Shield 2 front, Ceramic Shield back

The Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max looks very different to its predecessor. Over the last few weeks, it’s grown on me, though I do think it’s a more masculine and rugged design, and it looks as though it already has a case on it. As a result, it certainly appears more ‘Pro’ but I personally prefer the subtlety and elegance of the iPhone Air and the regular iPhone 17. 

Still, design is subjective and, as I said at the beginning of this review, almost everyone I speak to loves its new design. I’m reviewing the Deep Blue iPhone 17 Pro Max here, but I also have the Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Pro, and that is definitely more striking.

The Silver model shows up the dual-material finish on the rear the most, while the Blue does the best job of hiding it. Controversially, there’s no black model this year for either the iPhone 17 Pro or the iPhone 17 Pro Max. 

Apple has also switched from the titanium frame that you’ll find on the iPhone 16 Pro Max to aluminium. Aluminium makes up the frame itself, which has flat edges and nicely rounded corners, along with the camera housing on the rear. There are still three lenses in the top left corner, but the LiDAR sensor and the flash module have moved to the right side. It’s now very chunky at the top but surprisingly it’s not top-heavy and when I balanced it on my finger, it didn’t tip.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max has already picked up a scuff on the frame

Beneath that full-width camera housing, which Apple is calling a “Plateau”, is a glass panel that’s somewhat colour matched but not perfectly. That’s what creates that dual-texture look, which some will really like and others might find a little jarring. As with the iPhone 16 Pro, there’s a customisable Action Button on the top-left edge, which I personally use to launch WhatsApp, while the touch-sensitive Camera Control button is positioned on the bottom right edge. 

On the iPhone 17 Pro Max especially, I find myself using the Camera Control button regularly as it’s positioned in the perfect place for my thumb to open the camera and snap a quick picture one-handed. Speaking of one-handed, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is no small device and unless you have larger hands, it’s more comfortable to use with two. It’s heavy as well – heavier than last year’s titanium iPhone 16 Pro Max. 

I think the titanium was more durable – I used my iPhone 16 Pro Max for a year and the frame doesn’t even have a dent in it, despite being dropped several times. The iPhone 17 Pro Max has already picked up a scuff on the frame, though thankfully the screen survived despite landing at an awkward angle.

Screen & Speakers

• 6.9-inch, 120Hz, 2868 x 1320, OLED
• 3000 nits peak brightness
• Stereo speakers

The iPhone 17 Pro Max has a 6.9-inch display and it’s glorious. It’s a struggle to reach the top of it when using it with one hand, but it is fabulous for everything from watching your latest Netflix binge to reading the news. The contrast is great with inky blacks, bright whites and plenty of pop from the colours, while viewing angles ensure everything stays looking good even if you tip your phone or you’re using it lying down. Detail is excellent too, with crisp text and notably sharp app icons and notification bubbles.

The ProMotion technology makes for a wonderfully smooth scrolling experience thanks to the support for refresh rates up to 120Hz. While that’s, of course, useful for gaming, I also notice it when reading the news or scrolling through social media. It’s commonplace on both flagship and mid-range phones, but it’s still refreshing to have (see what I did there?).

All of that could also be said about the iPhone 16 Pro Max, but where the iPhone 17 Pro Max ups its game is its enhanced brightness. Like the iPhone 17, iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro, the iPhone 17 Pro Max features a peak brightness of 3,000 nits. It means that when I was using this device in a very sunny Hawaii, the bump in brightness was superb at cutting through reflections. 

There’s better protection on the iPhone 17 Pro Max too, with Ceramic Shield 2. Apple says this is three times better for scratch protection than the previous Ceramic Shield on the iPhone 16 Pro Max. That’s difficult to quantify without getting my keys out, which I’m obviously not going to do, but I can say I have yet to scratch the screen in my month of testing, so either the claims are holding up or I deserve a medal. 

I can’t finish this section without sparing a thought for Dynamic Island. Again, it’s not new, having launched three years ago now, but it’s a feature I’ve really come to appreciate over the last few years. I use it regularly when controlling my music while doing something else on the screen, or ending calls and timers so. I’m thrilled this feature has remained.

In terms of speakers, there’s no change from the iPhone 16 Pro. You get stereo speakers positioned on either side of the USB-C port. They can’t compete with a decent Bluetooth speaker but if you’ve forgotten your headphones and you want to listen to a video, voice note or pop a phone call on speaker, they will more than do the job.

Specs & Performance

• Apple A19 Pro
• 12GB RAM
• Up to 2TB storage

Under the hood, the iPhone 17 Pro Max runs Apple’s most advanced processor to date, the A19 Pro. It’s built on a 3nm process and it delivers a smooth and consistent performance. Apps open incredibly quickly, switching between various tasks is no issue and there isn’t so much as a stutter whether gaming or editing images. 

Benchmark-wise, it sits below the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 that’s set to power some of the upcoming Android flagship phones but in real-world use, the iPhone 17 Pro Max leaves little to be desired. 

There’s a vapour chamber inside for the first time in an iPhone and this certainly seems to help with heat dissipation when using it for longer periods of time. After an hour of gameplay on the iPhone 17 Pro, it was noticeably cooler than my iPhone 16 Pro Max running the same game. 

I have the 2TB model as my review unit… I have 65,000 photos, 2,500 videos and 263 apps installed on my phone and I have 1.84TB left

Elsewhere on the specifications front, the iPhone 17 Pro Max comes with 256GB of storage as a starting point. If you need more, there’s a 512GB model, a 1TB model and exclusively for the iPhone 17 Pro Max, a 2TB model too.

I have the 2TB model as my review unit but if you’re unsure how much storage you need, I have 65,000 photos, 2,500 videos and 263 apps installed on my phone and I have 1.84TB left. Apple doesn’t specify RAM, but the iPhone 17 Pro Max is thought to have 12GB of RAM. 

There’s also a new N1 chip inside the iPhone 17 Pro Max, which handles wireless networking. It supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread, and it’s designed to improve the overall performance and reliability in things like using AirDrop with other workloads or using multiple clients connected to your iPhone hotspot. I can’t say I noticed a difference from the iPhone 16 Pro Max, but importantly, I’ve had no networking problems either.

iPhone 17 Pro Max benchmarks

Cameras

• 48Mp main, f/1.78 sensor
• 48Mp ultra-wide, f/2.2 sensor
• 48Mp telephoto, f/1.78 sensor
• 18Mp, f/1.9 front camera with Centre Stage

The iPhone 17 Pro Max has a triple rear camera system made up of a 48-megapixel main sensor, 48-megapixel ultra wide sensor and a 48-megapixel telephoto sensor.

The iPhone Pro models have always been renowned for their photo and video abilities and the latest iPhone 17 Pro Max follows suit. Images taken by all three lenses are superb, with excellent colour accuracy and consistency across them, along with lovely detail.

You’ll get impressive shots in both good lighting and low lighting too, with the iPhone 17 Pro Max delivering the same point and shoot approach iPhone has long been known for. It’s really difficult to take a bad photo so, whether you’re looking to take a photo of your dog, your kids, or a landscape picture of a gorgeous sunset, it’s easily done here. I

f you’re more of a seasoned photographer, there’s plenty for you too, with eight focal lenses to flick between, from Macro to 200mm. The images produced are 24-megapixel by default, though if you do want the full 48-megapixel resolution, you can change this in settings.

It’s really difficult to take a bad photo

The 8x optical zoom on the iPhone 17 Pro Max is brilliant too, allowing you to get that little bit closer to a subject than you could before. Detail is excellent and it’s perfect for capturing something like a landmark a little further away. 

The front camera has also been improved for the iPhone 17 Pro Max, with an 18-megapixel sensor featuring the same Centre Stage technology you’ll find on the iPad and MacBook. That technology means you stay in the frame in selfies and video calls even if you move around. The framing will adapt automatically if more people join as well. 

What’s more impressive however, is the square sensor that allows you to take a horizontal or vertical selfie without rotating your phone. Instead, there are buttons at the bottom of the viewfinder when using the front camera that allow you to toggle between orientations.

It results in much better selfies overall, not just in terms of detail from the enhanced resolution but because everyone knows exactly where to look. 

Elsewhere, when in video mode, the front camera and rear camera can also record simultaneously using a new Dual Capture feature. This works well in use and is great for things like sports events or concerts where you want to film your reaction alongside what’s happening.

Battery Life & Charging 

• Up to 37 hours
• 40W wired charging
• 20W wireless charging support

The iPhone Pro Max has always been the iPhone to pick if you’re after the best iPhone battery life, although I’ve always thought the regular iPhone Plus model was the silent killer in this department. That’s not an option this year so thankfully the iPhone 17 Pro Max does a sterling job, as its predecessors did before. 

Apple claims that this model will last for 37 hours of video playback and, while I don’t have time to watch video for nearly 40 hours to test it, I can attest to the fact that this phone will see you through a day and evening without any drama. I start my days around 6am and I put my phone back on charge around midnight and I didn’t end any day with under 20 per cent.

Battery life is, of course, user-dependant but during review periods, I’d say that a phone is used more than usual: there’s camera testing, running benchmarks and trying out the various new features. I’d imagine that most users would be okay to leave charging their iPhone 17 Pro Max until the next morning.

Speaking of charging, Apple still hasn’t upped charging speeds to match the likes of OnePlus or Xiaomi, but the iPhone 17 Pro Max does have faster wireless charging and faster wired charging. With a 40W adapter, you can get 50 per cent charge in 20 minutes, which will certainly be enough to get you a cab home at the end of the night.

As has been the case for several years now, the phone no longer comes with a charging adapter, so you’ll need to source your own. There’s also support for 20W wireless charging, or 30W MagSafe charging.

Software & Apps

• iOS 26
• Usually 7 years of software updates

The Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max runs on iOS 26, which brings with it several new features, as well as probably the biggest software design shake-up since iOS 7. The redesign is called Liquid Glass and it sees more translucent icons, apps and menu bars that have been created to mimic layers of glass, though it isn’t exclusive to the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Alongside the new design, iOS 26 brings a number of new features

All the other latest iPhone models also run iOS 26, as do older iPhone models as far back as the iPhone 11. Interaction with the interface is more fluid and it looks a little like running a magnifying glass over text.

Alongside the new design, iOS 26 brings a number of new features, from the ability to change your alarm snooze duration (a personal favourite of mine), to a redesigned Phone app and a simplified Camera app. You can also add backgrounds to Messages, there’s a new Games app and there are features such as Auto Mix in the Apple Music app, which mixes one song into the next so there’s no pause in your music. 

There are some Apple Intelligence features too, such as intelligent actions in Shortcuts to create better automations and Visual Intelligence for help understanding what’s on your screen. This means you can screenshot an event and Visual Intelligence will detect the date and ask if you want to add it to your calendar, which you can do with a single tap.

It all works well enough and while we’re still waiting on the smarter Siri to compete with the likes of Gemini Live, the software experience on the iPhone 17 Pro Max is, overall, a great one.

There are a number of native apps preinstalled, but you can ditch any that you don’t want and replace them with others should you wish. I’d recommend sticking with Apple’s own apps where you can. Many of the new software features apply directly to those native apps, so you’ll get a better experience.

Apple doesn’t specify how long its software support will last, but it is usually around seven years. The iPhone 17 Pro Max should see you through till 2030 and beyond.

Price & Availability 

The Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max was announced on 9 September and went on sale on 19 September. It comes in three colour options of Silver, Deep Blue and Cosmic Orange and four storage options of 256GB, 512GB, 1TB and 2TB, with prices starting at £1,199. The 512GB model costs £1,399; the 1TB costs £1,599; and the 2TB model costs £1,999. 

It’s available to buy from a number of retailers, including Apple itself, Amazon, Very and networks including EE and Vodafone.

In the US, prices start from $1,199 for 256GB of storage and you can buy from a number of retailers including Apple itself.

Should you buy the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max?

The Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max is a superb phone that leaves me very little to complain about. The dual-texture design might not be to everyone’s taste and the Max is large and heavy, while the aluminium doesn’t feel as durable as last year’s titanium frame. But that’s pretty much it.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max has an excellent display, performance is superb, while the front and rear cameras are fantastic. The battery life is very good too, lasting a day and evening without an issue. 

It’s expensive, of course, but if you’re considering the iPhone 17 Pro Max, you already know that. It’s the biggest and best iPhone Apple has to offer and while the smaller iPhone 17 Pro has serious competition from the regular iPhone 17 this year, nothing in Apple’s line-up can compete with the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and that includes the skinny iPhone Air.

Specs

• iOS 26
• 6.9-inch, 1-120Hz LTPO AMOLED display  
• Apple A19 Pro 
• 12GB RAM  
• 256GB/512GB/1TB/2TB storage  
• 48Mp, f/1.78, OIS main camera  
• 48Mp, f/2.2 ultrawide camera  
• 48Mp, f/1.78 telephoto camera  
• 18Mp, f/1.9, selfie camera
• Up to 37 hours battery 
• 40W wired charging  
• 20W wireless charging 
• Stereo speakers  
• IP68 water and dust resistance  
• Ceramic Shield back 
• Ceramic Shield 2 front
• 5G  
• 163.4 x 78 x 8.75 mm 
• 231g  

Best Prices Today: Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max