Redesigned iPhone 17 Pro Has Three 48MP Rear Cameras and Is Aimed at Content Creators

Sep 09, 2025

Jeremy Gray

Close-up of the back of an orange iPhone, showing three camera lenses, a flash, and the Apple logo against a black background.

Apple’s new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max smartphones feature a striking new design and vastly improved camera hardware. Apple has always invested in smartphone photography, and the 17 Pro and Pro Max demonstrate that its commitment to image-making is stronger than ever.

The iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max Feature a Redesigned Camera Bar

With the addition of the iPhone Air to the family, Apple has been able to prioritize performance on the iPhone 17 Pro series. There’s no longer an urgent need to make the Pro series thinner, so Apple has gone back to the drawing board and redesigned the new flagship phone from the ground up.

A hand holds a smartphone with a glowing abstract pattern on the screen, featuring curved lines of light against a dark background. The image is set against a black backdrop.

While titanium was all the rage a couple of generations ago, Apple has gone back to aluminum thanks to its superior thermal performance, helping keep the A19 Pro-powered iPhone 17 Pro series cooler. Also gone is the older back glass panel, replaced with a ceramic panel that is more durable and rugged.

The new “forged plateau” transforms the back of the iPhone 17 Pro. This replaces the older, glassy design, which relegated the camera system to one corner. This new design language follows what Google did with its Pixel 9 series last year, a move that proved fairly polarizing. It will be interesting to see how Apple fans respond to the iPhone 17 Pro’s new look.

The inside is much different, too. The new vapor chamber improves thermal performance, which keeps the new A19 Pro running cool. There’s also room for a new larger battery, delivering the best battery life in any iPhone to date. Further, both new Pro models charge very fast — 50% in 20 minutes using an optional high-wattage USB-C power adapter.

The iPhone 17 Pro features a 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR display, while the iPhone 17 Pro Max has a 6.9-inch screen. Both are protected by a new coating to improve scratch resistance and reduce glare. Both panels also feature ProMotion up to 120Hz, an always-on design, and peak brightness of 3,000 nits. Apple says that outdoor viewing contrast is twice as good as last year’s Pro models.

An orange smartphone with three rear cameras and an Apple logo, shown from the back and front. The screen displays a glowing abstract pattern with orange and black curved lines.

The new look has been a long time coming. The iPhone Pro series has looked essentially the same since the iPhone 11 Pro way back in 2019. While there have been design tweaks, the smartphone has retained the same basic aesthetic for many consecutive generations.

“iPhone 17 Pro is by far the most powerful iPhone we’ve ever made, with a stunning new design rebuilt from the inside out to maximize performance and deliver an enormous leap in battery life,” says Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “With three 48MP Fusion cameras, a new Center Stage front camera experience, and pro-level video features, the creative opportunities are endless. iPhone 17 Pro sets a new standard for the smartphone industry and is a massive upgrade for our most demanding users.”

Three Apple iPhones are shown from the back in dark blue, orange, and silver colors, each featuring three camera lenses and the Apple logo on a black background.

iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max Cameras: All the Rear Cameras Are Now 48MP

The front of the iPhone 17 Pro follows the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air by sporting an all-new 18-megapixel “Center Stage” front-facing camera. This is great for selfie fans, of which there are many, but it is the back of the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max that are the most exciting for mobile photographers.

Close-up of an orange smartphone’s triple camera system, labeled as 48MP Fusion Ultra Wide, 48MP Fusion Telephoto, and 48MP Fusion Main camera, on a black background.

Close-up of an orange smartphone with three camera lenses. Text describes two telephoto cameras: a 48MP 4x Fusion Telephoto and a 12MP 8x Telephoto, highlighting features like aperture, pixel size, and optical image stabilization.

The iPhone 17 Pro models now feature a trio of 48-megapixel cameras, all Apple Fusion models, and are by far Apple’s most powerful cameras ever featured in an iPhone.

The brand-new 48-megapixel telephoto camera is a particularly exciting inclusion, as the iPhone 16 Pro’s 12MP telephoto camera was a relative weakness of the camera’s otherwise compelling camera system. The new 48MP telephoto camera features a 56% larger sensor and extended zoom, allowing it to capture images at a 200mm equivalent focal length. Optical zoom is 4x at 100mm and 8x at 200mm, so photographers will be sacrificing megapixel counts to achieve the higher zoom ratios, as is typical on smartphones. Digital zoom works up to 40x.

A series of portrait photos shows a man sitting in a chair as the camera zooms in from macro to 8x/200mm, with each image labeled by focal length. Text below gives camera and location details.

An older woman wearing a bright red shirt and matching red gloves poses thoughtfully at night, with blurred colorful lights in the dark background.

A person with long, platinum blonde hair wears oversized black sunglasses, gold earrings, and a large, dramatic black hat. The side profile view highlights their stylish, modern fashion against a plain background.

A person wearing a bright yellow coat stands outdoors in a city, with tall brick buildings in the background. Warm sunlight illuminates their face and clothing, creating strong shadows and a dramatic effect.

Two whole pomegranates and several pomegranate halves with glistening red seeds are displayed on a dark surface against a black background.

A bald man and a woman in black outfits hold hands and gaze upward, shot from above against a white background, creating a dramatic, artistic composition.

A pink lotus flower with dew drops on its petals stands in front of large green leaves, set against a black background. — 8x Telephoto Zoom

iPhone 17 Pro Video Features

The iPhone 16 Pro models are already very powerful video cameras, and the iPhone 17 Pro doubles down on this by adding ProRes RAW recording and Genlock. These features will make the iPhone 17 Pro a significantly more competent camera in a professional video workflow. Both iPhone 17 Pro models capture 4Kp120 Dolby Vision video on its main camera and 4Kp60 Dolby Vision across all three.

A collage features the orange iPhone 15 Pro, its triple-lens camera, and highlights features such as 48MP camera, vapor chamber cooling, Apple Intelligence, A19 chip, 6.9" display, and Ceramic Shield protection.

Although Apple did not mention in its keynote, the iPhone 17 Pro can also record ProRes RAW in open gate (4:3) when recording to an external drive.

Pricing and Availability

The iPhone 17 Pro starts at $1,099, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max starts at $1,199, each with 256GB storage. The Pro Max is available with up to 2TB of internal storage. Both models come in silver and new cosmic orange and deep blue colorways. Preorders begin Friday, and availability starts September 19.

 Image credits: Apple