• I cant believe Im saying this, but I actually think the iPhone 17

    From TechnologyDaily@1337:1/100 to All on Thu Sep 11 14:30:10 2025
    I cant believe Im saying this, but I actually think the iPhone 17 Pro looks fantastic

    Date:
    Thu, 11 Sep 2025 13:17:08 +0000

    Description:
    When we heard rumors of an iPhone 17 Pro redesign, with a blocky camera bump and two-tone construction, I was nonplussed but seeing the real thing, Ive come around to Apples latest premium handset.

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    Its new iPhone season. After nearly a full year of rumors and leaks, Apple
    has revealed the iPhone 17 , iPhone 17 Pro , iPhone 17 Pro Max , and iPhone Air , all of which sport new features and key hardware upgrades.

    As expected, the all-new iPhone Air has inspired plenty of discussion already thanks to its new slim and light design, but I fear this has overshadowed another great redesign in this years iPhone lineup.

    Im talking about the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, both of which have been quite drastically remodelled from last years iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max .

    Apple has expanded the iPhone 17 Pros camera module from a square to a full-width raised rectangle, which its calling a plateau. The titanium
    chassis found on last years handsets has been replaced with aluminum, which wraps further around the rear panel (save for a slab of glass, which allows for wireless charging and gives a neat two-tone effect). The two-tone rear panel is much more subtle than some rumors had suggested. (Image credit:
    Lance Ulanoff / Future)

    Most of this was rumored long before the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max were revealed during the Awe Dropping event the big camera housing and the two-tone back panel, for instance, were hinted at in renders and mock-ups and suggested by leaked accessories.

    And to be honest, on first hearing about these changes, I was the furthest thing from a fan. I thought the enlarged camera housing was an uncharacteristic move from Apples typically minimalist design departments,
    and the two-tone effect never quite made sense to me after nearly two decades of sleek, single-color designs.

    But looking at the images from our hands-on iPhone 17 Pro preview and
    hands-on iPhone 17 Pro Max preview , Ive got to admit that Ive had a change
    of heart. Thats partly because the final product is much more refined than
    the mockups and renders wed seen previously, but mainly because we now know the story behind some of these design choices. Form and function The enlarged camera housing is much easier to accept with a solid reason behind it (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

    If you ask me, Apple is at its best when its blending form and function. The companys most iconic products the unibody iMac, the M1 MacBook Air, the iPod
    were all made with simple design choices that built up the aesthetic of the device while also serving a clear function.

    Through this lens, and with the knowledge shared during Apples Awe Dropping event, the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Maxs redesigns make a lot more sense.

    The camera plateau, for example, has been raised from the rest of the rear panel to give the phone more internal space to fit a larger battery. Considering that the iPhone 16 Pro Max already featured a protruding camera housing, this actually seems like a fairly logical move were long past the point of phones lying flat on tables, and battery life is plainly more important than shaving a few millimeters off of the phones thickness. With
    the iPhone Air offering a thin and light phone for those who want it, Apple
    is under less pressure to slim down the Pro models (Image credit:
    Future/Jacob Krol)

    As a matter of fact, this sort of thing is exactly what I hoped for in the afterglow of Samsungs Galaxy S25 Edge reveal earlier this year . With the iPhone Air catering to those who just want a thin and light premium phone, Apple is free to make the iPhone bulkier and more robust, should doing so better serve the needs of power users.

    The two-tone panel has a similar story. The smaller glass area on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max is courtesy of an expanded aluminum chassis, which replaces last years titanium rails to offer better heat dissipation. Its a functional move that also gives the phone a more rugged, industrial appearance (not that this necessarily translates to enhanced durability).

    It helps that the two-tone effect is really quite a bit more subtle than some tipsters had suggested and its especially hard to get excited about CAD renders that mock up the shape of the phone in bright yellow and red , as one supposedly leaked image showed.

    Before Apples Awe Dropping event, I generally imagined that the changes
    coming to the iPhone 17 Pro would be purely aesthetic in nature though given Apples track record, perhaps I should have assumed thered be some functional benefit.

    What do you think of these new designs? Let us know in the comments below.
    You might also like The iPhones Camera Control button is too fiddly, but this iOS 26 fix could make it more popular Leaked Samsung Galaxy S26 Pro renders show the phone in a striking blue shade The iPhone Air is being roasted on social media, but theyre the missing the point about thin phones



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    Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/phones/iphone/i-cant-believe-im-saying-this-but-i-ac tually-think-the-iphone-17-pro-looks-fantastic


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