iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

[darngooddesign]

Not the aluminum AAPL uses. They are cheap!!! Charge the most and give the least. I have dropped my titanium iPhones countless times and no scratches and never broken a screen. Drop stainless and it’s scratched. Drop aluminum and it’s screwed with massive dents and broken glass. Fact!!!

My 15 Pro has scratches on the titanium despite being in a case, and I even take it out of the case once a week to wipe it down and remove grit from the case. Bear in mind that the titanium is just a coating over the aluminum frame.

Apple has been using 7000 grade aluminum since the 6S, but even still they have patented several improvements to the 7K alloy they use.

https://www.patentlyapple.com/2025/01/apple-has-invented-an-all-new-aluminum-finish-that-supports-the-rumor-that-the-iphone-17-pro-frame-will-return-to-aluminum.html

 

[HouseLannister]

• Aluminum frame: DOWNGRADE
• Rectangular camera bump: DOWNGRADE
• Sky Blue finish: Meh. Didn’t like it on the MBA or the S25. How many shades of silver do we need?
• Larger battery: Based on the battery drain of iOS 26, it better be.
• A19 Pro chip: Duh
• Apple-designed Wi-Fi 7 chip: Okay
• 24-megapixel front camera: Nice, but still behind Pixel
• 48-megapixel rear Telephoto camera: Nice
• Dual video recording: Why?
• 8K video recording: No one cares.
• 12GB of RAM: Nice
• Improved cooling: You said the same thing about the 16 Pro.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Not the aluminum AAPL uses. They are cheap!!! Charge the most and give the least. I have dropped my titanium iPhones countless times and no scratches and never broken a screen. Drop stainless and it’s scratched. Drop aluminum and it’s screwed with massive dents and broken glass. Fact!!!

My coworkers 16 pro slid off her desk, onto a laminate floor, and the back shattered. I can't see any difference.

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

So a completely worthless upgrade as the last 5 iterations. Exciting.

 

[litmag01]

It kind of looks like the aluminum frame off an old 2.5" HD insert for a laptop met a circa 1950 studio camera with a rotating lens turret.

 

[HighwaySnowman]

Watch them say ‘space-grade’ aluminum. The only plus is that it weights less than titanium, everything else about the metal is inferior to titanium.
Margins is the only reason why.

Machineability is better for aluminum.

Titanium adds a LOT of cost for what's really no benefit on a phone.

Stainless steel would probably be a better choice than aluminum though. Sure, it's heavier, but it's stronger and cheaper, and I REALLY don't care how much my phone weighs, it's never going to be heavy enough that it's a problem even if they make it twice as thick so they can put in a LOT bigger battery.

 

[Radeon85]

That camera bump is bloody hideous.

 

[HighwaySnowman]

There is no way they will release it looking like that. That bump is hideous..

And again, it's finally released to see what is made up and what is not. I hope it looks better than this.

If this is really what it looks like, this is a design that Apple would have mocked under the Jobs era.

We're three months from release. The design is final at this point, hideous camera wart and all. It's NOT going to look better than this.

What amuses me is all the "Steve Jobs wouldn't do this" about THIS design, when we didn't hear nearly as much of that from the previous fugly camera warts. Jobs died in 2011, when the iPhone didn't have ANY camera wart, didn't have the idiotic notch/pill, had a headphone jack, had a home button, and didn't have the fugly flat harder to navigate iOS 7 yet. iOS 5 was released the month he died.

Would Jobs have released the garbage design that has been iPhone since 2017? Would he have released the abomination that was iOS 7 in 2013? No idea. But it's been getting worse for over a decade now. I'm not a Jobs fanboi, I think he should have stayed fired. And I'll point out he made the bad decision to hire Tim Cook and position him to run the company. But at least he wasn't Tim Cook.

It's funny, I know a guy who interviewed for Cook's first job at Apple. He turned it down because Jobs put his dirty disgusting stinky bare feet on the desk during the interview, in the guy's face. I really wish he'd taken the job, because at least he has actual good taste.

 

[Shirasaki]

You've completely missed the 2tb storage option. 💁‍♂️

Rarely any people would take advantage of that, but I am sure there will be folks taking advantage of that?

 

[thmsnt]

I don't mind the switch back to aluminum if it means the phones will be more lightweight.

 

[HighwaySnowman]

Unless your phone is falling apart, or losing support, just stick with what you have.

Agreed.

I just picked up a 13 Pro Max last month. Got it cheap because the back is kinda smashed up - which doesn't matter to me because it's in a case, I'm not even going to bother fixing it. I don't have to deal with the AI crap for a while, I can still go places where I can say "sorry, no cell service where I was" and be uncontactable, it's got a real SIM card slot that I didn't have to go to Canada to get, and it'll be able to stay current on iOS for a while, since my XS Max got dropped this time.

 

[HighwaySnowman]

I would actually prefer a plastic back to the current glass, for example like the Apple MagSafe battery pack.

Agreed 100%!!!!

Plastic is a MUCH better material for the back of a phone. It's cheap, it's FAR less likely to break than glass, it's radio transparent unlike metal, it's just a better choice for so many reasons.

 

[HappyMBAowner]

All these are improvements that are totally uninteresting. I will not go around saying that my phone is great because of improved cooling system or wifi 7 chip. That'll be the laugh of the party (and I'll be the donkey). The camera bump is really ugly. And the other ones are only technical. What I am really looking forward personally is a 10x zoom camera (or more), offered on all competitors cell phones, more basic storage (at least 256), lighter phones, better sound quality via bluetooth. These improvements are for a tiny niche, not for the general public.

 

[Roller]

These days, I rely on my iPhone for photography more than I ever did, so I'm always looking for improvements to the camera system. (Yes, I know I can get better results with my DSLR, but it's a lot less convenient and not always with me.) My 15 Pro Max is still quite good for shooting stills and video, so I'll definitely sit this one out and see what the iPhone 18 or 19 bring.

 

[Mansu944]

I just want to know they’ll justify the move to aluminum, after positioning stainless steel and then titanium as the premium version for years (and frankly, I do like titanium a lot more). Sure it will be something like a “magical new alloy” or so.

I don't think it will be 3003 aluminum

 

[citysnaps]

Latest complaint: Yeah... but it won't rock anymore on a table. Who asked for that?

 

[dantay]

So pumped for this…….not…….yawn.

 

[citysnaps]

These days, I rely on my iPhone for photography more than I ever did, so I'm always looking for improvements to the camera system. (Yes, I know I can get better results with my DSLR, but it's a lot less convenient and not always with me.) My 15 Pro Max is still quite good for shooting stills and video, so I'll definitely sit this one out and see what the iPhone 18 or 19 bring.

Spot-on and same here. Camera image quality is far more important to me than any other iPhone feature. It's amazing how good image quality is from iPhones today. I have dSLRs, and a pocket RX100, but most of the photos I make today are from an iPhone. I'm hoping the upcoming iPhone 17 Air camera will not disappoint.

 

[ifxf]

I don’t care how the phone looks. I want better cellular especially in poor reception areas. Wifi that utilizes the best antenna design. A battery that easily lasts all day. Upgraded camera and more memory is a plus.

 

[Sowelu]

So wait, that plate thing on the back with the Apple logo, is that the 'half glass' part? If so, does it serve any function? And is an aluminum frame better than a titanium one? And is this the exterior frame?

 

[t0rqx]

The previous article few days ago mentioned 17 changes.

 

[killhippie]

I don’t care how the phone looks. I want better cellular especially in poor reception areas. Wifi that utilizes the best antenna design. A battery that easily lasts all day. Upgraded camera and more memory is a plus.

Well, you won’t get it from this phone or any iPhone going forward for a while as they have to cut corners after the tariff nightmares and considering how low the shares prices have been they’re not doing that well as they used to, and also the mess with the the AI features from iOS 18 which were promised and never materialised if they now say you’ve gotta buy a 17 to get them I think the outcry would be enormous.

I seem to remember a rumour that the pro line up would use a Mediatek modem because the C1 might not be the best modem worldwide for the top of the range pro phone yet and with that camera bump and the aluminium it’s put me off. I don’t know how they can justify premium from this.

I don’t upgrade every year and I’m not going to upgrade for something that’s still going to because the lens still stick out one side and are not flush with the hideous bump this year. This year‘s phone smacks of saving money which I think they knew they were gonna have to do. I’m gonna stick with my iphone 16 pro for as long as I can. I like my Mac but it doesn’t mean I have to stay in the Apple ecosystem with the iPhone if it’s really not what I’m looking for, and at the moment this isn’t shaping up to be anything I’m looking for at all sadly…

 

[Roller]

Spot-on and same here. Camera image quality is far more important to me than any other iPhone feature. It's amazing how good image quality is from iPhones today. I have dSLRs, and a pocket RX100, but most of the photos I make today are from an iPhone. I'm hoping the upcoming iPhone 17 Air camera will not disappoint.

I'm planning to go to Europe this fall and may not take my DSLR on a major trip for the first time. I know my iPhone will be adequate for most shots, but I'm wondering if I'll miss out not having something like your RX100. Truthfully, though, I'm hoping for a relatively affordable camera that can take immersive-type shots for my Apple Vision Pro, but the market isn't quite there yet.

 

[ThatGuyInLa]

I expect nothing less from a shareholder driven company. They hated Jobs for many reasons.

 

[now i see it]

looks odd