iPhone 17 Pro Max iPhone 17 Pro Max is here! First impressions and photos thread

[EugW]

Im thinking about getting the Pro Max(Will be the first time Ive ever had one Im coming from an iphone 13, I need something with a bigger screen the iphone 13 bothers my eyes just too small and the battery life is horrendous, are you happy with yours as far as battery life, etc

I got the 6.7” 12 Pro Max because I wanted bigger text than what the 6.1” 12 Pro offered by default.

I had been running the 12 Pro Max with the Display Zoom setting to Default.



However, in that setting the text is smaller than I prefer so I then enlarged the text sizing mildly in the Display —> Text Size setting.



That covers iOS text and most Apple apps like Messages and Mail, but not Safari. So for Safari I increased the Page Zoom to 115%.



I find this is perfect for my old eyes.

It turns out this is exactly the “Medium” Appearance setting when you first setup the phone.



Large is unnecessarily big for me but Medium is great.

I got a 17 Pro Max and set it up the same way, and while text size was good, I just found the size of this 6.9” phone cumbersome, at least when there is a case on it. I already found the 12 Pro Max awkward with my small hands but the 17 Pro Max was slightly more awkward.

So, I’ve now gone down to a 6.3” 17 Pro with the same Medium appearance setting and it suits me well.



Actually I think the 6.5” Air is also a good size but I must have those three cameras and two speakers, and didn’t want to go with less battery life than the 17 Pro.

 

[JD2015]

Tried out iPhone 17 pro max 256gb in Silver, whilst travelling to New York. Upgraded from the Iphone 15 pro max, the biggest upgrade was in the front and rear cameras. As a solo traveller the selfie camera improvements helped enormously and having the versatility with the different cameras on the rear helped. If you however, start to go past 8 times zoom then I find as i did with the Iphone 15 pro max hand held stabilisation is quite shaky. Photo quality and the photographic styles were excellent. It combines well when using it alongside other apps like , Snapseed and Photomator to make tweaks or apply filters which the stock camera app cannot handle. For portraits, selfies and city/street photography it gives you excellent range. Not so keen on the zoom range which is the same whatever smartphone camera, so if that is what you need would consider a mirrorless camera paired with a good quality lens ultimately to meet this need.

I am a heavy user of my iPhone when travelling as rely upon it for maps. I therefore always go for the Iphone with best battery length. The battery length is good with heavy use and I always would top the phone up as carried a portable battery bank. This would openly be reached for after 3-5 hours of heavy use with maps, listening to music, taking videos and photos, editing photos and checking social media and the news. By then it was between 30-40% battery. I am confident though the phone will last a full day without such heavy usage easily.

I found I used the camera control button only to open the camera app but was nice to have as I prefer to use the action button for other things. Some minor issues I think were mainly IOS 26 related with apps sometimes unresponsive or if i was to swipe up or down, there be no response. Another area which was a challenge was in using a camera clamps on a phone when connecting to a tripod. Because of the clamp it would inevitably press against a button, so I will look to buy a Tripod with a MagSafe holder. Using the phone in bright daylight was helped with the increase brightness which I had to ramp up to max at times. I don’t find phone signal is any better where I live at least which is probably carrier related more than Apple.

BTW when in Apple Store on 5th avenue I checked out all the Iphone 127 pro I and pro max models and didnt see any scratches or scuffs. Also was shocked at how light the IPhone Air was.

 

[john g.]

View attachment 2564108

Which brand & model is this mustard yellow case please?

 

[EugW]

Which brand & model is this mustard yellow case please?

elago MagSafe compatible silicone case - Sunshine colour

I bought mine on Amazon Canada:

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0F61XFPJS

This link to Amazon USA appears to be exact same one:

elago for iPhone 17 Pro Case, Premium Magnetic Silicone Case, Compatible with MagSafe, Liquid Silicone Material, Protective Cover, Shockproof, Slim Phone, 6.3 inch (Sunshine)

elago for iPhone 17 Pro Case, Premium Magnetic Silicone Case, Compatible with MagSafe, Liquid Silicone Material, Protective Cover, Shockproof, Slim Phone, 6.3 inch (Sunshine)

www.amazon.com

(The other one in the pic was the Stone colour, but that one is more of a greige colour not grey, and IMO it doesn't match as well with the Cosmic Orange.)

 

[Tea-Aholic]

elago MagSafe compatible silicone case

Hi EugW.

I was wondering if this case is too rubbery and hard to slip in and out of pockets? And I wanted to know as well if it collects dust and lint easily?

Thanks.

 

[LacrosseChic]

My 17 pro max in silver arrived at work today, and I love it so far. Will take some time getting used to the size, but I already had to type two-handed with the 15 bc I have small hands so shouldn’t be a big deal. Been using it for 8 hours now and it is still at 78% - even with indexing.

 

[EugW]

I was wondering if this case is too rubbery and hard to slip in and out of pockets? And I wanted to know as well if it collects dust and lint easily?

The elago 17 Pro / Pro Max silicone MagSafe case is not especially grippy so it slips in and out of pockets easily, and doesn't collect that much dust. I'd say it's roughly about as slippery as the naked iPhone, which means it's a bit more slippery than I'd like. I actually would prefer it to be a bit more grippy.

Note that although the silicone case for my old 12 Pro Max is more grippy than this elago 17 Pro case, it didn't collect that much dust either.

 

[Tsepz]

Im thinking about getting the Pro Max(Will be the first time Ive ever had one Im coming from an iphone 13, I need something with a bigger screen the iphone 13 bothers my eyes just too small and the battery life is horrendous, are you happy with yours as far as battery life, etc

Very happy with mine, battery life is incredible, you will definitely see a significant improvement coming from the 13.
You will especially love the screen, the fact that you can enjoy such a large, smooth and bright screen then have amazing battery life almost fees like a crime, lol!

What do you typically do most on your phone? And what apps do you typically use daily?

 

[lakerchick4life]

Very happy with mine, battery life is incredible, you will definitely see a significant improvement coming from the 13.
You will especially love the screen, the fact that you can enjoy such a large, smooth and bright screen then have amazing battery life almost fees like a crime, lol!

What do you typically do most on your phone? And what apps do you typically use daily?

I basically just check my email, go on X from time to time, text, thats basically it other than talking on it, the battery life is not good on my phone I think I ruined the battery by charging it so much, in the beginning when I first got it I would charge it when it got down to around 40 percent, then I started charging it when it dropped to 92 percent, so constantly charging it I think I ruined the battery plus its an old phone and its hard to see even with my new reading glasses it still gives me a headache so want something bigger. I have to go check out the phones at the apple store..do you recommend a magsafe charger when I get a new phone? I saw the belkin one online not sure if its good, just kind of tired of always plugging it in and taking it out. Im just waiting for maybe black friday maybe the trade in value will increase on my iphone 13 right now tmobile offers 130 for it and apple offers 200, maybe it will increase in value for black friday?

 

[Daki]

My old phone is a 14pro and my new 17 pro max arrived today. I am happy with my initial snapshots. I intended to wait another year, but my phone is used as my camera 75% of the time and ended up with a new one. This is just me taking random photos, but I am delighted with the result

Moonrise at sunset

 

[Eggtastic]

My old phone is a 14pro and my new 17 pro max arrived today. I am happy with my initial snapshots. I intended to wait another year, but my phone is used as my camera 75% of the time and ended up with a new one. This is just me taking random photos, but I am delighted with the result

Moonrise at sunset

I am in the same boat and also use my camera a lot so debating on taking advantage of the carrier offers to get it highly discounted.

 

[EugW]

I found this amusing.



Very thorough review:

 

[svish]

Just started using my 17 Pro Max in Orange. Very happy with the new phone. Setting everything up. Updated to iOS 26.0.1 immediately. Used the camera a bit. Happy with improvements to zoom. Love the colour and very glad that there is a bright coloured Pro iPhone. Got a Spigen Ultra Hybrid clear case to go with it.

 

[nperei]

I’m having fun with the Max zoom on my iPhone 17 Pro Max. I took a pictures of Harvest Moon the next day with a cloudy sky. I wasn’t sure about cloudy when I took the shot, but it turned out to look cool!

 

[bembol]

Feels so good in the hands, ladies you know the procedures. Flossy.

My only complaint is the OS. I hate this Liquid Glass.

 

[LouisPiper]

Amazing how some of you will eat up ANYTHING a company tells you.

These phones never had overheating issues lol. My iPhone 8 used to run hotter than my 15 does lol. Some users reported overheating phones and it was deemed a software issue. Again, since ios17 the 15,16 have not been overheating enough to call it a widespread issue that requires going back to old materials used lol. I can’t stop laughing at how you think these products don’t under go the most vigorous stress testing before they’re released to the public. Let’s play a game sort these in order from least to most expensive unit

Titanium frames
Aluminum frames
Vapor chamber

If you can accept that these phones go through rigorous testing then you must also accept that Apple must have firm data that the phones did run too hot - or they wouldn’t have made the change.

Also, the concept of rigorous testing being proof that there cannot be an issue is silly. We should have a word for when a company has to call back products and re-manufacture something on them. Recall?