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iPhone 17 Pro Max Rumors Allegedly Refer to 'iPhone 17 Ultra' Model
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Tim may be cooking, but he’s definitely not serving.Tim "Cooking"
My lineup/price prediction:
16e $599, 17e coming in early 2026
16 discontinued
17 $799, maybe $899
17 Air $999
17 Pro $1,099 (256GB, new base model)
17 Ultra $1,199 or $1,299
Think the Ultra name will be reserved for a foldable. The 17 Pro Max this year might still have a smaller dynamic island. Expecting same price to continue this year.
I still don’t see the point for such a big camera island if the number of sensors is unchanged.
The term “phablet” doesn’t make sense any more. Market already had spoken: people don’t like smaller phone.SKU-fest extraordinaire and all basically just rejiggered versions of "huge phablet"
Can we get Tim Cook out of here please?
This whole shtick is totally played out
I don’t like the name scheme, but they are not adding anything.
Today is 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, 16 Pro Max, tomorrow will be 17, 17 Air, 17 Pro, 17 Ultra.
Not to speak about the 16e (we don’t know if the e-line is going to be updated yearly or not).
If you go back, people said very similar things about the 3 camera design. I guess most people that use an iPhone will just buy a new iPhone, Apple could actually release a worse phone internally and put a higher number on it and would still sell to the majority of Apple users.
I can’t say I’m “seriously” considering an Android phone. I have an iPhone, an Ultra watch and a MBP, and all those devices are intertwined with each other.
However I can say that for the first time since going to an iPhone for the first time when it came to VZW (4) I’m at least LOOKING at android devices and thinking to myself that most places that take Apple Pay take Samsung or Google Pay, and there are options.
The cracks are starting to form. I’m not going anywhere tomorrow and I’m happy with my current Apple products.
However, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to seriously ”shop” my next round of devices before purchase. I’m having a harder and harder time paying a premium price for what is becoming a standard product.
It would be nice to have a big screen laptop again. The 17" MacBook Pro was the perfect size.
I liked the '90s product names. They were MUCH better than what Apple is doing now.
One glance at the front panel of a Mac and you knew exactly what the original configuration was. Jobs screwed up a good thing.
I miss the days when there was only 1 iPhone model to buy and all we had to do was choosing the color.
The Ultra will reportedly have an underscreen 3D fingerprint sensor, support for a new, smaller, Apple Pencil, and possibly a 3.5mm headphone jack.
If you've been following iPhone rumors over the last few years, you may remember reading reports that Apple flirted with the idea of introducing a super high-end "Ultra" model that would either replace its Pro Max device or sit above it in Apple's smartphone hirearchy. These reports appeared in the pre-launch iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 rumor cycles, but ultimately came to nothing. Now though, the rumor is back.
Citing sources from Weibo, Taiwan, "US investment report content," and supply chain trends, the Korean news aggregator account "yeux1122" on the Naver blog has summarized "rumors regarding Apple's iPhone 17 Ultra name change."
The blog begins by highlighting the following rumored changes that have so far been attributed to various models in the upcoming iPhone 17 series:
Analyst Jeff Pu in October said that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will have a narrower Dynamic Island, but the claim has since been disputed by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Nevertheless, the Naver blog claims that, based on component orders for a smaller Dynamic Island, the supply volume is "insufficient" to cover both iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max models, intimating that only the larger "Ultra" device will feature one.
- Smaller Dynamic Island
- Vapor chamber cooling system
- Larger battery
The Naver blog also asserts that only the "Ultra" device will feature a vapor chamber cooling system, despite competing rumors claiming that it will come either to both Pro models or all iPhone 17 models.
Lastly, the blog claims that the "Ultra" model will be thicker than the iPhone 17 Pro, owing to a larger battery. This rumor is the only one that we know of that has only been tied to the iPhone 17 Pro Max.
If it was exhaustive, the blog could have also pointed to the 12GB of RAM that Kuo in August said would be coming to the iPhone 17 Pro Max. However, Pu has pushed back on this prediction and believes that both Pro models will get 12GB, up from 8GB in the iPhone 16 Pro models. It could also have included Kuo's prediction last year that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will be the first iPhone to feature three 48MP cameras, although that claim has since been challenged by a Chinese leaker.
Apple's New-Look iPhone 17 Lineup?
As a result of changes allegedly destined for Apple's largest high-end model, the blog claims that this year's iPhone 17 lineup will look like so:
This differentiation strategy would arguably help Apple justify a higher price point for an "Ultra" iPhone model with more advanced features. And let's not forget that Apple already has an established naming convention where "Air," "Pro," and "Ultra" denote distinct tiers across various product categories. For instance, the MacBook Air and iPad Air represent lightweight, consumer-friendly options, while "Pro" models cater to professional users seeking enhanced performance. The "Ultra" designation introduced with products like the Apple Watch Ultra signifies a top-tier offering with better capabilities. And then there's the most powerful Apple silicon chip to date – the M3 Ultra.
- iPhone 17
- iPhone 17 Air
- iPhone 17 Pro
- iPhone 17 Ultra
Whether Apple adopts the Ultra moniker for its most premium iPhone 17 model remains to be seen, but we do know that Apple has internally discussed the possibility for previous generations. Barring further corroboration from trusted sources, we'll have to wait and see when the iPhone 17 lineup launches later this year around Apple's usual mid-September time frame.
Article Link: iPhone 17 Pro Max Rumors Allegedly Refer to 'iPhone 17 Ultra' Model
