iPhone 17 Pro's Biggest Design Mystery is Finally Solved

[acblue94]

Apple is set to unveil the iPhone 17 series in just four days from now, and the biggest design mystery surrounding the Pro models has finally been solved.

In a report outlining his expectations for Apple's event next week, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the iPhone 17 Pro models will have "a new cutout area on the bottom two-thirds of the phone that doubles as the wireless charging area."

Last year, The Information reported that the back of the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max would feature "a new part-aluminum, part-glass design." However, it was not entirely clear what this design would look like, leading to rumor blogs and graphic designers creating differing concept images and 3D renders of the devices.

MacRumors renders of the iPhone 17 Pro showed a rounded rectangle area on the back of the device, and Gurman's report makes it sound like this is indeed the design that Apple has planned. The reason for this rectangular glass area is wireless charging like MagSafe and Qi, which would not be possible with an all-aluminum back.

It is still not entirely clear if the glass and aluminum will have a uniform color, or if Apple will opt for a two-tone appearance around the MagSafe area.

It is also not clear why Apple is apparently returning to an aluminum frame for the iPhone 17 Pro models. iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro models have a stainless steel frame, while the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models are equipped with titanium frames. These lingering questions will be answered during Apple's event on Tuesday.

Article Link: iPhone 17 Pro's Biggest Design Mystery is Finally Solved

So ugly no matter what.

 

[acblue94]

"It is also not clear why Apple is apparently returning to an aluminum frame for the iPhone 17 Pro models." - Tariffs

So blame everything on Tarrifs? That’s not how it works. Try again.

 

[EM2013]

At least make it all one color, why have that hideous rectangle showing

 

[HouseLannister]

Thermal issues probably.

Doubtful. Weight and cost are bigger factors.

The iPhone 15 Pro was made much lighter by going to titanium, but they added that weight back in the 16 Pro and now the 17 Pros are going to have a larger camera module and more battery, so anything they can do to shed weight is needed.

And tariffs continue to be a thing. Costs of goods are going up. Titanium is an expensive product and the durability benefit is minimal. It's not a miracle metal that is stopping phones from breaking. So they are cutting component costs where they can so they can provide upgrades that are more tangible like better cameras and more battery.

 

[AlexESP]

Rationale: We need to make it as ugly as possible so you will buy a folding phone next year.

Is this supposed to be a joke? Do you seriously think Apple is making the iPhone Pro (by far, their biggest source of revenue) ugly on purpose, based on a complicated and non-sense plan to sell another phone next year?

 

[tarkeybear]

A periscope telephoto would make good use of that bump space, plus you might be able to stuff other components/functions into that space while providing for a more symmetrical back-side aesthetic.

 

[AlexESP]

“Team, for the aesthetic design of the iPhone 17, we’re issuing everyone an Etch A Sketch…we want this phone to lack continuity of design, clean lines….you know, we’re throwing away all of the principles of Steve and John”

But there’s more continuity with the new one. It’s a unibody design, so the aluminum part extends from the frame to the back.

 

[HouseLannister]

Is this supposed to be a joke?

 

[svish]

Was expecting it to have a significant area covered in glass to support wireless charging. Waiting to see whether there will be an increase in zoom range with the new camera island layout.

 

[captrlp]

So you want him to say it is the worst iphone ever released instead? Lol

Don’t have time to catch you up….but maybe go back and watch all of the iPhone releases for the past 10 years and you’ll be up to speed on the running Apple/Tim joke

 

[Taq'aix]

Wasn’t this mystery ”solved” as soon as the first design leaked?

Yup, it’s your typical MR clickbait article du jour.

 

[User 6502]

I think I can solve this mystery! The camera bump's purpose is to house complex cameras and lenses without making the entire phone much thicker and heavier. But that's just a wild stab in the dark; maybe the camera bump is where Apple keeps the space hamsters powering the iPhones by running on their little hamster wheels.

I'd rather have the whole phone much thicker and heavier. At least there would be space for a bigger battery so the phone would look better, have long battery life and lie flat on a table without wobbling. I'd call them three victories.

 

[cybercommand]

I know most people will put a case on it anyway, but it’s just so ugly. It looks sloppy and lazy.

You would have to be drunk for this thing to look good 😆

 

[NightFox]

(Stands in the corner, quietly raises his hand while avoiding eye contact with anyone): "Actually, I quite like it"

 

[klasma]

Wait, unless Apple are going to be using transparent aluminium, there's going to be an 'interface' of some sort between aluminium and glass…

Surely that's gonna become the crumb & lint zone?

It didn’t become that on the iPhone 5.

 

[emulator]

My personal conspiracy theory is that some of these leaks are intentional from Apple. They prepare the public well in advance for upcoming design changes. This gives people enough time to go from 'this is the ugliest iPhone ever' to 'meh, looks bad' to 'I use a case anyway,' so by the time of the official keynote, nobody is really bothered anymore.

Controlled leaks are part of marketing strategies for decades, no conspiracy theory there; it was just not utilized under Jobs since he was a great presenter with charisma and personality and the crowd listened. These days, as soon as Cook starts to talk, people would rather turn off the moving slideshow they call keynote. Cook probably knows that so they need to get the info out via different channels, like the gazillion of paid "influences", insiders and ****.

 

[realaqu]

this the most ugliest iphone back I ve ever seen

 

[Blrzz]

While aluminum has heat dissipation benefits, it is heavier than titanium at the dimensions needed for sufficient strength.

 

[klasma]

Sorry I had to read the article 3 times and still not understand what was the mystery and what was solved? We always knew the lower flat back area was for wireless charging. Can someone help my poor brain understand?

There was a question of whether the backside below the camera bump would be uniform (as in current iPhones), or if it would have a visible aluminum bezel surrounding an inner glass area (as in this article’s picture). MacRumors is interpreting Gurman’s wording as confirming the latter design, though personally I think they’re jumping the gun a bit and it still remains an open question (a “mystery”, in MacRumors parlance).

 

[HouseLannister]

While aluminum has heat dissipation benefits, it is heavier than titanium at the dimensions needed for sufficient strength.

Titanium has the higher strength per weight, but the aluminum phones and aluminum Apple watches are all much lighter than the titanium equivalents, so that argument seems flawed. A base iPhone 16 or Apple Watch 10 is plenty strong enough.

 

[richinaus]

I wonder whether this is a fully machined out of 1 piece aluminium, so is better structurally. Hence the reason going back to aluminium [which I also prefer the finish of over all steel / titanium].

 

[bmark]

iPhone 17 Pro design mystery is craptastic!

 

[klasma]

I'd rather have the whole phone much thicker and heavier. At least there would be space for a bigger battery so the phone would look better, have long battery life and lie flat on a table without wobbling. I'd call them three victories.

The RedMagic gaming phones are a bit like that. The 10S Pro is 9 mm thick with no camera bump, and 50% larger battery capacity than the 16 Pro Max.

 

[Dark_Omen]

Controlled leaks are part of marketing strategies for decades, no conspiracy theory there; it was just not utilized under Jobs since he was a great presenter with charisma and personality and the crowd listened. These days, as soon as Cook starts to talk, people would rather turn off the moving slideshow they call keynote. Cook probably knows that so they need to get the info out via different channels, like the gazillion of paid "influences", insiders and ****.

Tim Cook doesn’t have an ounce of public speaking ability. Makes me wonder how he ever passed a public speaking course in college, which is a requirement at most schools. I definitely wouldn’t want a CEO running a company if they can’t get people’s attention when they speak.

I used to have a GM that was able to get people to listen and he didn’t even have to speak loudly. Once he talked, people listened and took him seriously. Would’ve been a great CEO.

 

[Blrzz]

Titanium has the higher strength per weight, but the aluminum phones and aluminum Apple watches are all much lighter than the titanium equivalents, so that argument seems flawed. A base iPhone 16 or Apple Watch 10 is plenty strong enough.

The switch to titanium from aluminum for the iPhone 15 was a notable drop in weight:

iPhone Model	Weight (grams)
iPhone X	174
iPhone 11 Pro	188
iPhone 12 Pro	189
iPhone 13 Pro	204
iPhone 14 Pro	206
iPhone 15 Pro	187
iPhone 16 Pro	199