OtterBox Defender Pro for iPhone 17 Pro Max: Buyer Beware

[elbeborandy]

As the title says, beware of buying an OtterBox Defender Pro for the iPhone 17 Pro Max. I think I can confirm they made the case using dimensions and not a real iPhone.

As soon as I received my Pro Max today, I put it in the case and noticed something was off. It feels a little bigger than the phone. On the right side, near the Camera Control button, it doesn’t make a proper click and feels loose. If I press slightly above it, the Camera Control activates even though I didn’t press the button. I can even see the orange color showing at the top corner of my phone near the Dynamic Island. Something is definitely wrong.

I wasn’t sure if it was just mine, so I went to Best Buy and bought two more. Guess what? They all had the same problem.

I emailed them about it. Let’s see what happens.

 

[elbeborandy]

More and more people are confirming the problem. Hopefully OtterBox fixes this soon. It’s incredible that the entire first batch has this design flaw.

 

[sdfd504]

I came here looking to see if it was just my case. Same issue on my 17 pro max and plan on returning it.

 

[piggapug]

I was able to fix this issue! If you look closely at the camera control button on the case, it is made up of multiple plastic and silicone/rubberized components that are nested into each other. These components are supposed to be able to move/slide independently, but out of the box they are fused together and cause the multiple pieces to act as a single unit. This causes the oversensitivity we are experiencing.

If you disassemble the button, this loosens the pieces and allows them to slide independently, fixing the issue.

With the camera control button now working as it should, this case has been awesome for me. Let me know if this fix works for you.

 

[sdfd504]

I was able to fix this issue! If you look closely at the camera control button on the case, it is made up of multiple plastic and silicone/rubberized components that are nested into each other. These components are supposed to be able to move/slide independently, but out of the box they are fused together and cause the multiple pieces to act as a single unit. This causes the oversensitivity we are experiencing.

If you disassemble the button, this loosens the pieces and allows them to slide independently, fixing the issue.

With the camera control button now working as it should, this case has been awesome for me. Let me know if this fix works for you.

That actually seems to work. I’ll test more today and report back but thanks for trying to find a solution!

 

[AppleCook]

disassemble the button

Hero. At a minimum, so much better.

I believe pushing the smallest inner piece of the button with a fingernail from the inside is what dislodged it.

I swear I would have toyed with it myself, but I knew Team Otter was hard at work on something so was just waiting for a reply to my email. Thanks for beating them to the punch this weekend. (Feel so bad for them! They’re always great on the phone/email. The supplier/QA are in deep doo doo for sure.)

 

[piggapug]

Awesome! Glad to hear that this seems to be working for others. Here are some detailed pictures for reference.


1. OtterBox Defender Camera Control button for iPhone 17 Pro Max:

2. Push out and then reinstall the small inner insert. This is probably the main cause of the oversensitivity issues:

3. You can also push out and reinstall the outer hard plastic insert to loosen up the entire button mechanism. This piece takes a bit more force to remove, so use steady pressure to massage it out:

Good luck!