On paper, Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro Max is a bigger swing than the annual “new chip, slightly better camera” refresh we’ve seen for the past few years.
It sports a redesigned chassis that’s meant to both improve cooling and make room for a larger battery, a jump to the A19 Pro, a revamped camera setup and more. The question is, then, is it worth upgrading from the iPhone 15 Pro Max?
While we’re yet to go hands-on with Apple’s latest top-end iPhone, here’s how the iPhone 17 Pro Max compares to the iPhone 15 Pro Max on paper. We’ll be sure to update this piece with more hands-on impressions once we’ve tested the phone.
Pricing and availability
The iPhone 15 Pro Max was released back in September 2023 and retailed for £1199/$1199 – though as it has been replaced by not one but two generations of iPhone, it’s no longer on sale at most retailers. You can still pick up refurbished models for around £529/$550 at the time of writing, however.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max, on the other hand, was released in September 2025 and retails for a similar £1199 in the UK but a more expensive $1299 in the US. It’s available from Apple itself and a range of third-party retailers around the world right now – though you won’t find it much cheaper than its RRP.
Advertisement
SQUIRREL_PLAYLIST_10207953
The iPhone 17 Pro Max sports a new design
The iPhone 15 Pro Max was all about titanium; a premium, tough and, according to Apple, “pro” material. Aside from that, it very much looked like any Pro Max iPhone we’ve seen in the past five years or so.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
The iPhone 17 Pro Max goes in a very different direction with Apple’s new flagship sporting a heat-forged aluminium unibody designed to improve thermal performance and make space for a bigger battery. It also sports a much wider rear camera housing, along with that unique two-tone design available in shades of orange, blue and silver.
It’s also physically bigger in one very noticeable way: the display. The iPhone 17 Pro Max sports a 6.9-inch OLED panel compared to the 15 Pro Max’s 6.7-inch alternative. If you’ve already got an iPhone 15 Pro Max, you’re probably fine with “big phone life”, but it’s still worth noting because it does make a difference in how the phone feels in the hand and how easy it is to use one-handed.
Advertisement
The latest iPhone is also a little heavier, tipping the scales at 233g compared to the 221g 15 Pro Max – though these are both undoubtedly heavy phones.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max sports the A19 Pro chipset
The iPhone 15 Pro Max runs on Apple’s A17 Pro chipset, which is still a seriously capable chip by 2025 standards and, frankly, likely enough for the majority of users. It still handles apps and games with ease, and it’s powerful enough to support on-device Apple Intelligence features too – something that regular iPhone 15 models couldn’t do.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
The iPhone 17 Pro Max steps up to the A19 Pro, with Apple claiming a particular focus on sustained performance rather than just peak speeds. That means that the chipset should be more capable of delivering strong performance in longer gameplay sessions, especially when paired with a new vapour chamber.
The newer iPhone also offers Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 support compared to Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 on the 15 Pro Max. You’ll still need to get your hands on a Wi-Fi 7 router to truly appreciate the former’s improved speeds and latency, but it’s a great future-proofing feature.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max has better camera hardware
If camera performance is your main reason for buying a Pro Max, this is where the iPhone 17 Pro Max starts to look like a proper temptation.
Advertisement
The iPhone 15 Pro Max’s rear camera setup is comprised of a 48MP main camera, a 12MP ultrawide and a 12MP 5x tetraprism telephoto (120mm equivalent). The iPhone 17 Pro Max, on the other hand, sports a triple 48MP system comprised of a main, ultrawide and telephoto that offers 4x at 100mm and ‘optical quality’ 8x at 200mm.
The telephoto sensor itself is also bigger than that of the 15 Pro Max, which should translate to much better snaps in dark and low-light environments.
It’s not just the rear cameras that have had an upgrade either; the iPhone 17 Pro Max also sports a new 18MP camera.
Shared across the iPhone 17 range, it sports a unique square-shaped sensor that allows the camera to shoot both portrait and landscape-oriented shots without moving your iPhone. It can also keep your face in focus in video calls, and expand out to incorporate anyone else that comes into the shot.
It makes the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s 12MP alternative look a little basic in comparison.
Advertisement
The iPhone 17 Pro Max boasts a dedicated camera button
The iPhone 17 Pro Max isn’t the first iPhone to sport the Camera Control button – it was introduced on the 16 range – but it remains a key difference between it and the older 15 Pro Max.
The dedicated button, found on the bottom-right side of the iPhone 17 Pro Max, can not only provide access to the Camera app with a press, but with touch capabilities, it can also adjust elements like zoom, exposure and filters with a swipe. It also plays nicely with Visual Intelligence, allowing you to use AI to get information about things you see in the real world.
If you mostly shoot quick snaps, you might not care so much – the Action Button on the 15 Pro Max can be programmed to open the Camera app – but if you shoot lots of people, food, travel scenes or video, a physical control that gets you into the camera and lets you adjust settings without smudging the screen could prove useful.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max lasts longer and charges faster
The iPhone 15 Pro Max has pretty solid battery life, offering up to 29 hours of video playback on a charge – but the iPhone 17 Pro Max takes that up to a whopping 39 hours, making it the best battery life on any iPhone to date. Of course, mileage will vary – tasks like gaming drain battery much faster than watching video – but there’s a clear jump here.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Advertisement
Charging has also been meaningfully improved for the first time in quite a few years. While the iPhone 15 Pro Max can get 50% in 30 minutes with a 20W+ adapter, the iPhone 17 Pro Max can hit 50% in 20 minutes with a 40W+ adapter. And that’s with a bigger cell to fill.
It’s a similar story on the wireless charging front, with Apple’s latest flagship offering support for 25W MagSafe charging and a matching 25W Qi wireless charging compared to the dual 15W offering from the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Faster wireless charging isn’t as dramatic as faster wired charging, but it makes desk and bedside charging feel less like a slow trickle.
Early thoughts
If you’re on an iPhone 15 Pro Max, the 17 Pro Max looks like a solid upgrade if you’re interested in the latest camera tech, ultra-powerful performance and, arguably most importantly, longer battery life.
If you’re happy with your 15 Pro Max camera and your battery still comfortably gets you through the day, you can probably sit tight. But if your two-year upgrade cycle is itching and you want the biggest, best iPhone tech, the 17 Pro Max seems to be the way to go.
That said, we’ll reserve final judgment until we’ve fully tested the iPhone 17 Pro Max, so check back soon for our in-depth comparison.
