Apple launched the new iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone 17 Pro Max at its “Awe Dropping” event on September 9.
Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro models succeed the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max
Photo Credit: Apple
Apple's all-new iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max have been unveiled at the 'Awe Dropping' event on Tuesday. The Pro models will be available alongside the standard iPhone 17 and the all-new Air model in the coming days. As expected, the iPhone 17 Pro models are powered by Apple's A19 Pro chip, the top-tier silicon. Both the Pro models run iOS 26 out of the box. The company's latest flagship smartphones were announced by the company's CEO, Tim Cook, during a pre-recorded event, which was livestreamed on the Apple website and its YouTube channel.
The successor to the iPhone 16 Pro models arrives with several new features and upgrades. Both of these devices will support all the artificial intelligence (AI) features in the Apple Intelligence suite.
iPhone 17 Pro price in the US starts at $1,099 for the 256GB storage variant, while the iPhone 17 Pro Max is available starting $1,199 for the 256GB storage variant. In India, the iPhone 17 Pro starts at Rs. 1,34,900 and the 17 Pro Max starts at Rs. 1,49,900. It is available in Cosmic Orange, Deep Blue, and Silver colour options.
The iPhone 17 Pro models will be available to pre-order starting September 12, and the smartphones will go on sale globally starting September 19.
The iPhone 17 Pro models have returned to an aluminum build, which means this year's models will not feature the titanium body seen in the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models. On the other hand, the new member of the lineup, iPhone 17 Air, gets a titanium body. Apple has moved to a unibody design with a "full-width camera plateau" on the back, completing the new design.
iPhone 17 Pro display
Photo Credit: Apple
Speaking of new, the iPhone 17 Pro is also first flagship smartphone from the tech giant to feature a vapour chamber cooling system. Apple says it is designed to offer higher sustained performance during demanding workloads. The iPhone 17 Pro features a 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion up to 120Hz, while the 17 Pro Max gets a 6.9-inch display of the same specification. Ceramic Shield 2, which contains a new Apple-designed coating, is said to offer 3x better scratch resistance to the screens. Both devices have a peak outdoor brightness of 3,000nits.
The iPhone 17 Pro models are equipped with the new A19 Pro chipset, paired with the company's new vapour chamber. Apple claims its "most capable" iPhone chip offers up to 40 percent better sustained performance compared to the older generations. It comes with a six-core CPU and a six-core GPU architecture, with each GPU core featuring neural accelerators.
Coming to the cameras, the iPhone 17 Pro models feature a triple rear camera setup with a 48-megapixel primary shooter, a 48-megapixel ultrawide sensor, and a 48-megapixel telephoto lens. This is the first time all the three cameras at the back of an iPhone has the same 48-megapixel resolution. The telephoto camera gets the biggest upgrade compared to previous generation's 12-megapixel shooter. Apple says it is 56 percent larger, and offers 8x optical zoom and 40 digital zoom. On the front, it comes with an 18-megapixel camera which uses Centre Stage to dynamically frame photos.
Apple Intelligence in iPhone 17 Pro
Photo Credit: Apple
The iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone 17 Pro Max will run on iOS 26 out of the box. The new operating system bring the Liquid Glass user interface to the smartphones, as well as new Apple Intelligence features. Users will be able to use artificial intelligence (AI) features such as Live Translation in the Messages, FaceTime, and Phone app, upgraded visual intelligence capabilities, as well as the new screening tools for calls and messages.
As per the company, the iPhone 17 Pro models get a larger battery due to the unibody design, and the A19 Pro SoC offers higher power efficiency. Apple also claimed that the iPhone 17 Pro Max has the "best battery life ever in an iPhone." The devices supports the company's high-wattage USB-C power adapters and are said to be charged up to 50 percent in 20 minutes.
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