iPhone 17 Pro Tipped to Arrive With More Flexible 48-Megapixel Telephoto Camera

Apple's iPhone 17 Pro camera could offer support for optical zoom up to 3.5x with the upgraded 48-megapixel telephoto camera.

Written by David Delima | Updated: 4 April 2025 15:14 IST

iPhone 17 Pro Tipped to Arrive With More Flexible 48-Megapixel Telephoto Camera

Photo Credit: FrontPageTech/ @asherdipps

A leaked render of the purported iPhone 17 Pro, which is expected to debut later this year

Highlights

Apple could launch the iPhone 17 Pro with a 48-megapixel telephoto camera
The telephoto camera might deliver better portrait photos
Apple could enable support for 7x "lossless" zoom on the iPhone 17 Pro

Apple's iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are reportedly expected to arrive later this year with an upgraded 48-megapixel telephoto camera, and details of the camera's capabilities have now surfaced online. While previous reports had suggested that the iPhone 17 Pro models would be the first to feature a high-resolution telephoto camera, a tipster claims that Apple is also planning to introduce a new lens that delivers additional improvements over last year's iPhone 16 Pro models.

iPhone 17 Pro Telephoto Camera Upgrades (Expected)

According to a post by tipster 'Majin Bu', the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max will be equipped with a 48-megapixel telephoto camera that has a 35-mm equivalent of a 85mm lens. Its predecessors, the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, arrived last year with a 12-megapixel telephoto camera with a 120mm lens. The tradeoff is expected to enable support for better portrait images on the upcoming handsets.

As a result, the iPhone 17 Pro models are said to offer up to 3.5x optical zoom, which is lower than the 5x optical zoom on Apple's current flagship models. However, the 48-megapixel telephoto camera will also allow users to access up to 7x "lossless" digital zoom, using the same in-sensor crop zoom used by the primary camera on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro.

Apple iPhone 17 Series Said to Offer 8K Video Recording

Improved portrait images aren't the only benefit expected from the new telephoto camera on the iPhone 17 Pro models. It is expected to offer support for better low-light shots, as the camera will be able to capture more light.

Photographers should be able to crop images captured using the 48-megapixel telephoto camera without losing a lot of detail, when compared with the lower resolution 12-megapixel telephoto camera on the iPhone 16 Pro models.

It's worth taking these claims with a grain of salt as we aren't likely to hear any confirmation from Apple on upgraded camera specifications until the iPhone 17 series is launched later this year. Based on previous launch schedules, we can expect the company to unveil its iPhone 17 lineup in September.

iPhone 16

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Display 6.10-inch

Processor Apple A18

Front Camera 12-megapixel

Rear Camera 48-megapixel + 12-megapixel

RAM 8GB

Storage 128GB, 256GB, 512GB

OS iOS 18

Resolution 1179x2556 pixels

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iPhone 16 Plus

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Stunning display
Solid build quality and lovely colour options
Battery life is bonkers on this one
Excellent for gaming and performance (in general)
Improved cameras

Bad
Still offers a 60Hz refresh rate and misses out on AOD (always-on display)
No fast charging
Comes with USB 2
No Apple Intelligence features out of the box

Read detailed Apple iPhone 16 Plus review

Display 6.70-inch

Processor Apple A18

Front Camera 12-megapixel

Rear Camera 48-megapixel + 12-megapixel

RAM 8GB

Storage 128GB, 256GB, 512GB

OS iOS 18

Resolution 1290x2796 pixels

More Apple mobiles Apple mobiles price in India

iPhone 16 Pro

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Display 6.30-inch

Processor Apple A18 Pro

Front Camera 12-megapixel

Rear Camera 48-megapixel + 12-megapixel + 48-megapixel

RAM 8GB

Storage 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB

OS iOS 18

Resolution 1206x2622 pixels

More Apple mobiles Apple mobiles price in India

iPhone 16 Pro Max

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Massive screen size
Brilliant display
Performance beast
Camera Control is a boon
Fantastic battery life

Bad
Big phone for one-hand use
Expensive
No Apple Intelligence at launch
Slow-wired charging support

Read detailed Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max review

Display 6.90-inch

Processor Apple A18 Pro

Front Camera 12-megapixel

Rear Camera 48-megapixel + 12-megapixel + 48-megapixel

RAM 8GB

Storage 256GB, 512GB, 1TB

OS iOS 18

Resolution 1320x2868 pixels

More Apple mobiles Apple mobiles price in India

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Further reading: iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone 17 Pro Camera, iPhone 17 Pro Specifications, iPhone 17 Series, Apple

David Delima

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As a writer on technology with Gadgets 360, David Delima is interested in open-source technology, cybersecurity, consumer privacy, and loves to read and write about how the Internet works. David can be contacted via email at DavidD@ndtv.com, on Twitter at @DxDavey, and Mastodon at mstdn.social/@delima. More