Apple iPhone 17 announcement: What's in it for photographers?
Overnight, Apple has released four new iPhones, the iPhone 17, the iPhone 17 Pro, the iPhone 17 Pro Max and the iPhone Air.
As you might expect, there's a huge amount of info to unpack with the announcement, which brings new materials, new batteries and new screen technologies to the iconic smartphones, much of which you can read about in exhaustive detail online.
Here, we'll try to focus primarily on the photography tech and features.
iPhone 17
The iPhone 17 update is largely focused on improving Apple’s camera system with improved front and rear capabilities, although it does gain Apple's new A19 chip (although not the flagship A19 Pro chip) which Apple says improves processing for editing and rendering.
The front 'Center Stage' camera uses Apple’s largest sensor yet, and is in a square format, not the usual 4:3. This allows selfies and group shots in portrait or landscape without rotating the phone.
Apple says an AI system also adjusts the field of view and orientation depending on the number of people in the frame.
The rear dual-camera setup combines a 48-megapixel 'Fusion Ultra Wide' camera (13mm, f/2.2) with a 12-megapixel 1x Macro camera (26mm, f/2.2), which should cover wide landscapes and close-up detail.
Video recording supports 4K at 60 fps in Dolby Vision, with the software also offering 'Cinematic' and 'Action' modes for creative control.
Spatial Audio, post-capture audio mixing, and wind noise reduction give more control over sound, while spatial photos and video can be viewed on Apple's Vision Pro.
A 3,000-nit display ensures images are visible outdoors, and Ceramic Shield 2 provides scratch resistance.
The iPhone 17 is offered with 256GB or 512GB of storage. Pricing starts at $1,399, all the way up to $1,799 for 512GB.
iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max
Apple's flagship smartphones bring three 48MP rear cameras to the gunfight, alongside a redesigned 'Camera Bar', and notably more advanced video capture capabilities.
From a design perspective, Apple's decision to manufacture the 17 models from aluminium rather than titanium means that heat management is improved, which is further helped by a new vapor chamber cooling system to improve thermal performance.
The iPhone 17 Pro features a 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR display, while the iPhone 17 Pro Max has a 6.9-inch screen, both designed to make reviewing photos and videos easier.
Both devices get the Ceramic Shield 2 coating to improve scratch resistance and reduce glare, while also helping maintain clear visibility outdoors.
The displays support ProMotion up to 120Hz, an always-on mode, and a peak brightness of 3,000 nits. The screens are much brighter, and Apple says outdoor viewing contrast is twice as high as on last year’s Pro models.
Apple says the iPhone 17 Pro offers up to 40% better sustained performance than the iPhone 16 Pro thanks to the addition of an A19 Pro chip.
Apple says it brings a 3x gain in the peak GPU compute compared to last year's A18 Pro chip, and it features a six-core CPU with two performance cores, four efficiency cores and a 16-core neural engine.
Surprisingly, this is actually the same specs as the A18 Pro, but Apple says improvements to its chip architecture make it more efficient.
The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max also have Apple’s most capable cameras yet.
The rear system combines three cameras - a 48-megapixel telephoto camera, a 48-megapixel Fusion Ultra Wide camera, and a 48-megapixel Fusion Main camera, giving photographers plenty of flexibility from close-ups to wide landscapes.
As you can see from the photo above, the Telephoto has both a 4x and 8x setting (100mm and 200mm equiv). Apple says it features a 56% larger sensor and zoom capabilities over the iPhone 16 Pro and Max.
In addition, digital zoom goes up to 40x, with the usual trade-off of lower megapixels at the highest zoom levels.
The Fusion Ultra Wide camera covers wide shots at 48MP, 13mm, f/2.2, while the 1x Macro camera (12MP, 26mm, f/2.2) is ideal for detailed close-ups.
Video capabilities see a boost over the iPhone 16 models, with ProRes RAW recording and Genlock support, allowing multiple iPhones to be synced for filming.
Both iPhone 17 Pro models can capture 4K at 120 fps across all three rear cameras and record Dolby Vision HDR video.
Battery life is also improved, with a larger battery providing the longest runtime of any iPhone to date. Both Pro models support fast charging, reaching 50% in 20 minutes with an optional high-wattage USB-C adapter.
“iPhone 17 Pro is by far the most powerful iPhone we’ve ever made, with a stunning new design rebuilt from the inside out to maximize performance and deliver an enormous leap in battery life,” says Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.
“With three 48MP Fusion cameras, a new Center Stage front camera experience, and pro-level video features, the creative opportunities are endless. iPhone 17 Pro sets a new standard for the smartphone industry and is a massive upgrade for our most demanding users.”
iPhone 17 Pro and Max each come with 256GB storage, although the Pro Max is available with up to 2TB of internal storage. The Pro starts at $1,999, and the Pro Max at $2,199, right up to a wallet-shrinking $3,799 for the 2TB model.
iPhone Air
Have we saved the best for last? Well probably not from a photography perspective, but the iPhone Air is still a pretty impressive bit of industrial design with some handy photography features.
Compared to the standard iPhone 17, it offers a thinner chassis (made from titanium, not aluminium) and more premium materials, but it falls short in the camera capabilities of both it and the Pro and Max.
That says, it does get the A19 Pro chip found in the Pro and Max.
Like the Pro and Max, the iPhone Air features a 48-megapixel Fusion camera system that uses a single sensor with four framing options through custom lenses.
The system can simulate a 2× telephoto zoom at 12MP and employs 'advanced computational processing' to enhance detail and improve low-light performance.
In addition, the front camera integrates Apple's 'Center Stage' technology, which keeps users in frame during video calls, and Apple has also added dual capture video, enabling recording from the front and rear cameras simultaneously.
Video maxes out at 4K60.
The iPhone Air starts at $1,799, with the 1TB model maxing out at $2,599.
The wrap-up
So there you have it. The iPhone 17 offers versatile features for everyday photography, but power users and those who are serious about image-making will likely lean towards the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, which offer stronger imaging capabilities with their triple 48MP camera systems.
By comparison, the iPhone Air is probably more for users who favour style over capability - not that its overly lacking in this department.
The new iPhones are available for pre-order now.