Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max review: Big, meaningful upgrades

With a starting price of Rs 1,49,900, the iPhone 17 Pro Max stands out as Apple’s most advanced and powerful smartphone to date.

It boasts the biggest display, largest battery, superior cameras, and the most powerful processor compared to the standard iPhone 17 and the all-new iPhone Air (review).

Design, build quality and display

The ultra top-end iPhone has received the biggest design change in almost half a decade. The last time we saw such a redesign was with the iPhone 11 Pro in 2019. It had triple camera sensors with LED flash tucked in a curved, squarish module; it has been the same till the iPhone 16 Pro series.

With the iPhone 17 Pro series, Apple has carved out a massive camera plateau, which occupies almost 1/3rd of the back panel. This is not just a cosmetic change, but a conscious design choice made to incorporate a new thermal management system, which, by the way, is a very effective feature addition.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max.

For this very aspect, the company had to bring back aluminium to replace titanium in the Pro models. It has used 7000-series aluminium alloy, which is said to be lighter than titanium and over 20x more thermally conductive, meaning it will be able to dissipate heat more efficiently.

The build quality is solid, but the metal on the back panel and the flat, smooth rails around the edge of the display, like on any premium phone, are prone to scratches when brushed with objects with rough exteriors. And, during accidental fall on uneven surface and like any phone with metal enclosure, will suffer dents.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max with Apple Silicone Cover Case.

So, it is advised to get a cover case, which by the way, Apple offers- opaque Silicone cases, see-through fibre-based Clear Cases, fabric-based TechWoven cases and have to be purchased separately.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max 'Deep Blue' colour variant.

Our review unit is Deep Blue. It looks lovely in the sunlight. However, the crowd favourite is the eye-catching Cosmic Orange. Apple also offers the device in refined Silver colour as well.

Below the large camera plateau, the device features a frosted glass cover with a matte finish. It does a fine job of repelling the sweaty fingerprint smudges. Also, inside, it has a MagSafe magnet for wireless charging.

At the top, it also has Ceramic Shield to safeguard the lower back panel from getting scratched easily.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max.

On the front, the display is protected by the new advanced Ceramic Shield 2, which is said to be 3x better scratch resistance than the previous iteration.

Further, the device comes with an IP68 rating, meaning it can survive up to the depth of six metres underwater for close to 30 minutes.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max.

The device sports a big 6.9-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display with peak brightness of 3,000 nits and pixel density of 460 pixels per inch. It features True Tone Display and ProMotion technology with adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz, to offer smooth scrolling while web browsing and using social media platforms. Also, it delivers well with a better gaming experience.

Another first we see in the iPhone 17 Pro Max is the anti-glare coating. It does an amazing job of controlling the reflection on the display when outdoors and ensures clear viewing to read messages and consume multimedia content even under direct sunlight.

The device comes with a Type-C USB port and supports 20x faster transfer than the regular iPhone model with USB 2.0.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max comes with the state-of-the-art FaceID biometric security.

The FaceID biometric security on the iPhone 17 Pro series continues to be the gold standard for facial-based unlocking mechanisms on smartphones in the industry. Even in pitch darkness, the FaceID manages to recognise the owner's face to unlock the home screen with a lower rejection rate.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max.

iPhone 17 Pro Max: Eco-friendly mobile

The iPhone 17 Pro series is said to be made with 30 per cent recycled materials (in terms of weight).

The cobalt material in the battery and the gold used for printed circuit board inside the device is said to be 100 percent recycled.

The device is manufactured with 40 per cent renewable electricity such as wind and solar, across the supply chain. And, the retail package of the device is made of 100 per cent fibre and can recycled recycled in future.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Performance

At the heart, iPhone 17 Pro Max houses an A19 Pro, Apple’s most powerful mobile chipset to date. It has a six-core CPU, a six-core GPU (with dedicated Neural accelerators) and a 16-core Neural Engine. It supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing to deliver an immersive gaming experience. It should be noted that this particular silicon has one GPU core more than the A19 Pro we see in the iPhone Air.

The device is an absolute beast in terms of performance. No matter what the task is, be it playing graphics-rich gaming titles or recording ProRes high-quality videos, it never showed the slightest hint of lag-ness as such.

Synthetic Deepavali festive E-Greeting card generated by Apple Intelligence-powered Image Playground application.

Also, played with Apple Intelligence-powered Image Playground app to generate festive greetings. Here too, iPhone 17 Pro Max did a decent job with the photo generator and delivered a smooth performance.

As noted earlier, the iPhone 17 Pro Max boasts a new thermal management system. Inside, it has an innovative vapour chamber, laser-welded into the chassis, a first for an iPhone to date.

I have to say, it does an impressive job of efficient heat dissipation and keeping the iPhone stable and performing to its maximum potential (up to 40 per cent compared to the previous iteration). Compared to the previous iteration, there is a discernible change in how iPhone behaved.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Last week, during the Deepavali festival night, I recorded slo-mo videos of bursting crackers and firing sky shots (it can take brilliant photos too, you can see the samples below). The device never overheated.

The iOS 26 comes with an all-new and refreshing Liquid Glass user interface, but there are some bugs. As noted in my iPhone 17 review, one such anomaly is the on-screen keyboard. It sometimes misaligns in the WhatsApp chatbox. However, this is not a deal breaker, as this can be fixed with future software updates.

As far as the battery life is concerned, it does a phenomenal job. With a full charge, it can easily last for one and a half days under normal usage with a mix of cellular data and Wi-Fi connectivity at home and the office.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max.

With the iOS 26, Apple is bringing a new power-saving features called Adaptive Power. With this, the device learns the owner's usage patterns and anticipates when he/she might run low on battery, intelligently conserving power to help you make it through the day.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max supports Adaptive Power saving feature.

For the first time, Apple is offering fast charging. It can support up to 40W wired charging and 30W MagSafe wireless charging.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max also comes with N1, a new Apple-designed wireless networking chip that enables Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread. In addition to the latest generation of wireless technologies, N1 improves the overall performance and reliability of features like Personal Hotspot and AirDrop.

The device also comes with the Ultrawide band. This feature comes in handy for precise tracking of a misplaced iPhone through Apple Watches or a secondary iPhone.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max supports potential life-saving features-- Crash Detection, SOS Emergency press and hold feature and also Emergency SOS via Satellite connectivity as well.

Also, like all the new iPhones, it supports Crash Detection. When the iPhone senses there is a sudden loss of speed while travelling in a vehicle, it will trigger the crash detection notification system. Immediately, it will push an alert on the iPhone screen to confirm with the user if the vehicle has suffered an accident, or if this was a false alarm. If there is no response for 30 seconds, it will automatically call the pre-listed contacts to get help at the earliest.

In select countries, Apple offers satellite connectivity for emergencies to get aid to the owner at the earliest.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

Photography

The iPhone 17 Pro Max boasts of an all-new triple-camera module— 48MP Fusion Main sensor, a 48MP Fusion Ultra Wide lens and a 48MP Fusion Telephoto lens with LED flash.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

It can capture HDR photos, support portrait, macro mode and more.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

It takes amazing photos in all light conditions.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

With natural sunlit environments, the device captures brilliant, sharp photos with vibrant colour details.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

At night, too, it does a superb job of balancing the light from sources such as street lamps and neon lights of the billboards.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

But, when capturing photos with certain angles in pitch darkness with lights coming from oil lamps during the Deepavali, I noticed glares (light reflections) on the frame.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

However, the slo-mo videos and still photos of crackers bursting, as you can see in the samples, have come off really good.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

The phone can also record high-quality Dolby Vision 4K videos at 120 frames per second in addition to ProRes videos and Spatial videos of the Vision Pro.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

Further, it supports genlock, exclusive to iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max. This comes in handy for amateur photography professionals to record cinematic video using multiple devices. While editing, the editor will be able to stitch multiple clips together with precise synchronisation across cameras, displays, and other inputs.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

It supports ultra-wide-angle photos. It can capture a vast area of the landscape in the frame pretty nicely.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

With portrait mode on, the device also does fine job with segmentation, background and foreground blur. And, users will also get the option to adjust the depth to match their taste.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

Also, with the Focus Control feature, users can change the focus point of the portrait in the frame. In videos, there is similar option as well.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample with portrait mode on.

It supports six light effects-- natural light, studio light, contour light, stage light, stage light mono and high-key light mono.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample with ultra-wide-angle mode on.

Thanks to the new Telephoto lens, the device can support up to 8X optical zoom and capture nice, lossless quality photos.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max camera sample with normal 1X.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max camera sample with 2X optical zoom.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max camera sample with 4X optical zoom.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max camera sample with 8X optical zoom.

It can digitally zoom up to 40X. It manages to get sharp photos up to 20X, but beyond that, the images begin to show noise.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max camera sample with 20X digital zoom.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max camera sample with 40X digital zoom.

In close up range, the iphone 17 Pro Max gets fantastic macro photos with great details.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

On the front, the iPhone 17 Pro Max sports an 18MP centre-stage FaceTime camera.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

It supports a wider field of view and higher resolution — up to 18MP for photos — to capture more detail. Users can also capture photos and videos in portrait or landscape while holding their iPhone vertically.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

For group selfies, Centre Stage for photos uses AI to automatically expand the field of view and can rotate from portrait to landscape to include everyone in the frame.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

The Centre Stage front camera also enables ultra-stabilised video in 4K HDR, and users can now record on the front and rear cameras simultaneously with Dual Capture mode.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera sample.

Final Thoughts

If you are using an iPhone 15 Pro or older Pro models, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is a big upgrade worth investing in.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max is a powerhouse packed with meaningful upgrades across various aspects such as design, performance, and photography. While it comes with a hefty price tag, its innovations and top-tier features make it a worthwhile investment for tech enthusiasts and photography professionals alike.

The iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max are available in three colours--deep blue, cosmic orange, and silver.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max.

The iPhone 17 Pro comes in three storage options-- 256 GB at Rs 1,34,900, 512 GB at Rs 1,54,900, and 1 TB at Rs 1,74,900.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max comes in three storage options-- 512GB at Rs 1,49,900, 1TB at Rs 1, 89,900 and 2TB for Rs 2,29,900.

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