Accordingly, Apple is said to increase the thickness of the iPhone 17 Pro Max to 8.725mm, compared to 8.25mm of the iPhone 16 Pro Max launched last year, which is 0.475mm thicker.

iPhone 17 pro max screen.jpg
The iPhone 17 Pro Max may be redesigned to have a larger battery. Photo: Macrumors

This increase in thickness "definitely means a larger battery," said Ice Universe , a source familiar with the matter. Aside from the change in thickness, the iPhone 17 Pro Max's bezels are said to remain the same, with no differences compared to the previous generation.

So far, there has been no leaked news that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will have longer battery life or that the battery of this flagship will change in size compared to the previous generation, so if Ice Universe 's information is correct, this will be a notable upgrade.

Series of upgrades on iPhone 17 Pro Max

Previously, according to source Sonny Dickson , who specializes in revealing news about Apple's upcoming new products, the most notable difference with the iPhone 17 Pro Max launched this year is the redesigned rear camera module.

Instead of the camera module located in the upper left corner as before, the new camera system has a more spread-out layout, separating the flash, microphone, and LiDAR sensor from the main triple-lens cluster.

This horizontal bar camera design is expected to appear on the iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max and the all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air model.

Additionally, according to Apple supply chain analysts Ming-Chi Kuo and Jeff Pu, all four iPhone 17 models will be equipped with a 24MP front camera. So of course the iPhone 17 Pro Max will receive this improvement.

Not only that, the iPhone 17 Pro Max model is said to have a Telephoto camera upgraded to 48MP, instead of 12MP like on the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the telephoto camera on the iPhone 17 Pro Max will use a 48MP, 1/2.6-inch sensor, an improvement over the 12MP 1/3.1-inch of the iPhone 16 Pro.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max is also rumored to have 12GB of RAM, up from 8GB on the iPhone 16 Pro Max. This upgrade will help improve the performance of Apple Intelligence features and multitasking. All four current iPhone 16 models only have 8GB of RAM.

Another exclusive upgrade for the iPhone 17 Pro Max is that the Dynamic Island will be "significantly narrowed" thanks to hardware changes related to the Face ID system.

According to Jeff Pu, Apple applies metalens technology to the Face ID system. This technology allows Apple to reduce the size of the Face ID system without reducing efficiency, while expanding the display space on the screen.

Apple's top-of-the-line iPhones always get the most bang for their buck when it comes to yearly upgrades, which is understandable given that the company is still focusing on differentiating between the "Pro" and non-Pro models.

Perhaps that's why the rumor that only the iPhone 17 Pro Max will be equipped with a Wi-Fi 7 chip designed by Apple is also very reliable.

The new iPhone series will be launched in September 2025, according to Apple's annual tradition. The 2025 iPhone models are expected to include: iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max and the super-thin iPhone 17 Air.

Watch iPhone 17 Pro Max sample video (Source: Asher Dipprey):

The super-thin iPhone 17 Air still has a 'huge' battery . Although the iPhone 17 Air has a super-thin design, it will not be inferior in battery capacity to other members of the "apple" family, thanks to new battery technology.