The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are currently at the top of the list of phones with the best cameras, but that doesn't mean they're perfect, there's still a lot of room for improvement in this year's iPhone 17 Pro Max.
An iPhone 17 Pro Max concept. Photo: DrTech
The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are capable of capturing sharp detail and natural colors across all lenses, but there are still some shortcomings. So the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are expected to bring powerful camera upgrades this fall.
Here are five camera upgrades that fans are looking forward to, some of which have appeared in recent leaks.
1. Increase resolution for periscope camera
On the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, Apple has upgraded the ultra-wide-angle lens to a 48MP sensor (from 12MP on previous models), but the periscope camera still stops at 12MP.
With the main camera already reaching 48MP, the periscope camera only having 12MP is clearly a weak point that needs to be improved.
Leaked news suggests that the periscope camera on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max launched this year will have a 48MP periscope camera (upgraded from 12MP on the iPhone 16 Pro) but the optical zoom is reduced from 5x to 3.5x, with the ability to digitally zoom up to 7x without losing detail.
The reduction in optical zoom from 5x to 3.5x may be controversial, as many professional users (like photographers) often prefer higher optical zoom for long-distance shooting. But Apple certainly won't disappoint users with its upgrades.
2. Flexible optical zoom, or add an additional zoom lens
Another welcome improvement is the ability to zoom optically at a variety of focal lengths.
This could be done with a single lens that can change focal length (variable optical zoom), or by adding a secondary telephoto camera – similar to the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max is expected to have a mechanical aperture, allowing users to adjust the amount of light entering the lens. Concept photo:
There are no leaks confirming this yet, so it’s hard to expect it to happen anytime soon for the new iPhones, but it would be nice if the iPhone 17 Pro series could zoom up to 10x, in addition to the current 5x zoom.
Combined with the ability to shoot 2x optical quality from the main camera, this will give users significantly more focal length options.
3. Smarter AI photo editing tools
Currently, Apple's AI features are still far behind its competitors, especially its AI photo editing capabilities.
Apple Intelligence, at least so far, doesn't show much.
There have been comparisons between Apple Intelligence's Clean Up tool and the AI features on Samsung's Galaxy, and the results are clear: Galaxy AI can do powerful photo editing, especially removing unwanted details, while Clean Up often makes photos look... more messy.
So hopefully Apple will make big strides in AI photo editing on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max.
Improving AI may depend more on software than hardware, although more powerful hardware would also be beneficial, but unfortunately Apple's recent WWDC event showed that Apple Intelligence features continue to be delayed.
“This work takes additional time to meet our high quality standards,” explained Apple’s software chief Craig Federighi, reiterating that the feature will arrive “next year.”
Still, hopefully by next year Apple will start catching up with its competitors with polished AI features.
4. Larger sensor
As mentioned above, some cameras have higher resolution, but megapixels are only part of the story. More important is the sensor size, larger sensors capture more light and produce better image quality, especially in low light conditions.
Therefore, users expect Apple to use larger sensors on one, or better yet, all, of the cameras on the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max.
However, there are currently no reports that this will happen. On the contrary, some leaks have suggested that the main sensor on the iPhone 17 Pro could be smaller than it is now. This is hard to believe, and hopefully Apple will not go in that direction.
5. Upgraded front camera
Besides the periscope camera, the selfie camera on the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max is also lagging behind many Android competitors.
The front camera is still only 12MP and has not been upgraded since the iPhone 14 Pro. In fact, this megapixel count has remained the same since the iPhone 11 Pro.
So this is where the front camera of the iPhone 17 Pro series needs a real boost.
Fortunately, multiple leaks suggest that the entire iPhone 17 lineup will get a 24MP front-facing camera — a very worthwhile upgrade.
While the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max already have the top smartphone camera systems on the market, Apple still has room for improvement. With the iPhone 17 Pro series, users hope that Apple will bring upgrades such as larger sensors, higher resolution, more flexible zoom, more powerful AI photo editing, and a better front camera.
The iPhone 17 series will be launched by Apple this fall. The new iPhone models are expected to include: iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max and the super-thin iPhone 17 Air, with many new upgrades, especially the "Pro" duo.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/iphone-17-pro-max-va-5-nang-cap-camera-giai-con-khat-cho-cac-tin-do-2410278.html
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