Apple’s latest flagship iPhone isn’t quite on store shelves yet, but the first reviews are up.
A handful of tech reporters have posted their initial reviews for the iPhone 17 Pro Max, the biggest and most expensive handset in the iPhone 17 lineup. Mashable will also have one up soon, but in the meantime, let’s go over what everyone is saying about the beefy new phone. Between its controversial design, battery life, cameras, and more, critics have a lot to say, and very little of it is negative.
iPhone 17 Pro Max review roundup
Here’s what everyone is saying about the new iPhone, which runs the just-released iOS 26.
The new design is winning people over
How do you feel about cosmic orange?
Credit: CNET
One of the more controversial aspects of the iPhone 17 Pro Max has been the design. Apple re-engineered the phone from previous models, housing many of its components in a new camera plateau that extends horizontally across the phone’s rear. It’s certainly more bulky-looking than before. The new orange color scheme has also been divisive, as is the lack of a black color option.
That said, the reviews I read indicated that critics more or less came around on the design. Mark Spoonauer of Tom’s Guide had kind things to say about it.
“Apple took a risk with the iPhone 17 Pro Max redesign, and I actually think it pays off. What was just a camera bump in the top left corner is now a mammoth camera bar that Apple calls the plateau,” Spoonauer wrote. “Some may not like it, but to me, it actually feels more Pro.”
Apple also added a new aluminum frame to the phone’s exterior, and Cherlynn Low of Engadget noted that this should make the phone more durable. She noted that her iPhone 16 Pro experienced a bad fall with some cracks recently, but the 17 Pro Max is unlikely to suffer the same fate.
“With its aluminum frame protecting the edges of the rear and back, there is little chance the iPhone 17 Pro will break in the way my iPhone 16 Pro did. Its screen is now protected by Ceramic Shield 2, so if it fell flat on its face it should still be able to survive the impact,” Low wrote. “The rear is a bit more vulnerable, since the three cameras still protrude slightly from the plateau, but those are covered by the same sapphire crystal that previous models were.”
As for the new orange color, that’s a matter of personal taste, but it should be noted that critics generally liked that, too.
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The selfie camera is the star
Across the board, reviews have been kind to the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s trio of 48MP rear cameras. However, that’s normal and expected. One thing that really stood out is how much reviewers liked the new Center Stage selfie camera.
Patrick Holland of CNET, which is owned by Mashable publisher Ziff Davis, noted the improvements made to the selfie camera, including the ability for it to zoom out and take bigger group shots.
“There’s a new selfie camera on both Pro phones that Apple calls Center Stage. It not only takes 18-megapixel selfies, up from 12 megapixels on the 16 Pro, but you can hold the 17 Pro vertically and take a horizontal selfie thanks to a new square image sensor.” Holland wrote. “You can press an onscreen button to change the orientation, and there are even settings that will auto-rotate and auto-zoom out for group shots.”
Patrick Holland of CNET takes a selfie with the iPhone 17 Pro.
Credit: CNET
Over at Engadget, Low noted that she was skeptical of Center Stage at first, but was quickly won over after using it in a number of different scenarios.
“I was all the more persuaded when I paired Center Stage with a timer or remote control of the selfie camera and placed the iPhone 17 Pro Max on a table,” Low wrote. “A group of seven or so friends and I gathered in front of the device and watched it flip into landscape mode as more of us got into the scene. It has been helpful in a number of unexpected ways.”
Big battery life
Part of Apple’s rationale for the new camera plateau is that it could house more components, such as the phone’s upgraded battery. According to the early iPhone 17 Pro reviews, the battery part was not BS.
Take it from Julian Chokkattu of Wired. In that site’s review, Chokkattu noted that you can easily get through a day without charging your iPhone 17 Pro Max.
Credit: CNET
“In real-world testing, I haven’t worried about battery life on either of these phones. I’m using the Pro Max right now, which has more than 5 hours of screen-on time (SoT) and 55 percent left in the tank. I hit nearly seven hours of SoT on the iPhone 17 Pro, and it still had 30 percent left,” Chokkattu wrote. “Much will depend on what you’re doing—hours of gaming will deplete the cell much faster—but I think there’s a good chance you might not have to charge your iPhone every single day anymore, especially with the Pro Max.”
Lance Ulanoff of TechRadar also had very positive experiences with the battery, but cautioned that we might have to wait a while before we have real, detailed metrics on the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s battery performance.
“Now, in my experience, I went over 30 hours (it’s rated for 39 hours) before I needed to charge the phone. However, I think it’s too early to make a final assessment on battery life,” Ulanoff wrote. “I know my phone is busy copying 30,000 emails, updating photo libraries, and more background tasks relating to initial setup.”
In summary, it sounds like Apple nailed the things it needed to nail with the iPhone 17 Pro Max, at least according to these initial reviews. Mashable will have a review of our own up in due time, so stay tuned for that.
