iPhone 17 Pro Is Apple Let Off The Leash

Joining the newly unveiled iPhone Air, AirPods Pro 3, and the new Apple Watch Series 11 is arguably the star of the show: the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max. This model makes a bold statement from the start thanks to the deeply saturated Cosmic Orange color on offer, that itself joined by Deep Blue and Silver. The handset is made from 7000-series aluminum alloy, and — like the new ultra-slim model — includes Ceramic Shield on the back of the device for enhanced durability.

According to Apple, both models in the series are its most powerful Pro offerings to date, each sporting the A19 Pro chip, the company's new N1 chip for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, and a trio of 48 MP rear Fusion cameras with a new telephoto lens alongside the main and ultra-wide offerings. Apple claims these three cameras are the equivalent of carrying around eight lenses.

Like the iPhone Air, the front camera on the Pro models has also been drastically improved compared to the previous generation, offering a new Center Stage module that, among other things, has a square-shaped sensor for selfies that can be taken in four different aspect ratios — including landscape, despite holding the phone vertically.

Apple has continued its long-running trend of targeting the creative industries with its new Pro lineup — and we've come a long way since "Unsane," the feature film that was recorded with the iPhone 7 Plus. The new iPhone 17 Pro series builds upon the high-end video capabilities of the previous generations by adding support for ProRes RAW, genlock, and Log 2, making them the first-of-a-kind in the smartphone industry. 

Apple is, no doubt, catering to the filmmakers who are increasingly using its smartphones alongside — or in the place of — more traditional production cameras. Earlier this year, it was revealed that the movie "28 Years Later" was filmed using a custom camera rig that enabled an array of iPhones to record scenes at the same time, each from a slightly different angle. The newly added support in the iPhone 17 Pro series will make this kind of production easier, as it enables creators to sync video inputs from multiple cameras with professional-grade precision.

The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max sport 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch Always-On Super Retina XDR displays, respectively, with 120 Hz ProMotion and improvements in both glare reduction and scratch resistance. As with the iPhone Air, the new Pro series can go up to 3,000 nits brightness for better viewing outdoors.

The A19 Pro chip, meanwhile, makes the Pro handsets more appealing for gamers in addition to filmmakers. There's a 6-core CPU that exceeds the performance of any other smartphone CPU at the time of writing, according to Apple, alongside a 6-core GPU with neural accelerators integrated in each core. Overall, gamers can anticipate both improved frame rates and hardware-accelerated ray-tracing.

The iPhone 17 Pro will be available starting at 256 GB and $1,099, while the iPhone 17 Pro Max will start at $1,199 and will include a 2 TB storage option. Preorders will start on this upcoming Friday, and the models will be available for purchase starting September 19.