iPhone 17 Pro Max
Apple

iPhone 17 Pro Max

S
Ranked #1 in Smartphones
905 LP on the category ladder what's LP?
Announced September 2025 by Apple

The 2026 flagship delivers the best overall performance, camera system and software continuity, earning top marks from RTINGS and TechRadar.

Consolidated from 34 cited sources across 32 outlets

Where the cited sources landed, as we read them

  • 1 glowing source
  • 13 positive sources
  • 16 neutral sources
  • 1 unconvinced source
See the sources
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Pros & cons

  • All-round performance that outpaces rivals
  • Top-tier camera system with advanced computational photography
  • Seamless ecosystem integration across Apple devices
  • Unparalleled camera system
  • Excellent battery life

The sources behind this ranking

We searched the web and YouTube for what has been published about this product, then read the articles, video transcripts and comments we found.

13 positive sources

W WhistleOut Hannah Geremia · reviewer · Oct 2025
The iPhone 17 Pro Max is a tank. Battery life is usually on the list of features Apple chooses to bolster with every new release, so you can get more out of your smartphone. You can expect the iPhone 17 Pro Max to last around nine hours with moderate to heavy usage. A full day in the city, using battery-sucking apps and snapping pictures around town, still left me with about 35%.
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Z zollotech zollotech · 2.2M subscribers · Apr 2026
The display has been extremely durable. The glass is much more durable as far as scratches go, and if I turn the display off, you'll see there's not a single scratch, whether that's a light scratch, just a micro scratch, or anything else. Everything is just dust on the display, and there's no scratches whatsoever. I did show that I dropped one on a rock, and it actually held up pretty well.
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K Kenrockwell Article
Even better than ordinary Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji and LEICA cameras, the iPhone is so smart in its night mode that it compensates for earth motion to keep the stars as dots and not trails! Fall Aspens and Clouds as seen from the Redwood Motel, Bridgeport, California, 8:14 A.M., Wednesday, 22 October 2025.
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F Flossy Carter Flossy Carter · 2.1M subscribers · Oct 2025
But after using it for 3 weeks, I love it, okay? I love this phone. This is not like this piece of [   ] right here. This is a real phone. Now speaking about this piece of [   ] right here, look, I got to talk about this iPhone ear one last time.
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F Fstoppers Article · Jul 2026
What sold me was not any single frame but the range. The same iPhone 17 Pro Max that shot a snow-flocked Cleveland road after a winter storm shot a lenticular stack over New Mexico, a desert train in February, and a beach in May, and it never once made me wish I had brought something else for the job.
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N Nick Ackerman Nick Ackerman · 896K subscribers · May 2026
Having used this device since launch, I’m excited to share how its refined 6.9-inch Super Retina XDR display and powerhouse A19 Pro chip perform in daily use. This year’s move to 12GB of RAM and the upgraded triple-camera system—now featuring 48MP sensors across the Wide, Ultra Wide, and Telephoto lenses—makes it a massive leap for mobile photography and multitasking.
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A Anthony the Tinkering Explorer - tonyscha · reviewer · Oct 2025
I recently upgraded from my iPhone 13 Pro Max to the new iPhone 17 Pro Max , and so far, I’ve been really impressed. In this post, I’ll walk you through the hardware specs, my full hardware and software review, my experience with phone cases, and my final thoughts on the upgrade.
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S Simple Alpaca Simple Alpaca · 636K subscribers · Oct 2025
Now, it's a beautiful device. It has so much capability. There's so much to do with it and I'll give you a breakdown on how to use it. Now, number one, the very first thing I'd always recommend every single iPhone owner to do, especially with brand new big iPhones, is to put a screen protector on your phone and put a case on your phone as well.
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M MacRumors Forums Biro · reviewer · Jul 2026
With all the talk in recent weeks about Apple’s price increases and the likelihood of the company rising prices on iPhones when the 18 Pro/Pro Max line is introduced, the 17 Pro/Pro Max has been looking more attractive. At least to me.
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S Shevon Salmon Shevon Salmon · 561K subscribers · Dec 2025
I've been using this phone for the past 3 months, and honestly, this might be Apple's most complete Pro Max yet. Not because it's revolutionary, but because they just refined everything that really mattered. Wakey wakey. >> All right. >> So, what are we doing today? >> Today, we're back, bro. We're back.
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T Trade In iPhone 17 Pro Max Article
Guaranteed most cash for your iPhone 17 Pro Max!
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J Jay Daniels Jay Daniels · 44.6K subscribers · Aug 2026
To start with, the battery life on this phone has been super solid. With this phone, I'm not really concerned about charging my phone overnight, and honestly, my charging habits are pretty bad. Since the iPhone 17 Pro Max charges way faster than the previous models, I can connect it in and get pretty close to full in about 20 or 30 minutes.
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J JoshsWayOfLife JoshsWayOfLife · 6.3K subscribers · Apr 2026
This is one of the best phones you can buy on the market right now. This aluminum beast is absolutely remarkable. This is easily Apple's best work and I can recommend this phone to darn near everybody unless you don't like the size. This phone is large. It's heavy. It has a big battery that weighs your pants down and for me personally, I like that.
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16 neutral sources

R Reviews.org Hannah Geremia · reviewer · Feb 2026
The iPhone 17 Pro Max is larger than life. While the outlandish orange is certainly a statement, it brings more to the table with a dramatic design overhaul, better battery, camera upgrades, and maximized thermal efficiency.
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G GSMArena Official GSMArena Official · 2.1M subscribers · Sept 2025
Aluminum is not as hard as those other materials, making dents and scratches a concern over time. In fact, early adopters have already found the camera island readily picks up scratches, even without being subjected to very harsh treatment. There's been no change in the ingress protection here.
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H Hardforum Article
It does run hot at times so anything in support of improving thermal performance will get my approval.
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Z ZONEofTECH ZONEofTECH · 1.7M subscribers · Oct 2025
It surprised me in a lot of unexpected areas whilst disappointing me in areas where I was hoping to be impressed. So, get that popcorn ready. And here's my full review of the iPhone 17 Pro Max. So, I want to start off with the things that impressed me the most. And I've got three things to say here. The first being not the new telephoto or the new design, but in fact its performance.
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M Medium Article
The iPhone 17 Pro Max has, therefore, become a secondary device.
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N Nick Ackerman Nick Ackerman · 897K subscribers · Jul 2026
Now, I did I have been having a bit of a busy year and I've dropped this thing quite a few times and it's held up pretty well except for a few areas. So, right here on the corner, I do have myself a little dent. And I showed this dent before. It hasn't expanded or anything like that. Um, there are there is another dent somewhere.
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J julia k crist julia k crist · 483K subscribers · Oct 2025
All right, and my biggest con with this new iPhone 17 Pro Max is I did actually scratch it. Hello everybody and welcome to it. Today we're going to be yapping and talking about the iPhone 17 Pro Max. I've had it for over a month now, which is crazy to think about and I figured it was time to finally sit down and tell you guys my thoughts and review and if you guys should upgrade.
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C Canoopsy Canoopsy · 306K subscribers · Feb 2026
And this phone, despite looking really solid and durable, is probably the least durable Pro iPhone that Apple has ever made. It's made entirely of aluminum with a unibody design, which does feel really nice to hold and use. But we all know aluminum is not as strong as something like titanium, which Apple had in their previous model.
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D DrTech DrTech · 279K subscribers · Aug 2026
The iPhone 17 Pro Max produces a brighter image, but because of that, we're losing some fine details in certain areas. The Pixel gives us more detail while maintaining more balanced colors and exposure. Now, let's move on to the autofocus test. Looking at these shots, the Pixel 11 Pro XL is giving us more detail, especially when you look closely at the subject and the finer textures. However, the
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T TechnicallyTee TechnicallyTee · 131K subscribers · Jun 2026
Let's just pull up a chair and let's talk about this bad boy and about how I feel about it because I've been loving this device, but as for the last month, well, I don't know what happened, all right? Stuff has been kind of going downhill. It's been acting a little crazy, and as some people say, Apple has pressed that button before it's time for the 18 Pro Max to come out. But, let's go ahead and
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A Andrew Clare Andrew Clare · 108K subscribers · Jul 2026
And the aluminum switch is probably the only thing that I could say I don't really care for, but we'll get into it a little bit later. It does make up for it long-term in terms of performance.
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T Terren Rule Terren Rule · 79.7K subscribers · Feb 2026
I still think that the silver white iPhone 17 Pro Max is the nicest and best execution color that Apple has available right now, but I wasn't personally
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F Faiz Aly Faiz Aly · 79.6K subscribers · Aug 2026
All right, so right out of the box, the iPhone 17 Pro Max felt very utilitarian and less like jewelry. It's a big, bold, unapologetic smartphone. You get that massive 6.9-in display, which remains Apple's largest iPhone screen ever.
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J Jon Adams Jon Adams · 23.4K subscribers · Nov 2025
I think it's a great phone, but I wasn't expecting this.
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R Richard Lau Richard Lau · 4.2K subscribers · Jul 2026
The new aluminum frame is definitely much lighter in the hand. It also offers better heat dissipation, so if you're going to be gaming or doing any video editing, the phone's going to run much more cooler, which also helps with the overall efficiency. The downside, however, is that it's much more prone to dents and nicks.
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F Four-Eyed Tech Guy Four-Eyed Tech Guy · 1.9K subscribers · Aug 2026
One bad drop can matter more than hundreds of good ones. The surface matters, the angle matters, where the phone lands matters, and the case matters, which leads to the next thing I learned. Because after a while, I realized I was paying too much attention to what was happening on the outside of the phone. Lesson two. We should be protecting the inside, too.
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Frequently asked questions

It ranks #1 (S tier) on our consolidated smartphones board, drawn from 34 cited sources across 32 outlets.

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