I tried the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and the differences are what might make you want it

I could, if I were lazy, tell you to wander over to my iPhone 17 Pro hands-on report, read that, then come here just to read a single line about the larger iPhone 17 Pro Max battery to understand that these two phones are essentially the same, except for that one crucial difference.

My point is the iPhone 17 Pro Max is the Pro version of the iPhone for people who demand a big screen and nearly 40 hours of promised battery life. Otherwise, you can stick with the iPhone 17 Pro, which I'm already starting to like.

My assessments of these two phones come after an all-too-brief hands-on session that followed Apple's Awe dropping keynote on September 9. In it, Apple CEO Tim Cook and company unveiled four new iPhones, including the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and the ultra-thin iPhone Air (nope, no "17" in that name).

I'm not kidding when I say these Pro phones are exactly the same, save for a larger, 6.9-inch display and a bigger battery that takes it to a reported 39 hours of video playback (compared to the iPhone 17 Pro's 33 hours).

The iPhone 17 Pro Max features the same redesign that jettisons titanium in favor of a lighter and more efficient aluminum frame. There's a big rectangular Ceramic 2 glass cutout on the back, along with the same three 48MP cameras.

Inside is the A19 Pro chip with a half-dozen GPU cores and neural nets for each one. There's a new Center Stage Camera on the front, and attractive new colors like orange and blue. I will say we waited far too long for Apple to deliver interesting colors in the Pro line.

Like the iPhone 17 Pro, the 17 Pro Max starts with 256GB (up to 2TB) and is priced the same as the last model (not an insignificant accomplishment).

Here's what I learned when I played with the news handset during my demo room experience.

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

The look and feel of these new iPhone 17 Pro phones is quite a bit different than the previous models. The milled aluminum body creates smoother lines and just an overall better feel than previous iPhones.

Like the 17 Pro, the 17 Pro Max is slightly heavier than its predecessor but not jarringly so. Naturally, this is a larger 6.9-inch phone, so it's built, as I see it, for people with larger hands, like me. I found it comfortable to hold and, yes, I like that new raised plateau far more than I thought I would.

If you were looking for other design changes, there really aren't any. Buttons like the Action Button and Camera Control are unchanged, and I really didn't touch them at all during this hands-on session.

Display

This is essentially the same super Retina XDR OLED screen as the last model, but now with the ability to pump up to 3,000 nits of brightness when necessary. I was never outdoors with the phone, so I can't tell you how effective this might be.

It's still a ProMotion display, which means it ranges easily from 1Hz to 120Hz. In my time with the phone, I thought the motion on everything, including gaming, was smooth as butter. As ever, this is just a gorgeous screen and, yes, I prefer the biggest iPhone display.

Cameras

The three 48MP cameras represent a better upgrade than you might think, and mainly because the telephoto is now joining the 48MP club. Now, we have a lovely 48MP Wide, 48MP ultrawide, and 48MP optical zoom that can do 4X at full resolution and 8X at 12MP (binning 4 bits of visual information per pixel).

I played with the camera and ran through all the options. The photos looked good, but I really want to take this camera on the road for a real test.

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

The selfie camera got a big upgrade and now features the 18MP Center Stage Camera that is now available across the entire iPhone 17 lineup (and the iPhone Air). It lets you take portrait or landscape mode selfies without turning the phone 90 degrees. It's a neat bit of tech business and worked perfectly in my quick tryout.

With the upgraded Photonics Engine, I'm expecting big things from all these cameras and I hope they live up to my expectations.

Performance and Battery

Apple stuffed a powerful 3-nanometer A19 Pro inside the iPhone 17 Pro Max. It looks to be the most powerful mobile CPU Apple has ever produced. I can tell you that the phone seemed peppy and played AAA games like a champ (with loud audio, too), but I do not really know enough about the details of its performance across a range of tasks.

Still, I am excited by the engineering changes Apple made to the iPhone 17 Pro Max's internals. The logic board is almost dead center in the phone, and it's covered in graphite and below a water-filled vapor chamber, all of which apparently work together to dissipate heat during tasks like gaming and video capture. This configuration could keep the phone cooler and running more efficiently; time will tell.

Apple is promising 39 hours of video playback for the iPhone 17 Pro Max. If that holds up, it would be a remarkable achievement and possibly the chief reason why I'd choose this phone over the iPhone 17 Pro.

Overall, this is an exciting update and one that goes more than skin deep., I don't know yet if it's a winner, but most early signs point to yes. Basically, I can't wait to test this beast of a smartphone.

Specs comparison

Below, you'll find a beat-by-beat comparison of the key specs offered by the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Price & availability

• Starts at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,149
• Pre-orders open on September 12, shipping from September 19

The iPhone 17 Pro Max was announced at Apple's 'Awe Dropping' event on September 9. Pre-orders will begin on September 12, and the new phone will hit store shelves and start shipping on September 19.

The iPhone 17 Pro starts at $1,199/ £1,199 / AU$2,149 for the model with 256GB of storage, with that price rising to $1,399 / £1,399 / AU$2,599 for 512GB of storage, $1,599 / £1,599 / AU$2,999 for 1TB of storage, and $1,999 / £1,999 / AU$3,799 for 2TB of storage. The latter configuration represents the largest storage capacity of any iPhone ever.

You can see full iPhone 17 Pro Max pricing below.

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