First iPhone 17 Professional Max opinions are in: What the critics say by means of NewsFlicks

Apple’s newest flagship iPhone is not relatively on retailer cabinets but, however the first opinions are up.

A handful of tech newshounds have posted their preliminary opinions for the iPhone 17 Professional Max, the largest and costliest handset within the iPhone 17 lineup. Mashable will even have one up quickly, however within the interim, let’s pass over what everyone seems to be pronouncing concerning the beefy new telephone. Between its debatable design, battery existence, cameras, and extra, critics have so much to mention, and little or no of it’s adverse.

iPhone 17 Professional Max evaluation roundup

Here is what everyone seems to be pronouncing concerning the new iPhone, which runs the just-released iOS 26.

The brand new design is successful other folks over

How do you are feeling about cosmic orange?
Credit score: CNET

One of the vital extra debatable facets of the iPhone 17 Professional Max has been the design. Apple re-engineered the telephone from earlier fashions, housing a lot of its elements in a brand new digicam plateau that extends horizontally around the telephone’s rear. It is definitely extra bulky-looking than ahead of. The brand new orange colour scheme has additionally been divisive, as is the loss of a black colour choice.

That mentioned, the opinions I learn indicated that critics roughly came over at the design. Mark Spoonauer of Tom’s Information had sort issues to mention about it.

“Apple took a possibility with the iPhone 17 Professional Max redesign, and I in truth suppose it will pay off. What was once only a digicam bump within the most sensible left nook is now a mammoth digicam bar that Apple calls the plateau,” Spoonauer wrote. “Some won’t love it, however to me, it in truth feels extra Professional.”

Apple additionally added a brand new aluminum body to the telephone’s external, and Cherlynn Low of Engadget famous that this must make the telephone tougher. She famous that her iPhone 16 Professional skilled a nasty fall with some cracks just lately, however the 17 Professional Max is not going to endure the similar destiny.

“With its aluminum body protective the sides of the rear and again, there’s little likelihood the iPhone 17 Professional will wreck in the best way my iPhone 16 Professional did. Its display is now secure by means of Ceramic Protect 2, so if it fell flat on its face it must nonetheless be capable to live to tell the tale the affect,” Low wrote. “The rear is a little more inclined, for the reason that 3 cameras nonetheless protrude relatively from the plateau, however the ones are lined by means of the similar sapphire crystal that earlier fashions had been.”

As for the brand new orange colour, that is an issue of private style, however it must be famous that critics most often preferred that, too.

The selfie digicam is the celebrity

Around the board, opinions had been sort to the iPhone 17 Professional Max’s trio of 48MP rear cameras. On the other hand, that is commonplace and anticipated. Something that in point of fact stood out is how a lot reviewers preferred the new Heart Degree selfie digicam.

Patrick Holland of CNET, which is owned by means of Mashable writer Ziff Davis, famous the enhancements made to the selfie digicam, together with the facility for it to zoom out and take larger team pictures.

“There is a new selfie digicam on each Professional telephones that Apple calls Heart Degree. It no longer best takes 18-megapixel selfies, up from 12 megapixels at the 16 Professional, however you’ll be able to dangle the 17 Professional vertically and take a horizontal selfie due to a brand new sq. symbol sensor.” Holland wrote. “You’ll be able to press an onscreen button to switch the orientation, and there are even settings that may auto-rotate and auto-zoom out for team pictures.”

Patrick Holland of CNET takes a selfie with the iPhone 17 Professional.
Credit score: CNET

Over at Engadget, Low famous that she was once skeptical of Heart Degree to start with, however was once temporarily received over after the use of it in plenty of other situations.

“I used to be the entire extra persuaded once I paired Heart Degree with a timer or far flung regulate of the selfie digicam and positioned the iPhone 17 Professional Max on a desk,” Low wrote. “A bunch of 7 or so pals and I accumulated in entrance of the software and watched it turn into panorama mode as extra folks were given into the scene. It’s been useful in plenty of surprising tactics.”

Giant battery existence

A part of Apple’s rationale for the brand new digicam plateau is that it will area extra elements, reminiscent of the telephone’s upgraded battery. Consistent with the early iPhone 17 Professional opinions, the battery section was once no longer BS.

Take it from Julian Chokkattu of Stressed. In that website’s evaluation, Chokkattu famous that you’ll be able to simply get via an afternoon with out charging your iPhone 17 Professional Max.

Credit score: CNET

“In real-world trying out, I have never anxious about battery existence on both of those telephones. I am the use of the Professional Max at this time, which has greater than 5 hours of screen-on time (SoT) and 55 % left within the tank. I hit just about seven hours of SoT at the iPhone 17 Professional, and it nonetheless had 30 % left,” Chokkattu wrote. “A lot is determined by what you are doing—hours of gaming will expend the mobile a lot sooner—however I feel there is a just right likelihood it’s possible you’ll no longer must price your iPhone each unmarried day anymore, particularly with the Professional Max.”

Lance Ulanoff of TechRadar additionally had very certain reviews with the battery, however cautioned that we would have to attend some time ahead of we’ve got genuine, detailed metrics at the iPhone 17 Professional Max’s battery efficiency.

“Now, in my enjoy, I went over 30 hours (it is rated for 39 hours) ahead of I had to price the telephone. On the other hand, I feel it is too early to make a last evaluation on battery existence,” Ulanoff wrote. “I do know my telephone is busy copying 30,000 emails, updating photograph libraries, and extra background duties when it comes to preliminary setup.”

In abstract, it appears like Apple nailed the issues it had to nail with the iPhone 17 Professional Max, a minimum of in step with those preliminary opinions. Mashable could have a evaluation of our personal up in due time, so keep tuned for that.