More performance at the expense of design: Verdict on the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max

Unlike its predecessors, the camera bump on the Apple Phone 17 Pro Max and its little sister model, the iPhone 17 Pro, now extends across the entire width of the back cover. A look under the hood reveals why it has become so large.

The "camera plateau", as Apple calls the bump, not only houses the triple camera with its 48 MP sensors, but also the A19 Pro chip, the cellular modem and an antenna system. Apple uses the freed-up space to give the iPhone 17 Pro models larger batteries.

Larger battery thanks to camera hump

The iPhone 17 Pro Max's battery capacity increases from 4685 mAh in the iPhone 16 Pro Max to 4823 mAh, which goes hand in hand with a significant increase in runtime. In our tests, the XXL iPhone manages an excellent runtime of almost 29 hours when surfing the web, surpassing its predecessor by almost 8 hours.

The US model of the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max provides even longer battery life because, unlike the EU models, it no longer has a physical SIM slot. This means that a slightly larger battery with a capacity of 5088 mAh fits into the housing.

More thermally effective: Aluminum instead of titanium

While the chassis of last year's iPhone Pro models was made out of titanium alloy, Apple has returned to aluminum for the iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPhone 17 Pro. The main reasons for this are better heat conduction, but also lower manufacturing costs. Furthermore, the current Pro models feature a vapor chamber cooling system for the first time.

In combination with the aluminum chassis, the iPhone 17 Pro Max dissipates the waste heat generated during operation more effectively than its predecessor. This is evident, for example, in stress tests, where the smartphone can maintain its performance for longer and also suffers less performance degradation overall.

For more information, interested readers can take a look at our detailed review of the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max here.