We’ve seen rumor after rumor suggesting the iPhone 17 collection will usher in substantial redesigns for the iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone 17 Air, which appears to be changing the iPhone 16 Plus as Apple’s enlarged non-pro handset.
The iPhone 17 Pro fashions have been extensively tipped to get an expanded digital camera module, planting a big rectangular define on the rear of the cellphone however maintaining the triangular digital camera array in place on the left facet of the rear panel.
The iPhone 17 Air is technically rumored to kick off a brand new product line, however its closest present analogue is the iPhone 16 Plus, and in comparison with that cellphone there appear to be some main modifications on the way in which. The iPhone 17 Air has repeatedly been rumored to be dropping the iPhone 16 Plus’ ultra-wide digital camera and housing the only remaining lens in a Google Pixel-style bar.
These designs have been solidified additional by a latest supposed dummy unit leak from outstanding tipster Sonny Dickson. It’s not official data, however as rumors go these are actually fairly weighty.
Here’s one other take a look at some iPhone 17 dummies, Notice on the Pro fashions the place the glass will change. pic.twitter.com/lJDc5KXsV9March 20, 2025
There’s been lots mentioned concerning the new designs, and as numerous Reddit threads spotlight, not all of it’s been good.
Still, I’m prepared to don my on-line discourse armor and head into the fray by saying one thing that is likely to be a little bit controversial: I feel the rumored new iPhone designs look nice.
Photo focus
The iPhone 16 collection confirmed us that Apple is nicely conscious of the cell {hardware} panorama – most each cellphone you should buy for greater than, say, $300 / £300 / AU$500 provides you with an ideal display screen, respectable construct, workable processing energy, and entry to both the Android or iOS ecosystems.
The distinction between cheaper telephones and premium flagships is more and more about providing a extra sturdy construct with nicer supplies, elevated processing energy for high-spec gaming and media functions, and – that is the essential bit – digital camera high quality.
With the iPhone 16 collection, Apple confirmed the world that it’s nicely conscious of simply how essential digital camera programs are to a cellphone’s worth and consumer expertise – all 4 fashions obtained the brand new Camera Control, a brand new bodily button to activate the shutter and different digital camera options, providing a tactile technique to expertise cell pictures.
What’s extra, the Pro fashions obtained a brand new 48MP ultra-wide digital camera and the bottom fashions had their lenses rearranged to permit for spatial seize. Add within the 48MP most important digital camera delivered to the bottom fashions with the iPhone 15, and it turns into clear that Apple’s handsets have by no means been extra photo-focused.
With the iPhone 17 Pro tipped so as to add a 48MP telephoto digital camera to finish the trio and produce a renewed deal with high-end video recording, it feels pure to me that Apple would proceed so as to add bodily emphasis to its digital camera system. The massive, blocky bar proven in iPhone 17 Pro mockups is very large, apparent, and assured, asserting the arrival of a critical digital camera cellphone as quickly because it exits your pocket.
It’s not like Apple can be alone in promoting a cellphone with such an enormous digital camera housing, both – the not too long ago launched Xiaomi 15 Ultra contains a ludicrously big round digital camera island, and the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra’s rear panel is adorned with sufficient lenses to make a trypophobic nervous.
Ergonomic extension
If you ask me, the iPhone 17 Air’ thinner digital camera bar is even simpler to simply accept. Apple’s supposedly upcoming slim cellphone wants some type of raised housing to suit a high-resolution digital camera to its rear panel – that’s a consequence of the legal guidelines of physics, not design conference.
I feel a bar throughout the again of the iPhone 17 Air would look much better than a mound or bump, which would appear weird towards such a slim body.
Furthermore, a bar design means the digital camera module is much less prone to snag on pockets and compartments that will match the remainder of the cellphone however not the raised digital camera – in that sense, the brand new design is definitely fairly thoughtful, and will scale back the danger of the cellphone being broken.
Maybe I’m simply getting wrapped up within the pleasure of a design change – as my TechRadar colleague and UK Phones Editor Axel Metz not too long ago regarded into, we’ve been in a interval of samey cellphone design for just a few years now. It may very well be that when the mud settles, the iPhone 17 Pro finally ends up feeling obstinate and overly showy in its design.
A brand new path
That mentioned, there’s a level to be made about how the remodelled iPhones match within the historical past of Apple handsets.
As TechRadar’s freelance contributor and go-to Apple skilled Alex Blake not too long ago identified to me, the brand new designs are antithetical to the imaginative and prescient of the late Steve Jobs and Apple’s former design chief Jony Ive: as Jobs as soon as mentioned, “design is the way it works”.
The tenure of Jobs and Ive, who labored collectively at Apple from 1997 till Jobs passing in 2011, noticed Apple launch the primary few generations of most of its present product portfolio – we’re speaking concerning the heaviest of heavyweights, just like the iMac, MacBook, iPad, and iPhone.
As we absolutely all bear in mind, the identify of Apple’s recreation again then was simplicity – we noticed units get thinner, lighter, extra refined with every era.
After Jobs’ passing, Ive stayed on till 2019, overseeing merchandise just like the iPad Pro and iPhone X within the later years of his Apple profession. The development of the iPhone within the years since Ive’s departure demonstrates simply how sturdy his affect was – it’s solely actually within the 2020s that the iPhone has morphed from a rounded slate with a deal with thinness to a reasonably sturdy, squared-off design.
It’s telling that the iPhone 17 Air may seemingly search to recapture clients that will have tuned out as top-of-the-line iPhones have gotten bigger and heavier.
I do concede that Jobs and Ive would in all probability disapprove of simply including materials for aesthetic causes, however whether or not that is actually an issue comes all the way down to what you assume offers Apple its juice to start with.
If Apple speaks to you with its elegant designs and merchandise that part seamlessly into any room or state of affairs, then, certain, I get why these new digital camera bars may very well be a problem.
However, if you happen to’re like me and worth Apple extra for its dedication to an ideal consumer expertise and utilizing its clout to direct trade in ways in which genuinely profit the on a regular basis buyer, then persevering with to emphasize the digital camera system looks as if an honest technique to go.
In any case, spec bumps and a brand new design will probably be greater than sufficient to guarantee the iPhone 17 collection locations on our listing of one of the best iPhones. And do tell us what you consider these attainable new designs within the feedback beneath.
