The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max high our listing of the most effective digicam telephones, but regardless of that there’s nonetheless loads of room for enchancment.
These handsets can seize sharp particulars and pure colours throughout their lenses, however there are some gaps of their arsenal. So there’s loads we’d wish to see from the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max.
Below, you’ll discover a listing of 5 of the digicam upgrades we most need to see. These aren’t essentially issues which have been rumored (although some have been), however they’re issues that might massively enhance Apple’s already spectacular smartphone cameras.
1. More megapixels for the periscope digicam
With the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, Apple upgraded the ultra-wide cameras to 48MP sensors, up from 12MP on the earlier fashions, however it saved the periscope cameras at 12MP.
Given that these telephones even have 48MP predominant sensors, the 12MP periscope sensors are very a lot the odd ones out, and will do with extra megapixels. So we’d wish to see them boosted – ideally to 48MP or above – on the iPhone 17 Pro sequence.
Unlike a number of the needs on this listing, this one is trying seemingly, with a number of sources suggesting that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max could have 48MP periscope cameras.
2. A variable zoom or an additional zoom lens
Another enchancment we wish from the zoom lens is the power to optically zoom to a number of completely different distances. This may both be achieved with a single lens that may transfer between zoom ranges, or by including an extra telephoto digicam, such as you’ll discover on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.
This hasn’t been rumored, so we’re not really anticipating it to occur. But it could be nice if the iPhone 17 Pro sequence may zoom to round 10x, in addition to having the shorter distance 5x zoom discovered on the present fashions.
That, paired with the 2x optical-quality photographs that the principle digicam is already able to, would imply you’d have lots of completely different focal lengths coated.
3. Better AI enhancing instruments
Right now, Apple’s AI capabilities are manner behind rivals, with Apple Intelligence not doing a lot to reside as much as its title, and nowhere is that clearer than in AI photograph enhancing instruments.
We pitted the Clean Up device in Apple Intelligence towards comparable Samsung Galaxy AI options, and the outcomes converse for themselves – whereas Galaxy AI is impressively able to doing main picture edits, and particularly eradicating undesirable components, Clean Up leaves images trying messier than they began.
So, with the iPhone 17 Pro sequence, we’d like to see large enhancements to Apple’s AI photograph enhancing capabilities.
This might come extra right down to software program updates than {hardware} (although the additional horsepower of the iPhone 17 Pro in all probability received’t harm), and on that entrance we’re not tremendous hopeful that these telephones could have majorly improved AI out of the field, with Apple’s subsequent main software program occasion reportedly set to be a letdown for AI. But perhaps by subsequent yr Apple will begin competing.
4. Larger sensors
We talked about above that we’d wish to see extra megapixels in one of many iPhone 17 Pro’s cameras, however megapixels are only one a part of the image. What’s arguably extra essential is a bigger sensor, as a bigger sensor can enhance picture high quality and seize extra gentle, so images taken in low-light situations come out higher.
So, we’d wish to see greater sensors used on any or – higher but – the entire iPhone 17 Pro’s and iPhone 17 Pro Max’s cameras.
However, no reviews thus far counsel that can occur, and actually oddly we’ve heard that the principle digicam on the iPhone 17 Pro sequence may even have a smaller sensor than on the present fashions. That would appear odd although, and we actually hope a sensor dimension lower received’t occur.
5. An upgraded front-facing digicam
As nicely because the periscope digicam, the front-facing digicam on the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max additionally feels just a little missing.
This too is simply 12MP, and it hasn’t been upgraded because the iPhone 14 Pro, the place the modifications have been minimal anyway. In truth, there hasn’t been a rise in megapixels because the iPhone 11 Pro. So we’d actually wish to see a rise in megapixels for the iPhone 17 Pro sequence.
Fortunately, it seems like we might nicely get one, with leaks suggesting the entire iPhone 17 sequence could have 24MP front-facing cameras.
