Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max review

Design, build quality, handling

Welcome (back) to the aluminum iPhone era. No more titanium, no more steel. Apple finally decided to take a step back for the Pro models, opting for the more practical solution even if it risks being accused of cheaping out. Because aluminum may be good for the iPhone, but it's far from exclusive as titanium.

Along with the new frame material comes a major change to the design of the back, and it's a controversial one. There is a huge rectangular camera housing, there is aluminum, and then there is a glass piece that covers the wireless charging coil. The mix of different elements is a far cry from the usual seamless design Apple products have been known for. Worse yet, there are uneven gaps between the glass cover and the aluminum that you can see with the naked eye.

Having an aluminum frame and sticking out camera housing raises another issue - scratches. One drop is enough to deform the frame and destroy the water resistance, or worse. Carrying your iPhone without a case risks getting its camera island scratched fairly quickly - an unfortunate reality that early adopters discovered. Aluminum is much softer than even titanium, let alone steel, so it's good to keep that in mind.

On the upside the iPhone 17 Pro Max has a Ceramic Shield 2 glass at the front with anti-reflective coating for incredible legibility even in the most challenging conditions. Then there is the matte aluminum chassis spreading from the frame, towards the back and up to the camera housing in a subtle volcano-like fashion. Finally, there is the first-gen Ceramic Shield glass on the back that sits atop the wireless charging coil.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max is IP68-rated for dust and water resistance, but Apple has enhanced it further to survive for 30min in up to 6m deep water.

The exterior changes are mostly on the back with the full-width camera island and the window-like glass piece. The sides are more curved than before, reminiscent of the long-gone iPhone 6 times.

Oh, and there are new colors to enjoy this year - the signature Cosmic Orange, the safe bet Deep Blue, and universally-appealing Silver.

The Orange and Blue options have the same color across the entire body - both at the aluminum and the rear glass. The silver model though has silver aluminum and white glass. The difference in the hues is obvious, and it makes the gap between the glass and the metal parts more prominent.

While Apple chose Cosmic Orange as its hero color, Deep Blue may well be the best of the new colorways to get for its matching parts and more traditional iPhone looks. Orange is a flashier option, looking a bit retro, but that might be the exact reason some will go for it. Silver is a mixed bag, but it wins points for being the signature Apple color for various devices over the years.

One thing is certain with the new iPhone 17 Pro Max - it doesn't look like any previous iPhone, which is arguably a good thing as nobody likes getting the same old thing over and over again. However it doesn't carry over the meticulous attention to detail Apple is famous for.

The front packs the 6.9-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED screen with nicely thin bezels. The screen has an i-shaped perforation that iOS expands into a pill and then leverages it for the so-called Dynamic Island. The size of the pill hasn't changed since its introduction, but it looks smaller on the Max thanks to its larger display.

The pill has the new 18MP selfie camera on the left and the 3D ToF array for the Face ID on the right.

Above the screen is a thin earpiece that doubles as the second speaker in the stereo setup.

The back has a full-width camera island that houses the three 48 MP cameras (main, ultrawide, telephoto), the LiDAR scanner, the LED flash, and a microphone.

The glass part of the back covers the MagSafe magnets and the wireless charging coil.

The aluminum frame has a comfortably rounded edge. The top part is empty, while the bottom has the USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port, the primary microphone and the other speaker.

The left has the volume and Action keys, and if you get a physical SIM-enabled iPhone, the SIM slot would be here, too.

Finally, the Side and Camera keys are on the right. There is no change to the Camera key - it is both clickable and capacitive-touch sensitive.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max measures 163.4 x 78 x 8.8mm and weighs 233 grams. This is roughly the same size as the 16 Pro Max, just a hair thicker and 5g heavier. Despite the swap to the aluminum, the new heat dissipating films and elements, the new chip, the larger battery, and the new cameras have not only compensated, but actually led to an increase in the total weight.

Still, the iPhone 17 Pro Max feels absolutely lovely in hand, with a nice heft to it, and good balance with an even weight distribution. The overall grip level is unimpressive though - certainly better than the iPhones with the polished frame, but not an improvement over the 16 Pro Max.

We do feel a part of the premium look and feel is lost, replaced with a more practical design with different pieces thrown in together, visible gaps, and perhaps not the most universally loved colorways. The drop and scratch resistance have been heavily compromised because of the aluminum, too, although we can't imagine what the weight would have been with a steel frame.