iPhone 17 Pro Max Review: Bigger Battery Wins

Apple’s largest iPhone got larger — where it counts. The iPhone 17 Pro Max goes in for a chunkier body and less-physical cell, focusing in on keeping the lights on longer, causing fewer thermals (battery heat) and completely aiming for creator-level confidence. The new orange finish is a head-turner, but for the most part, that headline says it all: this Pro Max goes further on a charge, runs cooler, and recharges faster — without straying far from Apple’s formula.

Battery life and charging take center stage

The move to a unibody aluminum design frees space for a larger battery, which now measures 4,823 mAh from 2018’s 4,685 mAh. Regions that have eSIM-only models receive an even larger 5,088 mAh pack. In real-world terms, that means a solid day of heavy use with plenty of headroom left over, even when screen-on time exceeds five hours.

Charging also finally feels competitive. USB Power Delivery 3.2 brings the ability to draw a claimed maximum of 40W from compatible adapters, so it should shave some time off top-ups compared with older models that peaked around only 30W. And on your desk, Qi2 wireless charging now jumps up to a whopping 25W for faster replenishment and much greater convenience in magnetically aligned stands for speedy refueling. These numbers fall more in line with where the USB-IF and Wireless Power Consortium are pushing the ecosystem, and Apple’s implementation seems to land in a sensible middle ground for now instead of racing toward triple digits on wattage.

Design refinements and durability improvements

The new build is assured and deliberate. The camera plateau is wider, providing a less cluttered space for MagSafe add-ons underneath, and the faint thickness of the frame telegraphs robustness. The weight inches up to 233 grams from 227 grams on the previous Pro Max — a difference you notice if coming from a lighter model, but tends to get tolerated if battery life is your main concern.

Up front is Ceramic Shield 2 and on the back, first-generation Ceramic Shield is used below the camera system. The last cycle, a lot of people were cracking the textured glass backs, so this layered approach is an appreciated hedge. There’s some scratch chatter online, but in practical use, with and without a case, micro-marring has been limited.

The colors are reserved but more expressive, less anemic than last year. There is mellow silver, premium blue, and the extroverted new orange, which isn’t novelty orange but distinctive.

Performance gains and improved cooling under load

Vapor chamber cooling comes to the close-to-flagship Pro line, and is noticeable. Long bouts of 60 FPS gaming — games that demand quick response times and a constant draw on the GPU — stabilize temperatures and performance. The A19 Pro silicon is designed for that, with a neural engine that also paves the way for on-device AI workloads developers may aim at over the next year. Sustained performance is where the phone really shines — you get the feeling it’s made for long runs, not just benchmark spikes.

Display brightness, visibility, and anti-glare advances

The 6.7-inch panel stays the same size but is brighter, peaking at a claimed 3,000 nits. Outdoor readability is further enhanced by a new anti-reflective coating that reduces glare. Some reviewers point out that some rivals, like the most recent Galaxy Ultra models from Samsung, are a touch less reflective at certain angles — but not by much; the Pro Max is among the best. The wider market is moving this way — recent Pixels and Honor flagships are also getting brighter — and Apple’s tuning means color accuracy remains true at high luminance, a detail display analysts like to harp on.

Camera upgrades and pro video tools for creators

All three rear cameras now utilize 48-megapixel sensors, with wide joining ultrawide and the upgraded telephoto for parity. Apple reorganizes the focal length jumps to 2x, 4x and then 8x (which is a 2x crop), a setup that seems more practical for everyday shooting than the one from last year (2x and then 5x). At 8x, detail is compromised, but images are fine for sharing socially and rapidly.

Digital zoom goes up to 40x, but it doesn’t use the kind of generative enhancement some competitors do. This keeps artifacts predictable, but it also means very long zoom shots are noisy. The front camera gets a significant bump to 18 megapixels with a square sensor, and an auto-framing feature that will recenter and reorient based on who’s in the shot — taco arm release! — which will be helpful for awkward hands-free group candids, video calls without equivalent indecision.

Filmmakers get the most out of this generation.

With genlock support and Log 2, ProRes RAW users can now benefit from accurate time-locked shots in multicam or compositing action where this had previously been the domain of dedicated rigs. Throw in a larger battery and updated thermals, and you’ve got a pocket tool that can roll for longer without throttling or worrying about the battery life — a feature filmmakers and mobile journalists will appreciate. Production pros at places like the ASC and indie creators have long argued that reliability over hours — not minutes — is what separates “nice phone video” from a reliable B-cam, and the Pro Max leans into that brevity.

Software updates and Apple’s restrained AI narrative

Despite the silicon improvements, Apple downplays the AI narrative in this hardware cycle. iOS 26 arrives with some useful context-based features — say, asking what’s on screen via integrated assistants. But there is no marquee, device-exclusive intelligence trick along the lines of Pro model phones. The neural roof exists; whether Siri and first-party apps are able to scale to meet it will depend on what Apple makes available to developers next year. The writing is on the wall from analysts and developer documentation.

Verdict: a reliable upgrade focused on endurance

For durability, consistency and creator-grade amenities, the iPhone 17 Pro Max deserves its “Pro” moniker. The larger battery, faster wired and Qi2 charging, brighter display and vapor chamber cooling make a material difference in how long and hard you can push this phone. Camera improvements are incremental rather than flashy; long-zoom photos still lag behind AI-enhanced competitors, but overall imaging is still stellar and video tools make a clear step forward.

From a 2-year-old device and older, the ones I felt made all the difference are battery life, thermals, visibility of the display, and options for capture.

If you purchased a Pro version iPhone in the past cycle or two, this is a good but not necessary upgrade — unless new orange and a bigger battery are all you’ve been dreaming of.