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.

My fascination for computers started with the C64. Since then, I’ve put everything that comes my way in terms of hardware through its paces. From the C64 to the Amiga 500 and the first PC with an 8088 CPU, my list of projects has grown increasingly longer. For more than 20 years now I have also turned my hobby into my profession and have been active in the mobile section of Notebookcheck since 2021. Before that, I worked as a hardware editor for IDG Media (tecChannel.de) and VNU Business Publications (PC professional), among others.

Translator: Jacob Fisher – Translator – 2468 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2022

Growing up in regional Australia, I first became acquainted with computers in my early teens after a broken leg from a football (soccer) match temporarily condemned me to a predominately indoor lifestyle. Soon afterwards I was building my own systems. Now I live in Germany, having moved here in 2014, where I study philosophy and anthropology. I am particularly fascinated by how computer technology has fundamentally and dramatically reshaped human culture, and how it continues to do so.