iPhone 17 Pro Max GSMArena review is out

[nickelro]

In a nutshell, for those who were still in doubt:

LE: Full review here: https://www.gsmarena.com/apple_iphone_17_pro_max-review-2884.php

 

[jsmith1]

Phone Arena calling 17 Pros half baked and no excuse for how mediocre it is.

https://www.phonearena.com/news/app...t-of-iphone-17-pros-blatant-problems_id174337

 

[Meedoss]

Great reviews lol
My 16 pro is looking good 😊

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

In a nutshell, for those who were still in doubt:
View attachment 2558500

Cons for almost every "news" outlet make me scratch my head:

Controversial Design - it's subjective so not really a con.
Telephoto - is the lens good? If it is then great, but just because it wasn’t the upgrade you wanted doesn't make it a con.
iOS 26 - that's a software review, this is hardware.
Charger - so not only did they want a charger but the NEW one...bruh it's been years, get over it.

Heck, from 16 series I still see reviews listing no headphone jack as a con. People are wild these days.

 

[nickelro]

@Sheepish-Lord Telephoto lens actually is a downgrade capped at 4x optical zoom (and 8x "optical quality" zoom).

 

[thatJohann]

I'm always surprised how reviewers never pick up on the Quality Control issues Apple has with the different display manufacturers. You'd think that a site focused on reviewing the phone would acknowledge that. Maybe they need to find reviewers that are more attentive to detail and can notice issues like that so Apple becomes aware that it's an issue.

 

[jsmith1]

Great reviews lol
My 16 pro is looking good 😊

If I hadn’t got the air this year, I would’ve for sure kept the 16 Pro Max and not got 17..although I hate how heavy it was.

 

[nickelro]

@thatJohann Most of them surely notice, but for whatever reason they choose not to speak up.

 

[Ctrlos]

I wonder how many forumites buy the Pro just because its the most expensive, and therefore assumed to be the best model? I won't deny the 5x camera on the 16 Pro was a lovely edition, but since I took that back and swapped back to a 16 I haven't really missed it at all.

Again, I appreciate if you use the thunderbolt port for external video or some other niche then its the only model to buy. But if you're an everyday user just snapping pictures of your family then you don't really lose much by buying the regular 17. And at that price your expectations are a little lower.

 

[MaxVerstappen]

In all honesty, I never take gsmarena reviews that seriously. It’s not like they are the gold standard or anything.

 

[thatJohann]

@thatJohann Most of them surely notice, but for whatever reason they choose not to speak up.

What would be the incentive not to speak up tho?

 

[nickelro]

In all honesty, I never take gsmarena reviews that seriously. It’s not like they are the gold standard or anything.

Mind to share your source for gold standard reviews?

 

[nickelro]

What would be the incentive not to speak up tho?

Beats me.

 

[digimc]

@Sheepish-Lord Telephoto lens actually is a downgrade capped at 4x optical zoom (and 8x "optical quality" zoom).

I disagree. Last year the 16 Pro telephoto was only 12MP, this year the 17 Pro has a 48MP telephoto. Capture distance is a wash yes and yes 8x goes beyond its focal point fixed aperture, but you are getting more pixels regardless.

 

[MaxVerstappen]

Mind to share your source for gold standard reviews?

There ain't such. While their reviews are definitely the most informative, I feel they are more biased towards android phones. Just my opinion.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

So thermal performance hasn't improved? That's a shame.

 

[ayephoner]

So thermal performance hasn't improved? That's a shame.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max review

The iPhone 17 Pro Max is powered by the new 3nm Apple A19 Pro chipset, which is the most capable of the current generation. It's a step above the A19 in...

www.gsmarena.com

The new iPhone 17 Pro Max kept 65% of its processor performance on our stress test (APSI Bench) and 53% of its graphics performance (on 3D Mark WildLife Extreme). We ran the same tests on the iPhone 16 Pro Max and we got 77% for CPU and 65% for GPU. Granted the Apple A19 Pro is a more powerful piece of hardware, so even when throttled to these levels, it should provide more oomph than the throttled A18 Pro. But we are certainly not seeing the 40% imrpovement promised by Apple.

They're referencing one specific benchmark designed to place a heavy load on the system. It's not a great thing, but who knows how well that conveys overall performance.

 

[TechnoMonk]

Post a link of detailed review. I still miss those detailed Arstechnica and Anandtech review with real numbers. Those reviews would quantify statements/observations with data, not some opinions sourced from sources or clickbait topics.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Cons for almost every "news" outlet make me scratch my head:

Controversial Design - it's subjective so not really a con.
Telephoto - is the lens good? If it's then great, but just because it was the upgrade you wanted doesn't make it a con.
iOS 26 - that's a software review, this is hardware.
Charger - so not only did they want a charger but the NEW one...bruh it's been years, get over it.

Heck, from 16 series I still see reviews listing no headphone jack as a con. People are wild these days.

When you can decouple iOS 26 from an iPhone 17, then it won't matter. It absolutely does in this case.

 

[Cuesca]

When you can decouple iOS 26 from an iPhone 17, then it won't matter. It absolutely does in this case.

The reason I personally won't be getting the next few generations of iPhones/iPad/Mac is due to the direction Apple took with Liquid Glass. So yes, I agree the software definitely matters.

 

[ayephoner]

The reason I personally won't be getting the next few generations of iPhones/iPad/Mac is due to the direction Apple took with Liquid Glass. So yes, I agree the software definitely matters.

the thing with software... it's software.

You can pretty much turn off all of the liquid glass stuff if you want.

And... Apple could (potentially) take feedback from so many of you that are complaining about liquid glass and ramp it back or make more settings to easily turn it off. They could do this next week or with 27 or whenever.

 

[joshwithachance]

"Despite switch to aluminum body and introduction of vapor chamber sustained performance hasn't improved." OUCH.

 

[Cuesca]

the thing with software... it's software.

You can pretty much turn off all of the liquid glass stuff if you want.

And... Apple could (potentially) take feedback from so many of you that are complaining about liquid glass and ramp it back or make more settings to easily turn it off. They could do this next week or with 27 or whenever.

Even if I have reduce transparency on its still ugly, plus you can't use shortcut to change the icons because there will always be a border around them. And under all of that there are countless bugs even in the official build like widgets going solid then back to 'liquid'. To downright crashes.

I also did submitted feedback back when it was in developer beta, however mostly for bugs since I doubt they want to hear my personal opinion on their design. That being said I think the best feedback I can submit is with my wallet. I will keep my iPad because Samsung isn't serious about tablets, but for phones I will be sticking to OneUI at least until Apple's software improves.

 

[klasma]

iOS 26 - that's a software review, this is hardware.

It’s the only software supported by the hardware, unfortunately. Using the hardware necessarily implies using that software. IOS 26 is a serious caveat for the new iPhone models.

 

[klasma]

You can pretty much turn off all of the liquid glass stuff if you want.

You really can’t. The floating widgets remain. The highlighted borders remain. The added visual noise in general remains. Actions taking more taps than previously remains as well. Reduce Transparency also reduces contrast in many instances. In addition, it has display bugs in various places. You have to deal with a mess of a UI either way.