From a long-overdue cooling improve to a redesigned digital camera island, rumors point out the iPhone 17 lineup will ship significant modifications. Listed here are 5 rumored iPhone 17 options which have me genuinely excited for Apple’s subsequent units.
5 rumored iPhone 17 upgrades I’m enthusiastic about
Each new iPhone comes with the same old yearly upgrades: a quicker chip, minor design tweaks and improved cameras. However with the iPhone 17 lineup, rumors point out Apple plans to expand modifications than common.
A bunch of leaks and unconfirmed reviews paint a promising image of what’s to return when Apple unveils the iPhone 17 fashions this fall. Rumors point out we’d see a redesigned digital camera island, a vapor cooling chamber and improved video recording prowess.
After final yr’s underwhelming iPhone 16, the iPhone 17 improve rumors have me fairly excited.
Desk of contents: 5 rumored iPhone 17 upgrades I’m enthusiastic about
ProMotion involves non-Professional iPhones
A 120Hz OLED panel would possibly come to the common iPhone mannequin this yr.
Picture: Rajesh Pandey/Cult of Mac
Apple took its time bringing 120Hz ProMotion shows to the iPhone Professional. The primary arrived with the iPhone 13 Professional in 2021 — 4 years after the characteristic debuted on the iPad Professional. Since then, ProMotion shows have remained unique to the iPhone Professional fashions, at the same time as 120Hz shows grew to become commonplace on $300 Android telephones.
That might change this yr, with rumors indicating the non-Professional iPhone 17 fashions will acquire a 120Hz ProMotion show. The upper refresh charge would give system animations a smoother really feel and make contact interactions snappier and extra exact. Plus, it will enhance battery life, because the telephones can scale back the refresh charge to avoid wasting energy when displaying static content material.
There have been numerous conflicting rumors about this, although. Current leaks counsel the bottom iPhone 17 will include a bigger 6.3-inch show — the identical measurement because the iPhone 16 Professional — nevertheless it received’t be a 120Hz panel.
Apple can at all times distinguish between the non-Professional and Professional iPhones’ shows utilizing different metrics: greater HDR and peak brightness, At all times On Show assist, and many others.
If not the bottom iPhone 17 mannequin, Apple ought to a minimum of use a 120Hz show on the rumored iPhone 17 Air, because the display screen tech would assist justify its supposedly greater price ticket.
Vapor cooling chamber
Though iPhones pack highly effective A-series chips, Apple has at all times skimped on cooling options for the units. The corporate’s designs depend on graphite sheets and thermal paste to dissipate warmth from the SoC. Nonetheless, this strategy exhibits its limitations underneath sustained masses, as cooling efficiency drops sharply.
Flagship Android telephones with their power-hungry chips way back switched to a extra subtle cooling answer: a vapor chamber.
In the sort of system, a tiny chamber holds a small quantity of liquid that evaporates when heated. This vapor helps dissipate warmth evenly throughout the chamber, providing a extra environment friendly cooling technique for high-performance chips. It additionally helps keep away from hotspots by spreading the warmth over a bigger space. The vapor finally cools down once more to liquid type and returns to the chamber.
Rumors point out Apple would possibly equip the iPhone 17 Professional household with a vapor chamber cooling system. This is able to enhance the thermal effectivity of the rumored A19 Professional SoC within the upcoming units, boosting efficiency underneath sustained masses.
Improved video recording functionality
iPhones won’t include the very best digital camera techniques. But, they seize movies with wonderful high quality, beating even flagship Android telephones with bigger digital camera sensors. No surprise filmmakers and advertisers often use iPhones for capturing big-budget films and adverts.
With the iPhone 16 Professional, Apple launched assist for recording 4K Dolby Imaginative and prescient movies at 120 frames per second. As if that’s not spectacular sufficient, the corporate reportedly plans to introduce even larger upgrades this yr.
Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman reported that the iPhone 17 Professional’s video recording functionality “will (get) a big improve.” Apple apparently needs to make the iPhone the go-to digital camera for video creators and vloggers, enabling them to ditch their present devoted digital camera setups.
On condition that the iPhone 17 Professional would possibly ship with triple 48MP rear cameras, Apple might add assist for 5K and even higher-resolution video recording.
Rumors als0 point out Apple will enhance the iPhone 17 Professional’s audio recording high quality, making higher use of the system’s onboard microphones. Plus, with iOS 26, Apple will allow you to use your AirPods as a microphone when capturing movies on iPhone. This could offer you cleaner, extra centered audio — particularly when filming at a distance or in noisy environments.
All in all, the iPhone 17 Professional ought to include vastly improved audiovisual recording capabilities.
Massive decision bump for telephoto and entrance cameras
iPhone 17 Professional’s telephoto digital camera would possibly obtain a pleasant decision bump.
Picture: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
Among the many iPhone 16 Professional’s three rear cameras, solely the 5x telephoto nonetheless encompasses a decrease 12MP decision. (Apple upgraded the first and Extremely Vast lenses to 48MP in recent times.) Rumors counsel that can change with the iPhone 17, with Apple giving the zoom digital camera a decision bump to 48MP this yr.
The upper decision ought to enable for pixel binning. Theoretically, this may allow the 5x tetaprism digital camera to seize photos with extra element, particularly in low gentle. Extra importantly, Apple might use the upper decision to seize 24MP photos by default from the telephoto digital camera. (Proper now, it’s the solely outlier: Each the first and Extremely Vast cameras shoot at 24MP by default.)
Leaks point out even the entrance FaceTime digital camera will get a decision bump, going from 12MP to 24MP on the iPhone 17 Professional fashions. This could sharpen your selfies (a minimum of those taken in daylight).
In each instances, although, you shouldn’t count on a big leap in picture high quality except Apple places a bigger sensor within the iPhone 17 fashions.
Redesigned digital camera island
The iPhone’s iconic digital camera island could lastly get a revamp this yr.
Picture: Rajesh Pandey/Cult of Mac
A number of leaks level to Apple redesigning the digital camera island on the iPhone 17 Professional. Dummy items counsel a wider digital camera island that stretches horizontally throughout the highest half of the system, with the flash and LiDAR sensor positioned on the intense proper.
Whereas it won’t appear to be a significant shift, this could mark the primary important design change Apple has made to its Professional iPhones in recent times. It might make the iPhone 17 Professional lineup stand out from earlier fashions.
Some rumors say the iPhone 17 Professional would possibly include a two-tone coloration scheme, serving to the revamped digital camera island pop much more. Nonetheless, some reviews contradict this.
Regardless of the case, the iPhone 17 Professional ought to characteristic the largest rear design overhaul because the iPhone 12 in 2020. And that in itself is an effective sufficient purpose to get enthusiastic about this yr’s mannequin.
Rumors point out iPhone 17 will probably be a much bigger replace than iPhone 16
If the leaks and rumors pan out, iPhone 17 will pack considerably extra modifications than iPhone 16 did. Virtually all of those modifications will tackle longstanding issues, with the revamped digital camera island giving it a brand new look as effectively.
When you skipped the iPhone 16 final yr, Apple would possibly offer you sufficient causes to improve this yr.
