iPhone 17 Pro Max: What Real Users Actually Think

12 GB of RAM and 5000 MAH battery on the max completely SLAPS.

Thank you for actually demonstrating the new anti reflective coating (albeit briefly).

The article reads like a questionable financial article and not a tech one. The iPhone 17 pro max is depreciating more slowly than the 16 pro max.

I love the look of the Pros this year. Apple went complete function over form, and I'm here for it. Chunky, utilitarian monsters that'll hopefully stay cool for longer, which would be awesome for me while I'm out shooting, and need my phone as a reliable secondary camera.

Battery life king incoming.

This is dumb. It's a list tracking raw numbers, so the best selling devices are naturally going to be the most traded-in devices. If it were tracking trade-in rates versus sales rates, then maybe it would be saying something. If anything, the depreciation is lower than the average.

All I care about is how quickly does this thing DIM when used outside? It's pathetic how fast my 16PM goes to 5 nits. Not a single video reviewer tested this. The absolute state of tech YouTubers.

Everything about that phone, from the materials change, to the feel, to the particular colors, and most pointedly the ad campaign and iconography, would make Steve Jobs roll over in his grave. From the first ad I was like 'oh, buddy, they've lost vision for vibe'

It's basically too big and the colours aren't nice.

I went from a 12 Pro to 17 Pro and I 100% would not go back.

Nice. Good news for my iPhone 18 Pro Max next year.

Sounds like he didn't really like the Air, that review is going to be interesting.

For me it's the size. I have the 17PM and I have large hands. I struggle to reach the corners and I miss being able to one hand my phone. This is the first PM I've had and it will probably be the last.

The major complaints with the 17 Pro are: big bump on the back making the phone more bulky, aluminum is a downgrade from titanium and is more fragile to scratches, and the orange color fades to pink. The first two were design choices made in service of performance and battery. The last one is a legitimate flaw.

Five months in, I really regret the purchase and would rather have some cash and go back to the 13 Pro, which to me is almost imperceptibly different (and a better color).

13 to 17 for me. The camera quality improvement alone makes this one of the best trade ups I've ever done on a phone.

I've had almost every iPhone and the 17 Pro Max is by far my favourite.

The phones haven't really felt different in 3-4 years imo. Get the new one if your old one doesn't do the job.

I only ever got the Pro Max phones for the battery life. This is the first gen where I feel the Pro device actually has amazing battery life, so the entire value of the Pro Max is gone for me. The pro max size just gets exhausting to deal with. For me, the 17 Pro is a perfect phone.

Came from iPhone 16 pro max. No difference at all.

I've been very happy with my 17 PM.

I had an iPhone 14 Pro before and I notice a huge difference in the upgrade. Battery is much better, thermals are way, way better, the refresh rate upgrade is noticeable, the fast charging is really nice, and just nice to be on USB-C. This was one of the upgrades that I really noticed.

I kind of wish I got the Pro instead of Pro Max. It's juuuuust big enough that trying to reach corners changes my grip enough to cause some drops.

It doesn't feel different per se, but the camera is about as good as I expect a phone camera can be and the battery life is insane. I use my phone a lot, including editing documents for work and school, and this morning is the first time I've had to charge it in two days, this morning being the third.

Great. Running iOS 26.2b3 on it and I'm happy with the experience of it. Camera is great and overall usage is similar to my 16PM. The biggest upgrade I noticed is the heat dissipation. With previous gens I've noticed a lot of overheating and just a warm/hot phone when holding it. It happened on a daily basis when charging and simultaneously using the phone for example. With the 17PM it hasn't happened at all even when I'm using it while charging.

iPhones have not improved much since the 13 pro max in terms of user experience. Only real noticeable difference is the Dynamic Island which doesn't do much. Other than that it's just small things like camera button, slightly larger size, usb c, action button, barely better camera and better battery but that's also due to old ones just getting worse with time. I had the 13, 14, and now 17 pro max.

Traded my 14 pro max. Outside of the battery lasting longer, it's the exact same experience.... Sometimes I have to use my wife's 13 pro and it's the exact same experience, literally no difference at all. I should have just kept my 14 and replaced the battery...

I just got the iphone 17 pro max and genuinely, it's probably only a 5% better experience than my iphone 13 pro max. That phone was incredible. For normal workloads, I wouldn't recommend an upgrade unless something is wrong with your 13 pro max.

Upgraded from an iPhone XR to the 17 Pro Max. My only complaint is that the speakers sometimes make noises when the phone is charging. Other than that, I'm happy with the phone and it's been great so far.

Battery and cooling wise it feels different. The OS doesn't lag when you use the camera for a while. I do podcast shooting with mine. By the end of it my 16 pro max used to lag and get hot but no issues for the 17 pro max.

It's so THICK. With a case it's like carrying a brick in your pocket.

Tbf mine's been buggy and had issues since I got it. They fucked this one up and the software updates are not helping.

If you can cope with the size of the pro max, by all means get it because battery life must be amazing. I've opted for the pro to avoid the weight and bulkiness and it fits my needs perfectly. Zero regrets.

I got the base version a few days back. It was good, except the battery seemed like it was draining too fast. So I ended up exchanging it for a 17 PM just yesterday. The screen needs some getting used to. I have a habit of using phone with one hand and I'm already realizing that I can't do that with this phone. But overall the phone is great! The battery seems much better.

Long iPhone pro max guy from 6s plus to now and from 16-17 pro max what a difference. I use my phone all day at work for podcast/work and after 8-13 hours only 80-60% even when I'm on it all day long. Maybe 36% with my 16 pro max after work. 20-30% battery crazy and so fast, sounds better and cooler.

Came from the 16 pro max so the differences I've noticed are: the phone feels way lighter than the 16PM even though it's heavier, the Battery lasts 2 days OMG, charges so so quick on wireless charging it's crazy.

I went from a 14 pro max because it was just dying. Everything is just faster. Things lag far less and doing things feels faster. My phone games load better and don't turn my phone into an oven which I really appreciate.

There is a huge difference between anything after 13 and the most current model. iPhone 17 Pro Max sucks and I have advocated for Apple products for decades. This is my first awful experience and I'm actually looking into android phones because this iPhone sucks so bad.

I just dropped my 17 pro max today from waist height and it got scratched — two damages on the back cover. I also have an iPhone 15 and it dropped a lot but not a single scratch anywhere.

All they have to do is fix the damn wifi issues on the 17 and I might not regret buying mine…

I have a 17 Pro running iOS 26.3 as well. This phone has been nothing but bugs and glitches from day 1 back in September 2025. I have tried the DFU mode restore and setting up as a new phone and nothing has changed. At this point the issue is either the OS being so flawed that a fresh install won't fix or there is something wrong with the hardware.

The battery and the lack of zoom were the biggest downfall for me with the Air. I absolutely LOVED the air but it didn't fit my lifestyle which requires a strong battery as I do most of my work on my phone all day away from a charger.

Just made the same switch, the 17 ProMax is great and not noticeably bigger to me. The battery life is excellent and the photos are great.

This tracks with my experience upgrading from a 15 to a 17 Pro Max. The battery life is incredible. According to my history in the settings app I've only used more than 50% of my battery one day this week. I don't think I've once hit low power mode (20%) since getting it, and I only charge it to 90% full.