So far, the iPhone 17 Pro is rumored to have a video upgrade, but there’s a brewing rumor about its camera.
A reliable tipster teased that the upcoming Apple smartphone will feature a major surprise in its telephoto lens configuration, altering how users take zoomed-in photos.
iPhone 17 Pro to Have a High-Resolution Telephoto Camera
iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Prioritize New Telephoto Camera: Is
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Apple is set to install the new telephoto lens of 48 megapixels on the iPhone 17 Pro, as per insider reports. According to 9to5Mac, this is a radical deviation from the existing 12-megapixel telephoto lens in the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max, which boasts 5x optical zoom.
Interestingly, the new telephoto lens is said to provide 3.5x optical zoom, which is a little less than the current model. Apple, however, plans to make up for this by using a higher-resolution sensor to deliver improved digital zoom performance, which could be more than 5x zoom through software-based cropping methods.
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How Apple’s New Camera Strategy Works
Apple has been using digital cropping technology in the past to improve zoom performance. For instance, the iPhone 16’s primary lens boasts a 48-megapixel sensor, which supports a 2x digital zoom by cropping the picture to a 12-megapixel output. The same concept applies to the iPhone 17 Pro telephoto camera, with users able to take clear zoomed-in shots without giving up on the level of detail.
Also, the switch to a 3.5x optical zoom lens should advantage portrait photography, according to Majin Bu. The existing 5x zoom lens tends to make users walk back quite far to get that ideal shot.
A lower level of zoom will be more adaptable, allowing one to frame up portrait shots much more easily, but still have enough capability to zoom digitally up to 7x.
How It Compares to Samsung’s Approach
A few users would rather Apple maintain a 5x optical zoom and improve upon digital zoom, as Samsung has tried to do in the Galaxy S25 Ultra model.
Samsung even used a 10x optical zoom lens for a while and then shifted gears to a 5x optical zoom lens complemented by an ultra-high-res 50-megapixel sensor. Apple’s so-called plans echo this notion, indicating priorities toward software-induced zoom over traditional optical zooms.
Other Rumored Camera Improvements for iPhone 17 Pro
Aside from the telephoto camera improvement, the iPhone 17 series, which is also getting a ProMotion display, is said to introduce other improvements, including 8K video recording and a 24MP front camera.
Apple will likely release the iPhone 17 Pro and the rest of the iPhone 17 series in September.
As ever, leaks and rumors are to be treated with skepticism until Apple officially announces. But if these rumors are correct, the iPhone 17 Pro promises to offer one of the most impressive smartphone camera experiences yet.
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