Apple's iPhone 17 lineup is shaping up to be a pretty solid upgrade over the current models, as the company is looking to improve all aspects of the device. We have previously reported that the 'Pro' models of the iPhone 17 will come with a new design from the back, housing an enormous camera tray for all the necessary lenses and sensors. It is now being reported that the iPhone 17 Pro will feature an advanced telephoto lens with a 48MP sensor.
The iPhone 17 Pro telephoto lens will see a major jump from 12MP to 48MP, but it could hurt the optical zoom range
The news was shared by leaker Majin Bu, stating that the iPhone 17 Pro will feature various hardware upgrades as far as the camera is concerned. The news related to the upgraded telephoto lens was already reported by various analysts, but Majin Bu also shared additional details on the device, which could lead to a bigger impact on the performance of the sensor.
On the current iPhone 16 Pro models, we get a 12MP telephoto sensor that allows users to zoom up to 5x optically. With a 48MP telephoto sensor on the iPhone 17 Pro models, users will only be able to zoom optically at just 3.5x, which is technically less than the current iteration. However, the zoom quality would not take a hit as it will be compensated with a higher megapixel count. Take note that the zooming above 3.5x would be done digitally, which is the same mechanism as that of the main camera.
The main camera on the iPhone 16 Pro has a 48MP sensor, which means that users can zoom into an image by 2x and still retain image quality worth 12MP. The company implemented the same technology on the iPhone 16e's Fusion Camera, which is why Apple says that the iPhone 16e has two cameras in one.
According to Majin Bu, this will benefit users in various ways. Currently, users have to move back when taking a portrait shot in 5x. However, with a 3.5x optical lens, taking portrait photos would be simpler and easier, while the iPhone 17 Pro is able to capture photos at up to 7x digital zoom. Samsung pulled off the same feat with its new Galaxy S25 Ultra by offering the 50MP sensor, which allowed the company to reduce the 10 optical zoom to 5x. We have to take note that Majin Bu has a mixed track record, and the company could move in a different direction.
Apple is also looking to upgrade the front camera on the iPhone 17 models to 24MP, which will allow the device to capture more details. Furthermore, it was also recently reported that Apple will unlock 8K video recording support for the iPhone 17 Pro models, and it remains to be seen how it compares against the competition.
