This iPhone 17 Pro camera rumor is making me hesitate about getting a 16 Pro –here's why

The iPhone 16 Pro is hardly a period old, but we're already seeing immoderate reliable rumors for adjacent year's successor – and nan latest camera speculation for nan iPhone 17 Pro has sewage maine considering delaying my iPhone upgrade.

According to a investigation statement from nan usually reliable expert Jeff Pu (via MacRumors), some nan iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max will spot their 5x telephoto camera upgraded from a 12MP sensor to a 48MP one. Less excitingly (for me, astatine least), nan beforehand camera will besides beryllium boosted to a 24MP sensor.

The statement contains different predictions for Apple's adjacent flagship telephone – some models will apparently get 12GB RAM (up from 8GB) to amended Apple Intelligence and multitasking speeds, positive a first awesome simplification successful size for nan Dynamic Island (thanks to a caller metalens for nan Face ID system). Naturally, location will besides beryllium a caller A19 Pro chip.

But arsenic a photographer who's adjacent to upgrading to nan iPhone 16 Pro, those telephoto rumors for nan 17 Pro person fixed maine region for thought. I've antecedently written astir why I skipped nan iPhone 15 Pro, with nan main logic being my aureate norm to hold until immoderate caller Apple characteristic reaches second-generation refinement.

This year, nan iPhone 16 Pro brought Apple's 5x telephoto camera to nan smaller Pro exemplary (it was antecedently a Max exclusive), but it is mostly identical to past twelvemonth pinch an f/2.8 aperture and 12MP sensor. That 'zoom' camera will scope existent maturity, it seems, successful nan 17 Pro bid pinch nan aforesaid 48MP boost that Apple brought to nan iPhone Pro's wide-angle camera this twelvemonth – and that could beryllium worthy waiting for.

Why a telephoto upgrade would beryllium a large deal

Apple near 1 of nan iPhone 16 Pro's 3 cameras pinch a 12MP solution – nan telephoto one. The main camera is simply a 24mm, 48MP matter pinch a agleam f/1.78 aperture, while nan 13mm Ultra Wide was upgraded to 48MP. While nan Ultra Wide doesn't battalion nan aforesaid computational 'Fusion' magic arsenic nan main camera, nan solution is still a adjuvant upgrade for things for illustration macro shots.

Sensor size is astatine slightest arsenic important arsenic resolution, if not much so. But a higher-resolution 48MP sensor tin thief trim sound done 'binning' – successful different words, combining adjacent pixels to make larger ones that are much delicate to light. Technical improvements for illustration that are peculiarly adjuvant erstwhile ray is being bounced astir an soul tetraprism, for illustration it is connected nan telephoto lens.

If nan iPhone 17 Pro's telephoto camera mixed a solution boost pinch a larger sensor, its image value would beryllium much-improved. While our iPhone 16 Pro review recovered its 5x camera to beryllium perfectly solid, it is still nan weakest related of nan phone's 3 hardware-based cameras – and 1 I'd astir apt only usage successful emergencies aliases arsenic a useful brace of integer binoculars.

Of course, waiting for Apple to springiness nan iPhone Pro bid a 'perfect' photography setup – 3 48MP cameras pinch ample sensors and 'Fusion' processing – is simply a fool's game. Apple is simply a maestro of bread-crumbing these small camera upgrades conscionable capable to support you connected nan upgrade cycle. I will astir apt still succumb to nan enticement of an iPhone 16 Pro upgrade, but these rumors mean it's surely tempting to hold 1 much year.

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