iPhone 17 Pro may have another camera surprise

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Apple has big plans for the iPhone 17 lineup. In addition to the rumored iPhone 17 Air, the Pro models are also expected to receive significant hardware upgrades, especially when it comes to cameras. And in addition to everything that’s been leaked so far, it looks like the iPhone 17 Pro will have another camera surprise.

iPhone 17 Pro rumored to have new telephoto camera

According to Majin Bu, Apple plans to adopt a new telephoto lens with a 48-megapixel sensor on the iPhone 17 Pro. While this isn’t exactly news since other sources have already corroborated the change, Majin Bu’s report reveals some other interesting details.

Currently, the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max are equipped with a telephoto lens with a 12-megapixel sensor that enables 5x optical zoom. But if the report is right, the 17 Pro models will have a new telephoto camera with a 3.5x optical zoom – yes, less than the current zoom camera. According to the leaker, the higher resolution sensor will allow Apple to offer zoom greater than 5x with a digital crop.

The idea is essentially the same as the main lens on the latest iPhones. Although the iPhone 16 has a 48-megapixel sensor, Apple offers a 2x digital zoom (which the company calls a telephoto zoom) that crops the full image into a 12-megapixel photo, resulting in a decent zoomed-in photo. That’s why Apple says the iPhone 16e has two cameras in one, for example.

Majin Bu suggests that the change in the iPhone 17 Pro will benefit users, as the current 5x lens requires users to move away from the subject to take portrait photos. With a 3.5x lens, taking portrait photos would be easier – while the iPhone would still be able to take photos with up to 7x digital zoom.

Personally, I’d prefer Apple to keep the 5x lens with a combined 10x digital zoom, just like Samsung does with the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Samsung phones used to have a true 10x zoom lens, but the company switched to a 5x zoom lens with a 50-megapixel sensor. It’s also worth noting that Majin Bu has a mixed track record, so take his report with a grain of salt.

According to other sources, all iPhone 17 models will also have a new 24-megapixel selfie camera, while the Pro models will have 8K video for the first time. Apple is expected to announce iPhone 17 Pro in September.