Honestly, one of the reasons I was drawn to reviewing the iPhone 17 Pro Max was its distinct orange colorway, which stands out from other flagships. But of course, the appeal of Apple's most advanced phone isn't just about color.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max comes with a new camera system, a larger battery, a faster chipset, and the return of aluminum, the material used for the first time in a long time. Despite its higher price, this phone still sells out quickly, as it's a highly anticipated smartphone. So, is the iPhone 17 Pro Max really worth the price? Check out the full review below.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max features a new design style that, as far as I've seen, has divided opinion online, with some liking it while others disagreeing. It's understandable, as the two-tone color combination and the orange variant make it look much more striking. I personally am a fan of this new design.
Clearly, people will immediately know this is a new generation iPhone because the appearance is now different after years of Apple maintaining a similar design in the Pro Max line. On the left side are the Action button, volume rocker, and SIM card slot. Meanwhile, on the right side are the power button and Camera Control. As usual, the USB Type-C port is at the bottom.
The aluminum material used feels premium, in fact, I don't think it feels much different from the titanium material used in previous generations. There have been reports that this material is easily dented or the paint peels easily, especially around the camera bump. However, some users recommend using a soft case for protection.
One thing I noticed when holding it: it's heavy. For some reason, it feels heavier than the Galaxy S24 Ultra, which is actually similar in weight. Perhaps because the weight distribution is less balanced, making it feel more pressing in the hand.
Fortunately, the iPhone 17 Pro Max has subtle curves on each side, making it comfortable to hold. The flat screen also makes it easy to install additional screen protectors.
Display
Speaking of the display, the iPhone 17 Pro Max now features a 6.9-inch Super Retina XDR panel with a 120Hz refresh rate and up to 3,000 nits of brightness. It's also protected by Ceramic Shield 2 technology.As expected, the screen quality is undeniable: sharp, bright, and pleasing to the eye for a variety of activities, from watching movies and playing games to editing documents.
Interestingly, this time, Apple has added a new anti-reflective coating that minimizes light reflection, ensuring the screen remains clear even in bright light.
At the top, there's still a capsule-shaped hole for the front camera and Face ID sensor, which also houses the Dynamic Island feature.
Performance
The iPhone 17 Pro Max is powered by Apple's latest chipset, the A19 Pro, which, as usual, offers a significant performance boost over the previous generation.In everyday use, performance feels incredibly snappy. Everything from multitasking while typing documents to playing Honor of Kings for extended periods can be handled without any hiccups.
iPhone 17 Pro Max Benchmark Results
- AnTuTu: 2,551,848
- 3DMark Wild Life Extreme: 5141 (average frame rate 30.8 FPS)
- Geekbench: 3,699 (single-core) and 9,490 (multi-core)
After playing Honor of Kings at high graphics settings for an hour, the iPhone 17 Pro Max's body temperature remained controlled at around 36-37 degrees Celsius, with a peak of around 38 degrees in the camera bump area.
In terms of stability, performance is also excellent for a flagship. I didn't encounter any significant throttling during prolonged gaming sessions. Even in the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Stress Test, its performance stability was recorded at 59.5%, which is solid for a flagship phone.
Battery
One thing I love most about the iPhone 17 Pro Max is its incredible battery life. In everyday use, from social media, browsing, to taking photos, this phone lasted up to 8 hours and 26 minutes from full to 10%.Even when I used it for about 2.5 hours of gaming, it lasted an impressive 6.5 hours before the battery dropped to 10%.
Even more surprising, when I tested it by playing YouTube videos non-stop at 50% screen brightness, the iPhone 17 Pro Max lasted up to 27 hours and 25 minutes before the battery dropped to 5%.
This phone's battery capacity is "only" 4,823 mAh, which is fairly standard for today. However, thanks to highly efficient iOS optimizations, its results outperformed some competitors. Android phones with batteries over 7,000 mAh that Gadgetren has tested.
I admit, Apple is indeed a champion when it comes to power efficiency. I didn't even worry about the battery draining quickly even though I used this iPhone intensively all day long.
For charging, the iPhone 17 Pro Max supports a 40W charger, which is most optimal when used with Apple's latest 40W Dynamic Power Adapter, which is unfortunately sold separately.
When I charged it with a 65W GaN charger, the charging process from 5% to 80% took about 50 minutes, and a full charge took 1 hour and 34 minutes.
Features
By default, the iPhone 17 Pro Max runs iOS 26 with a new interface called Liquid Glass, which has recently been much discussed online.I was skeptical at first, but after using it for a while, I actually grew to like the Liquid Glass look. It's true that in certain situations, especially when opening the App Store, the display can feel a bit cluttered, especially if the background is full of text.
Fortunately, Apple now provides an option to reduce transparency, making the interface clearer and less distracting.
In terms of artificial intelligence, the iPhone 17 Pro Max supports Apple Intelligence with a variety of interesting features. One of them is Image Playground, which lets me create images simply by typing a specific prompt. It's also fun for creating avatars or cute chat stickers.
There's also Visual Intelligence, which can recognize objects in photos or screenshots and display additional information about them.
To remove distracting objects from photos, there's the Cleanup Tool, but unfortunately, the results are still less than satisfactory. In this case, OPPO or Samsung's object removal technology feels neater and more accurate.
Unfortunately, other AI features, such as Writing Tools, still don't support Indonesian, so their benefits haven't been fully realized by Indonesian users.
Camera
In the camera department, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is equipped with three 48MP cameras: a main camera, an ultrawide camera, and a telephoto camera. Both the main and telephoto cameras are equipped with OIS for more stable results.The results from the main camera are very satisfying, with natural, lifelike colors. This approach is quite different from most Android phones, which tend to emphasize color saturation by default.
The telephoto camera supports 4x optical zoom, and the camera system also allows 2x to 8x zoom with quality claimed to be equivalent to optical zoom.
In practice, zoom results at this level remain sharp and detailed even when used at night.
The zoom capability also makes this camera enjoyable for portrait photos, producing aesthetically pleasing results with a natural bokeh effect.
Typically, the ultrawide camera on many phones produces quite different quality and color than the main camera. However, on the iPhone 17 Pro Max, the ultrawide camera's results are consistent in terms of both sharpness and color.
Interestingly, the front camera now uses an 18MP sensor with the Center Stage feature. This camera can take photos in both portrait and landscape orientations without having to rotate the device, making it very practical for various needs.
For video, the iPhone 17 Pro Max's main camera can record up to 4K at 120fps, while the other cameras support up to 4K at 60fps.
Apple also offers ProRes Log and ProRes HDR recording options for professional use, although these formats will, of course, take up more storage space.
For vloggers, this phone also supports simultaneous front-rear dual recording. So, when recording travel moments, you can showcase both the scenery and your self-expression in a single frame.
Conclusion
Undoubtedly, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is Apple's best phone to date. Its battery life is incredibly long, its performance is very fast and stable, and its camera is capable of producing high-quality photos and videos in a variety of conditions.However, in terms of AI features, Apple still needs improvement. The current implementation of Apple Intelligence feels less mature than some Android phones that have already integrated AI deeply. However, Apple is reportedly collaborating with Google in early 2026 to deliver major improvements to Apple Intelligence, something worth looking forward to.
With a starting price of $1,499, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is currently the most expensive non-foldable phone in the world. However, considering the quality it offers, the solid Apple ecosystem, and the undeniable prestige it brings, the price is still quite reasonable for anyone who wants the best experience from an iPhone.