The iPhone 17 Pro might get a camera overhaul no one saw coming

Summary

A new leak points to the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max having up to 8x optical zoom on the telephoto lens.
The information came from an anonymous tipster who contacted MacRumors.
Additionally, the tipster suggests the iPhone 17 Pro could get a second camera control button and a “pro camera app.”

August is nearly here, which means we’re just over a month away from the expected launch of the iPhone 17 series in September. Over the past six months, there have been lots of leaks about these devices, with many drawing significant attention to their design.

Notably, the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max are rumored to feature a new camera bar design, with renders of it circulating endlessly online for months. Now, a new leak has emerged, revealing three potential changes to the iPhone 17 Pro’s camera setup that might surprise you.

According to an anonymous tipster who reached out to MacRumors, the telephoto lens on the iPhone 17 Pro may be upgraded to offer up to 8x optical zoom, an increase from the 5x optical zoom on the iPhone 16 Pro models. The lens reportedly can move, meaning it will provide “continuous optical zoom at various focal lengths.”

But that’s not all the leaker shared. If you’re a fan of the iPhone 16’s camera control button, you’ll be especially interested in what they had to say about the iPhone 17 Pro’s possible implementation of it.

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A second camera control button could be coming to the iPhone 17 Pro

A pro camera app is also rumored for the iPhone 17 series

The second detail the anonymous tipster shared is that the iPhone 17 Pro might have a second camera control button on the “top edge” of the device. This would reportedly “complement” the current camera control button on the bottom right edge of the phone, as seen on the iPhone 16 series. The second camera control button is supposedly for “quickly accessing the camera and related settings.” If it’s on the top edge, it might be easier to use, especially when taking portrait shots.

Additionally, the anonymous tipster shared one last piece of information: Apple may be developing a “pro camera app” for the iPhone 17. However, it remains unclear whether it will be exclusive to the Pro models. The app would reportedly be a way for Apple to directly compete with third-party camera apps available on the App Store, like Filmic Pro. The tipster did say it’s possible for the app to instead just arrive as an update to the Final Cut Camera app that Apple already makes.

…the only leak here I’m skeptical about is the second camera control button.

It’s important to note that none of this information from the anonymous tipster has been confirmed yet. Also, it’s reportedly from a commercial being filmed for the iPhone 17 Pro, so keep that in mind and take all this with a grain of salt.

Personally, the only leak here I’m skeptical about is the second camera control button. I find it hard to believe that so many people use the iPhone 16’s camera control button that Apple feels the need to add another to the iPhone 17 Pro. Additionally, despite months of leaks about this phone, there has been no other mention of a second camera control button, and it has not appeared in any of the leaked CAD drawings. That’s why I find this particular detail in the leak suspicious.

On the other hand, the 8x optical zoom telephoto lens and the pro camera app seem plausible and would make sense for Apple to introduce. Earlier this year, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple is expected to emphasize the iPhone 17 Pro’s enhanced video recording capabilities this year — to attract vloggers and video creators to switch mainly to an iPhone instead of a DSLR or other standalone cameras. In theory, both of these features would align with the direction Apple reportedly wants to take, so I could see them happening. The iPhone 17 series is expected to be unveiled this September, so we’ll know the truth about all this soon enough.