Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, launched on September 9, 2025, finally bring a serious zoom upgrade. This isn’t just a small bump, but it’s a major redesign of the telephoto camera system. Although the magnification is lower this time, it comes with a higher resolution, a larger sensor, and of course new focal length too. Let’s take a close look at the upgrades.
What’s New With the Telephoto Setup
The iPhone 17 Pro comes with a 48MP Fusion telephoto camera, replacing the 12MP unit from the iPhone 16 Pro. It uses a tetraprism design that folds light multiple times, letting Apple reach longer focal lengths without adding a lot of bulk.
- Resolution: 48MP, far sharper than the old 12MP.
- Pixel size / Sensor: 0.7μm pixels mean a 1/2.55-inch sensor. But Apple claims it’s 56% larger, which works out closer to a 1/1.96-inch sensor.
- Aperture: f/2.8
- Focal length: Native 100mm (4X optical). A more practical focal length for portraits and mid-range photography, compared to last year’s 120mm (5X) that often felt too tight.
- Extended zoom: Up to 200mm (8X) through sensor crop. Apple markets it as 8X optical, but technically it’s a high-quality crop from the 48MP sensor.
- Digital zoom: Up to 40X, using AI processing to keep details usable.
This means Apple not only improved resolution and light capture but also made the zoom range far more versatile. Yes, the optical 5X is gone but with the new sensor, you should be able to crop to 5X and still get the same amount of detail (or more) that you’d get with the optical 5X on the 16 Pro.
We don’t know the focusing distance yet but hopefully it’s better than the 120cm focusing distance on the iPhone 16 Pro’s 5X.
How It Stacks Up Against the iPhone 16 Pro
The iPhone 16 Pro had a 12MP telephoto with a 1/3.06-inch sensor, 120mm focal length (5X optical), and the same f/2.8 aperture. The iPhone 17 Pro leaps forward with a 48MP sensor, around 1/2.55-inch in size, and a more usable 100mm (4X) native focal length.
The change to 100mm makes portraits and everyday telephoto shots feel more natural, while still giving access to long reach with the 8X crop. Digital zoom now extends to 40X, which is a huge expansion compared to last year’s 25X.
Samsung in the Crosshairs
Samsung has dominated zoom for years (at least in the US), but Apple’s new setup clearly targets the Galaxy Ultra series. The Galaxy S25 Ultra used a 50MP periscope telephoto with a 1/2.55-inch sensor, f/3.4 aperture, and 5X optical. Rumors suggest the S26 Ultra may only move to f/2.9 on the same sensor size.
Apple’s 1/2.55-inch (or 1/1.96-inch) sensor at f/2.8 is simply better in terms of light capture. That’s why the iPhone 17 Pro could outshine Samsung in real-world use, even if Samsung still pushes higher numbers on paper. It already beats the S25 Ultra.
Prominent leaker Ice Universe posted a 40X zoom image from the iPhone 17 Pro, saying: “This is a 40X zoom photo taken by iPhone 17 Pro. It looks good. According to my experience, it is at least better than that shot by S25 Ultra. The head of Samsung camera must resign.”
Final Thoughts
The iPhone 17 Pro’s telephoto is a decent and a much-needed upgrade over the iPhone 16 Pro. With a bigger 48MP sensor, f/2.8 aperture, 100mm native focal length, 8X optical-quality crop, and 40X digital zoom, Apple finally has beaten Samsung’s Ultra zoom. What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments section below.
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