Imagine this: You are out and with your iPhone Pro, see a distant item worth catching, take your smartphone out and switch to the telecommunications lens – only to end up with a grained mess that doesn’t make it fair. This was my overall experience with iPhone’s Tele camera in the last few years.
With iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max, Apple upgraded the telephotos sensor from 12MP to 48MP. I was skeptical, so I decided to test it myself and see if this year’s highest end iPhone is finally addressing the camera’s shortcomings. The best way was to get hold of my iPhone 16 Pro Max and 17 Pro Max and take exactly the same shots side by side. Here’s what I found.
Get started well
Before we compare the two iPhones’ telecommunications recordings, there are a few things we need to break down. The iPhone 16 Pro Max’s 12MP sensor supports 5x optical zoom and up to 25x digital zoom, while the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s 48MP sensor offers 4x and 8x optical zoom settings with 40x Max Digital Zoom.
The pictures below were taken in the same places with my iPhone 16 Pro Max and 17 Pro Max, running the latest iOS 26.0 Stable Build. I used the default settings in Apple’s built-in camera app on both phones and outputs were not edited, cropped or manipulated in any way. The samples simply aim to postpone the unprocessed force in each telecommunications lens. You definitely have better results with either phone if you spend more time perfecting the composition and fine -tuning items such as exposure, highlights, saturation, photographic styles, etc.
5x vs 4x: Portrait mode
Our journey starts in my apartment where I was caught doodling on my iPad using portrait mode. Unlike ordinary photos, portrait mode with the telecommunications lens limits you to 5x on the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Meanwhile, the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s preset zoom levels are showing 4x, but you can manually squeeze to reach the hidden 5x value. Since many users choose the preset zoom levels in portrait mode, I shot at 5x and 4x respectively using the two phones.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max is clearly the winner in this round as the colors look more vibrant and natural and the blur effect is at the forefront. Conversely, the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s shot looks out washed out, and in some cases – especially around the Apple pencil – the veil looks artificial and inaccurate. To be fair, portrait mode is primarily designed for close -up. Had I been sitting closer to iPhones, the 17 Pro Max’s output would have been better.
25x vs 25x: iPhone 16 Pro Max Limit
Then I went to the balcony to test the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s digital zoom boundaries. While the 17 Pro Max can go up to 40x, I set it to 25x to get exactly the same shot and compare the quality. While you can tell the first photo that you are looking at a lighthouse, the details are distorted with a high amount of grain. On the other hand, the 17 Pro Max shot is both lighter and cleaner.
25x vs 40x: iPhone 17 Pro Max Limit
I was curious to see if the iPhone 17 Pro Max shot similarly becomes noisy when I choose the 40X Max Zoom limit. Surprisingly, with the iPhone 17 Pro’s Zoom still manages to look more vibrant and ready than the iPhone 16 Pro at 25x despite almost twice as much zoom spacing.
5x vs 5x: close to
For the next test, I set both phones cameras to 5x and photographed a framed view of the original iPhone. Despite the iPhone 16 Pro Max using its standard optic zoom level, output was still grainy and hardly applicable. In contrast, the 17 pro maximum readable text that you can easily read and the framed parts look crispy.
5x vs 8x: distance
Next, I went to the Mediterranean and shot beach guests swimming and tanning at Max Optical Zoom for the two phones, 5x and 8x zoom levels. This is another obvious victory for the iPhone 17 Pro Max as the nuances look more saturated and the distant people are more detailed.
5x vs 8x: close to
Then I tried the same zoom levels on a cat in close range. The iPhone 17 Pro Max’s output was similarly more lively than in the iPhone 16 Pro Max. The newer sensor also produced sharper cat fur.
5x vs 4x: In the middle
On my way home, I caught a mural using 5x and 4x optical zooms. As a previous shot, the iPhone 17 Pro Max once again emits a vivid image with very little noise. For example, zoomed in the upper left pots reveal individual flowers in the 17 pro max shot. Meanwhile, the same place in the 16 Pro Max looks like a virgin color salad.
10x vs 10x: weak light
I ran home to see the sunset and share how the telecommunications lenses appear in dimming environments. I put the zoom to 10x on both iPhones and the difference was like night and day. In the 16 Pro Max shot, the sky and the sea are noticeably pixelated, and so is the sign towards the bottom right. With the iPhone 17 Pro Max, despite the challenging relationships, I was able to get a clean shot all over the frame.
5x vs 8x: Night mode
For the last test I went out at night and chose the maximum optical zoom levels of 5x and 8x. I set night mode to Auto, which took 3.5 seconds and 2.6 seconds long exposure images on the iPhone 16 Pro Max and 17 Pro Max. In addition to the different zooms, the two photos look very similar in terms of color rendering and detailed details. This made me think-if Apple should give the iPhone 16 Pro Max users the opportunity to take long exposure pictures a day, the output would similarly look smaller the grain in well-lit setups.
15x vs 24x: video
Then I wandered in the streets of Beirut to run some outdoor tests. To evaluate the performance in the video department, I hit a record on both phones and squeezed to reach 15x and 24x respective digital zoom boundaries. This is the only test that uses the ultra-wide and wide sensors on both phones as the videos start at 0.5x zoom and gradually increase to hit the aforementioned boundaries. While getting a longer zoom area with the iPhone 17 Pro Max, the maximum 24x zoom level in video looks almost as grainy as for the 16 Pro Max’s 15x.
The judgment
I am pleasantly surprised by the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s telecommunications lens. Not only does the optical zoom work better than last year’s model, but the digital zoom has also removed noticeable pixelation – even when he hits the 40X limit.
Given that users now get 4x and 8x optical zoom levels, one can easily switch between the two based on the proximity of the subject. However, including a 5x zoombug in the preset voter would be a welcome change for those who are used to last year’s reach. iOS already lets us easily switch between 1x, 1.2x and 1.5x so that a future update could realistically introduce it.