The iPhone 17 Pro might have a shorter distance optical zoom than its predecessor – here’s why that could be a good thing

• The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max could have a 3.5x optical zoom instead of a 5x
• However a 5x and even 7x lossless zoom might still be achievable through cropping
• This change would apparently be paired with a new 48MP sensor

One thing we’ve heard from quite a few sources is that the telephoto camera on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max could be getting an upgrade, with a 48MP sensor reportedly set to be included in place of the 12MP one on the iPhone 16 Pro models. The latest tip echoes that, but suggests a lot more is changing than just the megapixel count.

According to tipster Majin Bu (via 9to5Mac), the iPhone 17 Pro series will have a telephoto camera that offers 3.5x, 5x, and even 7x optical zoom. The wording makes it slightly ambiguous as to how this is achieved, but they mention lossless cropping as a feature, so we’d assume it’s a 3.5x optical zoom camera, which can then crop an image to achieve a 5x or 7x zoom at a lower megapixel count.

This sort of optical-quality cropping wouldn’t be possible without upping the megapixels, so it’s a feature that would make sense for Apple to offer if the sensor is 48MP.

Not a new idea for Apple

We’ve already seen this idea on iPhones, with the 48MP main sensor on the iPhone 16 series being able to take optical-quality 2x zoom photos at 12MP, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Apple added this same feature to the telephoto lens.

This change then would arguably be for the better, since you’d still be able to achieve a 5x zoom like you can on the current Pro models, but there would also be longer and shorter distance zooms available too.

And being able to get 3.5x images at – presumably – full 48MP quality would be especially desirable for some people, as a 3.5x zoom is typically more useful for portrait shots than a 5x zoom.

All that said, while this is a credible claim, we’d take it with a pinch of salt, as the source has a slightly mixed track record, and the iPhone 17 series is still a long way from launching, with September likely to be the announcement month.

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