iPhone 17 Pro Max rumor: thicker, video demonstration

A new video of a dummy of the forthcoming iPhone 17 Pro Max has surfaced, backing up previous rumors that the model will be significantly thicker than the current model.

The news that the iPhone 17 Pro Max would have a thicker chassis than the current iPhone 16 Pro Max was first reported in March 2025. It was also reported that this model would get an advanced vapor chamber cooling system, which might account for the increased size.

That cooling feature is expected to be in both of the new Pro models, but as yet there hasn't been news that the iPhone 17 Pro will also be thicker. The new video being circulated by leaker Majin Bu solely shows a dummy of the iPhone 17 Pro Max, but it does appear to confirm the extra thickness.

iPhone 17 Pro is beautiful pic.twitter.com/d2osFRSVDS
— Majin Bu (@MajinBuOfficial) May 28, 2025

The 34-second video comes with no details, and solely features a hand rotating the device. Consequently, there are no measurements and little to specify that the model is thicker.

Visually, though, the phone in the video appears to fit with previous descriptions. Those have had the iPhone 17 Pro Max being 8.725mm (0.3435 inches), compared to its predecessor's 8.25mm (0.3248 inches).

If the extra width is not to accommodate the cooling system, or some other as yet unknown feature, it may be to allow for a larger battery. AppleInsider has estimated that the 0.5mm increase could equate to as much as 8% more battery capacity.

Leaker Majin Bu has a mixed track record for accuracy. While he has been correct at times, he also erroneously claimed that the iPhone 15 would get two front-facing cameras.

Separately, it was reported in February 2025 that the iPhone 17 Pro models could feature reverse charging. This is when the iPhone itself is used to charge other devices, such as AirPods.

9 Comments

ne1 16 Years · 77 comments

About 2 weeks ago

For the love of God, please stop changing the thickness and dimensions of the phone every year. Does Apple no longer have any hardware forethought or long range planning? Are these year-to-year teams not coordinating with each other? Find a thickness and case dimensions that will work for several years and stick to it!

0 Likes · 3 Dislikes

hmlongco 10 Years · 641 comments

About 2 weeks ago

ne1 said:

For the love of God, please stop changing the thickness and dimensions of the phone every year. Does Apple no longer have any hardware forethought or long range planning? Are these year-to-year teams not coordinating with each other? Find a thickness and case dimensions that will work for several years and stick to it!

Most people don't upgrade each and every year, so even if they did people on a 2-3 year cycle would still need a new case.

Not to mention that new button and camera configurations come into play here too.

5 Likes · 0 Dislikes

hmlongco 10 Years · 641 comments

About 2 weeks ago

So is that a button on the bottom left side, or a sim tray? Existing phones (or at least mine) no longer have sim trays, so are they adding it back?

Or is this--shudder--the fabled "AI" button?

Xed 5 Years · 3196 comments

About 2 weeks ago

hmlongco said:

So is that a button on the bottom left side, or a sim tray? Existing phones (or at least mine) no longer have sim trays, so are they adding it back?

Or is this--shudder--the fabled "AI" button?

That mockup does include a SIM tray based on the pin hole addition.

I think only the US models are sans the SIM tray (thankfully). I can't wait until the rest of the world can eschew the physical SIM for eSIM so that space can be regained for all.

3 Likes · 0 Dislikes

Xed 5 Years · 3196 comments

About 2 weeks ago

ne1 said:

For the love of God, please stop changing the thickness and dimensions of the phone every year. Does Apple no longer have any hardware forethought or long range planning? Are these year-to-year teams not coordinating with each other? Find a thickness and case dimensions that will work for several years and stick to it!

As Hmlongco stated, people will likely get a new case anyway after years of owning a smartphone. I typically go through 2 to 4 between each iPhone upgrade at this point in a mature market.

But even if that wasn't the case, I'd rather Apple engineer their iPhones around the technology and quality of the device (like features, performance, and durability) instead of trying to play Tetris with components just to make sure it'll all work within a very specific size so that a customer can keep using an old protective case.