Renders of a large camera bump concept for the iPhone 17 Pro Max - Image Credit: @Asherdipps/X. A new render of a rumored but doubtful design of iPhone 17 Pro Max is doing the rounds, one that proves that lighting can make things look a bit better. Apple has been rumored to be including a new design of camera bump in the iPhone 17 Pro models for a while. On February 14, those rumors reached a point where renders of an absurdly large camera bump were featured in a video.
While the shots in the video were tough to believe, a new render of the design makes it look more tolerable as a concept, if not much more believable. In a Tuesday post to X, Asher Dipprey, the 3D artist who produced the renders for the Front Page Tech video, published a new image of the render. The shot is laid out so each side of the iPhone concept was plainly visible. The actual rendered model hasn't changed from the video, but it is presented clearly and with a light background. This makes the render a lot easier to digest than the version shown in the video.
Just like in the video, the iPhone 17 Pro Max model shown with a comically-wide camera bump. The bump spans the entire width of the iPhone, but unlike previous rumors where the cameras are placed in a row, they instead are located in the render in the same physical location as normal: on the left-hand side. On the right of the bump is the flash and a space for the 3D depth mapping hardware. When put in good lighting, iPhone 17 Pro design suddenly looks... bearable pic.twitter.com/FtOWKrd6vc.
Other than the bump, the iPhone 17 Pro Max visually seems similar to the iPhone 16 Pro in practically all other ways. The problem with the design is that it goes against Apple's preference to implement design changes that have a genuine purpose for existing. In its change of the iPhone 16 to a vertical layout, Apple minimized the bump to match. With the previous narrow row concept, it would make sense, since the cameras spanned almost the width of the iPhone along with the bump. However, with the usual triangular layout used and only the flash and 3D elements moved across the bump, this seems to be very impractical for Apple to pull off.
That would give Apple a lot of extra space in that bump, but it has proved that it doesn't need such an increase in volume to pull off some interesting design choices. For example, the tetraprism lens in the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the iPhone 16 Pro line does require more physical space to exist than typical, yet Apple didn't make a massive change to the bump design. For Apple to design the bump in this way, it must come up with an actual practical reason for doing so. At this time, and with no real rumors that can explain such a design change, it seems unlikely to be a serious choice for the company.
Despite being presented in a new (and still rendered) light, the model concept still seems to be unlikely. This is in part due to the source of the concept. FPT's Jon Prosser doesn't have the best track record when it comes to design concepts, including claiming to have seen a flat iPhone 4-like design with flush cameras and spreading rumors of a flat-sided Apple Watch. Serial leaker Majin Bu, thought to have been the originating source for the render's design concept, has an arguably worse record. When not reposting inaccurate rumors from Chinese social media, Bu's occasional accuracy is tempered by the rumors being reported by others with higher levels of accuracy.
Even so, there is still a small chance that Apple could use a design similar to this, or the other circulated rumors, in the iPhone 17 Pro Max. An incredibly small chance. Based in South Wales, Malcolm Owen has written about tech since 2012, and previously wrote for Electronista and MacNN. In his downtime, he pursues photography, has an interest in magic tricks, and is bothered by his c... Two of Apple's latest MacBook Pros are heavily discounted exclusively for AppleInsider readers, knocking $350 off the popular M4 Pro configurations for 72 hours only.
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