Chunkier iPhone 17 Pro Max design shown in hands-on video

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The iPhone 17 Air should become Apple’s lightest and thinnest iPhone yet later this year. In contrast, the company will seemingly take the opposite direction with its Pro Max model, making it thicker and heavier.

A hands-on video of an iPhone 17 Pro Max dummy unit reveals what could be its final, noticeably thicker design.

iPhone 17 Pro Max could live up to its Max name

Multiple leaks and hands-on videos have shown off the iPhone 17 Air’s stunning thinness. The phone will reportedly be only 5.6mm thin, making it Apple’s slimmest iPhone and one of the thinnest phones on the market. Apple will seemingly not take the slim and light direction with the iPhone 17 Pro Max, though.

A hands-on video of an iPhone 17 Pro Max dummy unit posted by leaker Majin Bu on X reveals the potentially thicker new design in all its glory. We see the new horizontal camera island spanning the entire device width from left to right up top, with the flash and LiDAR sensor located on the extreme right.

The camera island slightly protrudes from the device body, with the individual camera rings extending even further.

iPhone 17 Pro is beautiful pic.twitter.com/d2osFRSVDS

— Majin Bu (@MajinBuOfficial) May 28, 2025

As previously reported, the phone will apparently measure 8.7525 mm. This would make it considerably thicker than the 8.25 mm iPhone 16 Pro Max. It would also make the iPhone 17 Pro Max over 3.1 mm thicker than the Air.

Thicker chassis will provide space for a bigger battery

On the bright side, the thicker chassis will provide Apple with more room to fit a larger battery. This might be an easy trade-off for most users, as they would happily take a thicker phone if it delivers better battery life.

It may also provide the company with space to use a larger camera sensor for better image quality. However, leaks so far don’t suggest this. They only point to the 5x 12MP telephoto shooter getting a bump to 48MP resolution.