Ryan Haines / Android Authority
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been telling my friends and family to buy Pixels. I have several reasons for this — customization, updates, and AI features are on the list — but my favorite one has always been to hype up the cameras. See, I’ve just always loved the way Google can pull details and colors out of my stills, not to mention the fact that Magic Editor is, well, magic. The problem, though, is that Google has always been just okay when it comes to videos (sorry, Jonas Brothers).
Apple, for its part, has always struggled with the opposite problem — it’s long been the king of video, only to leave me underwhelmed by its photos. Now, though, Apple seems determined to put its stills on par with the best Android camera phones, and I wanted to see if that was really possible. So, I took the iPhone 17 Pro for a busy week around town, and here’s how its camera has shaped up so far.
A little bit of new hardware goes a long way
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
Obviously, there’s something different about the camera on the iPhone 17 Pro. It has blossomed from its corner-mounted camera bump into a full-blown camera plateau, nearly doubling the space that Apple’s three sensors can occupy. Oh, and it did so without adding a silly temperature sensor (looking at you, Google).
Anyway, the expansion of the camera bump isn’t purely aesthetic; it actually serves a pretty important purpose. Although the 48MP primary and ultrawide cameras are identical to those on the iPhone 16 Pro, Apple’s upgraded telephoto sensor now has the space it needs to breathe. It’s jumped from a 1/3.06-inch sensor to a 1/2.55-inch design and swapped its 120mm focal length (5x optical zoom) for a more comfortable 100mm equivalent (4x optical zoom), which is much more portrait-friendly.
Apple's telephoto swap has completely changed my level of comfort while zooming.
The swap from a 12MP telephoto sensor to a 48MP one also means that the iPhone 17 Pro can take a central crop for 8x optical quality, though without the background separation of a proper 200mm shot. Annoyingly, that means Apple will tell you that the iPhone 17 Pro supports a total of 16x optical magnification, which, I mean, whatever. It’s kind of a made-up number in my book, as I’d hardly count 0.5x zoom from the ultrawide camera as doubling the optical range.
That’s not too important, though, I’m just being nitpicky when it comes to Apple’s marketing speak. It’s like declaring that the iPhone 17 Pro has four cameras on the back because its ultrawide sensor supports macro mode — sure, it does, but that’s not an extra camera so much as an additional thing you can do with your existing cameras. Anyway, enough about hardware. Let’s get to some samples.
I’m having too much fun with an instantly familiar setup
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
Now, I can at least say that I knew I’d be comfortable with Apple’s cameras going into my time with the iPhone 17 Pro. I knew it had just revamped its camera interface as part of iOS 26, but I knew that many of the buttons and settings menus had remained the same. What I hadn’t anticipated, however, was just how much I’d like the streamlined interface or how impressed I would be by what the iPhone 17 Pro could accomplish. I’ll do my best to maintain some semblance of organization in my samples, but you’ll quickly realize just how much I like Apple’s new telephoto sensor.
2x zoom 2x portrait Macro
Up first, the primary sensor (and a quick macro peek). I like the colors Apple has managed across this entire set of samples, with beautiful tones in the sunset over Merriweather Post Pavilion and greenish-blue shades in the Baltimore harbor that seem impossible but were actually spot on. The detail you get from the 48MP sensor is excellent, too, as you can still easily pick out the creases between each piece of the puzzle on the far left side. I like Apple’s macro processing as well, though I wish it had been baked into the telephoto sensor so I could get closer without having to physically move closer, because leaves are so hard to keep still on breezy fall days.
I have to admit that I’ve given the iPhone 17 Pro’s 48MP ultrawide sensor the least love during my time with the phone so far. That hasn’t been intentional, but with my week spread across music festivals and soccer matches, I haven’t found much benefit from a wider field of view compared to a tighter one. That said, I did call on it once or twice, mainly to show off the unique structure of the Chrysalis stage to the right and capture just how massive the crowd was to the left.
I like both shots, though I probably prefer the scale of the one to the left, as everyone looks normal aside from my seemingly very hairy arm. On the right side, the guy’s head in front of me takes up just a little too much space, but that’s the risk you run at a music festival.
4x zoom 4x zoom 4x zoom 4x zoom
Alright, here’s where the iPhone 17 Pro becomes impressive — it’s time for the telephoto lens. Tapping on the small 4x button has become almost second nature over the course of just one week with the iPhone 17 Pro, and I regret nothing. I love how sharp it is while capturing the world’s sleepiest dog, and I love that it gives both the basket of books and the church steeple a clear focal point. No matter the subject, Apple’s colors have been perfect as well. The bright red of the book and the soft yellow of the old Subaru are just as my eye saw them on the sunny day, and Apple didn’t go so far as to wash out the shadows created by the bright sunlight.
8x zoom 8x zoom 8x zoom 8x zoom
I’ve also started using 8x zoom, which, as mentioned, is simply a central crop of the telephoto sensor. And, with shots like the four above, can you blame me? I’m used to coming away with terrible concert photos, yet the shot of Griff to the left makes it feel like I was in the front row. The pigeon next to her is just about perfect, too, with natural bokeh — not portrait mode — separating the harbor water exactly as I would have liked. Now, I will admit that I swapped the Photographic Style for the building detail on the far right side, but I’m pretty happy with the sharp black and white contrast as opposed to a sea of muted grays.
Sorry, Google, but iPhones aren’t just for videos anymore
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
I won’t lie — I wanted to be disappointed by the iPhone 17 Pro’s cameras. I wanted to reach the end of this gallery and tell you to stick with your Pixel or Galaxy device instead. You can still do that, of course, but it doesn’t feel like the piece of slam-dunk advice I wanted it to be. Instead, I’m facing the fact that Apple might have the most well-rounded camera setup on any smartphone right now.
Now, that’s not to say it’s the most powerful camera system — it’s not. You’ll get more megapixels out of the OnePlus 13, the Pixel 10 Pro, and certainly the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, not to mention better zooming capabilities. All of those phones will let you zoom in to 100x magnification (or more), while the iPhone 17 Pro is content to stop at 40x zoom — an upgrade from past years, but a modest one. You’ll also get more clever shooting modes out of a Pixel, no doubt, but that’s not usually why people buy iPhones.
Not only is the iPhone better than ever for stills, but it also remains the king of video capture.
No, people buy iPhones because they’re so simple that they’re easy to pick up and use. The simplified camera app allows you to raise your phone, swipe through a few quick options, and capture your shot. If you want to tweak it after the fact, you can switch your Photographic Style, try Clean Up to erase little details, and adjust your crop, but there’s no pressure to do that in the moment.
And, unfortunately for Apple’s Android-powered rivals, capturing video is just as easy. I grabbed 4K clip after 4K clip while bouncing along at a music festival, yet the stabilization and clarity would make you think I had a gimbal at my disposal. It’s a level of reliability that I can’t always expect from Google or Samsung, no matter how much I’d rather keep a Pixel in my pocket. Right now, if I had to choose between Google’s mountain of Gemini-powered features and Apple’s top-notch cameras, I’m afraid I might just pick the cameras.
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