iPhone 17 Pro Leak Reveals Radical Camera Upgrade and Pro-Level Cooling

Apple's ‘Awe Dropping' event is less than 48 hours away, and leaks about the upcoming iPhone 17 series are continuing to surface. According to a latest rumour coming out of South Korea, the Pro models in Apple's iPhone 17 lineup will feature up to 8X optical zoom, a big upgrade compared to the 5X sensor on the current models. Apart from this, the purported iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are also said to deliver improved thermal management, owing to the inclusion of a new vapour chamber.

iPhone 17 Pro Leaks

Citing tipster @Jukanlosreve's now-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter), 9to5Mac reported that the iPhone 17 Pro models will feature improved telephoto cameras. A South Korean carrier reportedly shared documents, revealing the presence of a new telephoto camera, which offers up to 8X optical zoom.

For reference, both the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max feature a 12-megapixel telephoto lens that is capable of shooting in up to 5X optical zoom. This information corroborates a previous rumour from July about the inclusion of a similar sensor.

Another big upgrade is said to be on the cards in terms of heat dissipation. As per the report, the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max may debut with a new vapour chamber cooling system. It usually serves as a medium for dispersing heat away from the CPU and GPU components, leveraging a vacuum-sealed component containing a small amount of liquid that functions as a passive heat spreader.

This, combined with the rumoured aluminium frame, could potentially allow the rumoured A19 Pro chip on the iPhone 17 Pro models to deliver full performance for an extended period, without suffering from heat-related throttling.

If this turns out to be accurate, it would be the second time in consecutive years that Apple has introduced a new thermal management system. With the launch of the iPhone 16 Pro models last year, it brought a new graphene thermal system to improve heat management and prevent overheating — a key shortcoming that Gadgets 360 also observed on our iPhone 15 Pro.

With the new vapour chamber, Apple could take it a step further. An improved thermal management system would allow users to play more graphics-intensive games, shoot longer ProRes videos, and potentially record in up to 8K resolution, without worrying about the dreaded “Your iPhone needs to cool down” warning.