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Tom’s Guide
Tom’s Guide
Technology
John Velasco

Did Apple ‘downgrade’ the telephoto camera with the iPhone 17 Pro? Here’s what you need to know

IPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max.

One of the big upgrades Apple announced during its ‘Awe Dropping’ event for the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max was a new telephoto camera for its Pro models. On paper, the 48MP Fusion Camera with 4x zoom looks much more formidable than the 12MP camera found on Apple's previous Pros. And just like last year’s models, the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max share the same identical cameras.

However, one tidbit that has gone under the radar involves the optical zoom range for this new telephoto camera. According to Apple, the telephoto cameras on the iPhone 17 Pro models offer both 4x and 8x zoom. Those claims are accurate, but there’s more to it than that. The iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max offered a 5x optical zoom with its telephoto camera, so what's going on?

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