iPhone 17 complete camera specs: here's the roundup across all new models

Let's see what the new iPhone 17 family offers in terms of cameras.

In order to make the best possible choice – and avoid wasting your money – you have to know what you're dealing with.

Do you need the thinnest iPhone Air? Or the baseline iPhone 17? Maybe you need the iPhone 17 Pro flagship: there's a model that covers most needs out there.

Let's find the best iPhone for you.

What's new across the lineup

Only the baseline iPhone 17 offers the A19 chipset, while the other three models come equipped with the A19 Pro. Now, for taking pictures, the sensor and lens in a camera are paramount, but if you want to edit with the ultimate speed, you might want to consider the A19 Pro.

Sadly, no 8K video recording has been introduced with the iPhone 17 family, but the Camera Control button is here – those who love it, will rejoice. Those who dislike it, will just continue to take pictures through their touchscreen.

iPhone 17: two cameras on the back

The vanilla iPhone 17 is meant for those who take pictures and videos often, but do not need to spend extra on finer camera equipment. The iPhone 17 comes with a practical, new selfie snapper and an upgraded ultra-wide.

iPhone 17 is great for those who love ultra-wide compositions, as the iPhone Air has just a main camera on its back.

Here's the new ultra-wide snapper

The iPhone 17 introduces a new 48 MP ultra-wide camera that captures way more detail than that of the previous generation. This allows for finer wide-angle shots, macro photography, and creative framing options. Users can capture expansive landscapes or close-up subjects with greater clarity, and the enhanced sensor improves performance in low light for sharper, more accurate results.

Main camera with extra Photographic Styles

The Fusion main camera also features a 48 MP sensor and an integrated 2x telephoto lens (via sensor crop-in), combining two capabilities in one. It should provide detailed images with natural color reproduction and works with next-generation Photographic Styles, including a new Bright option in iOS 26, to adjust highlights, shadows, and skin tones in real time. These features provide more flexibility when composing shots and allow users to customize the look of their photos directly on the device.

New front-facing camera

For selfies and video, the iPhone 17 includes a redesigned Center Stage front camera with a square sensor and up to 18 MP resolution. It allows photos and videos in both portrait and landscape while holding the phone vertically, and AI automatically adjusts the field of view for group shots.

The front camera also supports ultra-stabilized 4K HDR video, Dual Capture for simultaneous front and rear recording, and keeps users centered during FaceTime or other video calls.

iPhone Air: a single camera, but with a twist

Being the thinnest and lightest iPhone 17 of them all, the new iPhone Air is the perfect choice for those who want the ultimate pocketability.

The tradeoff is that there's just a single main camera on the rear, but through simple sensor crop-in, you get a 2x "telephoto" – true, it's not optical, but it's something.

Main camera and a Camera Control button

The iPhone Air introduces a 48 MP Fusion main camera system that offers popular 28mm and 35mm focal lengths (via digital zoom crop), while the large 2.0µm quad-pixel sensor with sensor-shift OIS promise cool low-light performance. The 2x telephoto mode (again, via sensor crop-in) enhances subjects by an updated Photonic Engine that captures more accurate colors and details.

The good news is that the Camera Control button is present on the thinnest iPhone Air as well.

No wide-angle, but here's a solution

If you're a fan of ultra-wide shots, it's best to look elsewhere, as the iPhone Air doesn't offer such a dedicated snapper. If you take a photo of a still object, or a landscape, you can fake an ultra-wide shot.

One could use the panorama mode, slowly panning your phone to capture a wider scene. Once stitched, you can crop or adjust the image to mimic an ultra-wide shot.

Up to 18 MP selfies

Like the other iPhone 17 models, the iPhone Air takes advantage of the new square sensor in the front-facing camera. Landscape-oriented selfies can be taken on the iPhone Air while holding it vertically, which is nice.

iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPhone 17 Pro: four cameras in total

New telephoto

The big news is that the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max models offer a revamped, 56% larger 48 MP sensor on their dedicated telephoto cameras. The larger the sensor, the more light it absorbs. The more light, the higher the image (or video) quality. The 4x optical zoom (100mm equivalent focal length) doubles as a 8x zoom (200mm) through sensor crop-in and software optimizations.

Selfie goes from 12 MP to 18 MP

The Pro models also use the same new square sensor for the selfie camera. Given the iPhone 16 Pro Max used a 12 MP selfie sensor, the new one – 18 MP sounds way better. Of course, Center Stage is also present here, so you'll fit everyone in landscape orientation by holding the iPhone vertically.

Digital zoom now goes to 40x

The updated Photonic Engine uses advanced machine learning to maintain detail, reduce noise, and improve color accuracy in photos. Digital zoom now reaches up to 40x, giving users more flexibility when framing shots. Photographic Styles are here, too, and offer additional customization, including a new Bright style in iOS 26 that enhances skin tones and adds subtle vibrance to images.

"Iconic Phones" is coming this Fall!