Zoom and gloom: The iPhone 17 Pro camera rumours I love – and hate
Apple’s next flagship iPhone promises sharper shots, bokeh brilliance and zoom levels to coo at. But will it really be a picture-perfect upgrade for snap-happy camera lovers?
I’ve always loved photography. Although I’m unconvinced I’ve ever been any good at it. Still, even as a relative youngling, I was always happy with a camera in my mitts. Back then, I owned a cheap plastic number that took 35mm film I had to remove in pitch-black darkness, lest the faintest glimmer of light obliterate my precious memories. Over time, I graduated to digital snaps – but only the iPhone camera finally satisfied my inner photographer. And that’s because the cliche is absolutely true: the best camera is the one you have on you.
Only, is it? Because when I look back at my earliest iPhone snaps, they’re disappointing. True, the iPhone removed most major limitations that still remained for photography. I could take as many photos as I liked, not worrying about shots left on a film, or space on memory cards. And my phone was always on me – unlike a camera. But those old snaps are low-res and riddled with noise, as if I’d conducted a long-term photographic study through the weave of a hessian sack. Which, I feel compelled to state for the record, I had not.
All of which is probably why my every iPhone purchase since has boiled down to what the camera’s like. Give me two phones, one with a macro and one without, and the latter can get in the sea. One with a telephoto and one with a bigger telephoto? We have a winner! Hence me being very happy last year when the iPhone 16 Pro matched the Max’s zoom level but not its price. But naturally, Apple’s only gone and ruined my year-long joy by preparing more new iPhones, with even better cameras. Tsk.
Focus group
This year, rumours suggest Apple will give iPhone camera users 48MP snappers across the board. And that means properly crisp zoom shots. Quite how they’ll work is anyone’s guess. Sites have donned their best guessing trousers to parp speculation that we’ll ‘merely’ get better 5x zoom pics. But Apple might push things higher: 7x or 8x optical. Perhaps cropping to 10x shots with minimal quality loss. And, yes, I can hear you Android lot all going “Whatevs – we’ve had better zoom for yonks,” but camera specs alone aren’t enough to have me jump platforms. Yet.
So what else? An adjustable aperture for bokeh bliss, more light when it’s dark and less light when it’s, erm, light. Which I’m sure I’ll spend many hours fiddling around with without knowing what I’m doing. The other rumours, I’m less fussed about. 8K video? Great if you’re Spielberg, but I lack the need and the onboard storage for that – and a suitable screen. Dual video and better selfies will be nice when all mags finally disappear and I’m forced to reinvent myself for TikTok. (Be very afraid.) But not today. And then there’s the laughable rumour that’ll never happen: a second camera control button. At least, I hope it won’t.
Given that I’m about as amateur an amateur photographer as you can get, I can only imagine the SQUEEEEE noises real iPhone-based photographers are making right now. The anticipation must be causing them to pull all sorts of faces. Which they should totally capture on their iPhones. And next week, we’ll all find out how many of the rumours are true. Hopefully the good ones. Because if Apple reveals new iPhones and says, like with its operating systems, it’s now decided on ‘harmonising’ its line-up, meaning only a single camera and yet, for some reason, four Camera Control buttons for all, I shall be having words.
Craig Grannell
Contributor 
