New iPhone 17 Pro rumor predicts bizarre new camera bar design, but we're far from convinced

• A new rumor suggests the iPhone 17 Pro could have a very different design to what most leaks so far have suggested
• However, the source has a mixed track record, and we're not convinced
• We've also heard again that the iPhone 17 Pro Max might have a smaller Dynamic Island than its predecessor

One thing most iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max leaks seem to be in agreement on is that the design will be changing, with several sources suggesting the phone will have a Pixel-like camera bar and a two-tone rear. Now though, another possible design has emerged.

In his Front Page Tech YouTube show, Jon Prosser, a leaker with a mixed track record, has shown off a strange-looking iPhone 17 Pro camera layout, with the lenses arranged in the same triangular pattern, as on the iPhone 16 Pro, but they’re housed in a large black camera island, with empty space in the middle and the flash off to the right. You can see how this looks below.

It’s an odd, arguably ugly design, and one that doesn’t quite match with previous iPhone 17 series design leaks, though there are some similarities. Both this and earlier leaks showed a camera bar running the full width of the phone, but the bar was much narrower in earlier leaks, meaning the lenses would have had to run horizontally along it.

We’d say the earlier leaks look better, but as Prosser notes in the video, they come with a problem, in that having lenses arranged horizontally along the bar could get in the way of the phone’s Face ID components. So he believes that for Apple to have a horizontal camera bar, either it would have to be housed further down the back of the phone, or be more like the one he’s showing here.

According to Prosser’s sources, it’s this latter design that Apple is actually using, but despite Prosser’s claims we’d take this with a serious side of salt. As mentioned, Prosser has a mixed track record for leaks, and this design looks like an earlier sketch that was shared by Majin Bu – another leaker with a mixed track record – and which Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who has a much better hit rate for breaking Apple news, claims is “fake.”

Further complicating things is the fact that Apple may well have prototypes in multiple designs, so it’s not impossible that all of these leaks are correct, in so much as Apple might be testing these ideas, but which if any of them will be used for the final iPhone 17 Pro design remains to be seen.

For now, we’re skeptical of Prosser’s claims since they are at odds with most sources, but it’s not impossible that this is what we’ll see, and it would at least leave it looking less like a Google Pixel.

Changes up front too

And while it’s mostly the back of the iPhone 17 Pro – and likely also the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro Max – that will probably be changing, there may be some changes to the front of the iPhone 17 Pro Max as well, with leaker Digital Chat Station (via GSMArena) claiming that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will have a smaller Dynamic Island than its predecessor.

This will apparently be achieved by reducing the size of the components, and it’s not the first time we’ve heard that a smaller Dynamic Island might be planned – though not all sources agree that the Dynamic Island will be smaller, so this too we’d take with a pinch of salt.

Interestingly though, Digital Chat Station added that the same smaller Dynamic Island design will also be used with the foldable iPad when Apple launches one, and with a future iPad Pro model. So Apple could be changing the designs of quite a few of its products.

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