The 17 Pro Max and me has had quite the week!

I used to sit and write about the iPhone 17 Pro Max as just a device – just a unit. I looked at it coldly, as I would a phone I bought every year, and spoke about its storage options, the speed of its USB-C port or micro scratches on the glass.

While all those facts and figures have their place, this year I’ve realised that it’s there to be used. Every year, Apple works super hard to improve the phone in all sorts of areas, with the camera being the main focus (sorry – that’s a bloody awful pun)!

But it’s true, isn’t it? This year, we got the vapour chamber and a bigger battery, but the main slew of improvements was to do with the camera. But here’s the point that resonated with me this year, that surely the best way to get to really know a phone was to use it day after day in all sorts of conditions and environments. I don’t like to think of myself as a reviewer, but I guess that is part of what I do.

Living life

I’ve made the argument before that tech in general, and phones in particular, are bloated with features that we’ll likely never use, and I stand by that. But when it comes to the camera, well, that is something that is quite literally that is there to be used.

Very few of the features that Apple brought to the 17 Pro & iPhone 17 Pro Max this year were vanity projects or just a niche idea designed to tick a box. Sure, there were a couple, namely Genlock and Open Gate (more on that one later) were a little left-field, but on the whole, all the improvements were useful for most of us.

I know many of you have followed along with my stories over the past few months of using various iPhones on the road to see how they perform, and this week I’ve been to Edinburgh with the 17 Pro Max and a bag of other goodies, which has given me even more to chat with you about.

New heights

I have a small admission to make. I started this story on my first night in Edinburgh, but have since thrown it away and started it all over again! On reflection, my first effort was just rubbish!

So, here I am, Friday lunchtime with probably the most hectic week of my ‘new’ creator life behind me. And you know what, as much as I should be knackered, I actually feel on a high! The iPhone 17 Pro Max has done some miles with me this week, and it’s not missed a beat!

Sunday, it came with me on a trip to Piccadilly Circus, where I took this time-lapse shot of the iconic billboards. It was meant to be a family day…but it was a chance that was too good to miss. And that was only the first of three trips to London this week…

On Monday, I was back in the capital and this time I’d booked to visit The Sky Garden. It’s London’s highest public garden and free! How it’s free, I have no idea, but as you can see, the views are spectacular.

London’s skyline is something special. I did use some third-party lenses and a pro camera app, but at the very heart of everything you see here is the 17 Pro Max you possibly have in your pocket.

Say what you like about iPhone 17 Pro Max cameras and photography, it teaches you composition, lighting, framing, ISO and shutter speeds, which are skill sets that will transfer to a dedicated camera.

That age-old adage about the best camera you have with you is the one in your pocket is so true. If I weren’t carrying my 17 Pro Max with me everywhere, then my eye wouldn’t be as good as it is now. I now look for angles and shots that I wouldn’t have before.

On Tuesday, I flew to Edinburgh with the 17 Pro Max as my only camera, os it had to perform. I flew back Thursday afternoon with a video shot and loads of pictures, and then went to a gig I’d been invited to at Koko, Camden.

Not your average week – well, certainly, not my average week.

The Edinburgh kit bag

I wrote last week that everything had been building and working towards this trip. I didn’t know it at the time, but all the knowledge I’d picked up during the past ten or eleven months had made this trip possible.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max was the driver behind the whole trip, but I took other Apple gear with me too. The iPhone Air has carved out a really useful niche for itself when I’m away shooting. I used to take the iPad mini with me, but the Air has now replaced it.

Although I hardly ever fully script any videos, I do list script points. It means I remember to tell the story that I want to tell and don’t overlook any important points. The iPad mini was ok for that when I was in a hotel room, but it’s not so good when you’re walking over Blackfriars Bridge vlogging. And that is where the iPhone Air is perfect.

With the iPhone 17 Pro Max on a gimbal doing its thing, the Air is now in my back pocket. It’s brilliant. It’s slim, light and has a battery that will last more than a day. The fact I can pull it out one-handed while the other hand is still holding the gimbal is perfect! I can brush up on what I need to say next without any other interruptions. Genius!

I took my MacBook Pro with me, which, although heavy, was the right move. The moment I got to my Airbnb, I got it out of my bag, and it stayed there until I left. The main benefit of taking the Pro, though, was that it meant I could clip together the day’s clips as I recorded them.

Working like this means I know I have all the video I need, with decent audio and haven’t overlooked anything. I took the 16 Pro Max with me for the odd times I needed to take shots of the iPhone 17 Pro Max – for instance, the picture at the top of this story.

I also popped back to my Airbnb a couple of times a day to dump the files I’d been shooting for the past few hours. I needed to have redundancy and back-up in case the worst should happen.

I had all my work on the SSD I was shooting to on the 17 Pro Max, on the MacBook’s desktop and also on an external SSD I’d taken too. Travelling back home, I kept these drives in separate bags so at least I knew I’d have a video from my week’s work. Being a sponsored video, it was even more critical that I had something to show for my week’s effort.

The rest of what I took was more camera-related. Gimbals, tripods, SSDs, small LED lights, lenses and cages. But from an Apple point of view, it was three iPhones and a MacBook Pro. That was the heart of my mobile studio.

iPhone 17 Pro Max and its battery

I mentioned that I started to write this story before, and for some now inexplicable reason, I started off that version by rattling on about how bad the battery had been. In the cold light of day, though, I think I was being unfair, which is why I started this story again today, fresh back in my studio.

On this trip, I’d been asking an awful lot from my iPhone 17 Pro Max. Much of what the video is going to be about is some photo editing apps, so I had to show them working.

I’ve worked out a way to screen record the Pro Max, have an app open and active and record a voice note using a wireless mic to act as audio for the screen recording. This is one of those little tricks I’ve practised & perfected over the past few trips.

Side note – do you think we could ever have the option to record audio to native screen recording? Is it possible, or am I missing something?

I used to screen record and then do a voice-over back in the studio, which is a slow and painful way to go about things. This new method is way better, but in London last week I’d learned that file management was critical if this workflow was to work.

The trouble is, you quickly end up with loads of screen recordings in your camera roll and a list of voice memos that mean nothing! But now, the moment I’ve recorded a take I’m happy with, I label the voice memo and then find the screen recording.

You can’t rename a file in the Photos app, but you can if you export it to the Files app first. It’s this kind of thing I’d never have come across unless I’d taken the iPhone out on shoots and location work.

With this workflow, all I have to do is find the two files with the same name, and then I can throw them into my timeline in Final Cut.

So, as you can guess, in this kind of workflow, the battery takes a beating. And don’t forget, all the while I was also recording in ProRes 422HQ, 4K and Apple Log 2! It’s hardly surprising the battery took a battering, is it?

In fact, that it managed to last two or three hours, I think, is more than reasonable. The 17 Pro was living up to its moniker and doing Pro work. I did have a MagSafe battery pack in case I needed it, and I also took a rapid charger with me. That way, by the time I’d taken the files off the SSD I needed to save & back up, the 17 Pro Max was good to go again.

A final surprise

The last part of my week was at that gig.

We sat up in the loft, as the vibe and view at Koko are great from there, but clearly it meant we were a tidy distance away from the stage. One of the supposed weaknesses of the 17 Pro & Pro Max cameras is their low-light abilities.

Of course, the sensor will always be the governing factor for low-light work, but I don’t think these shots are too bad. The first image will give you some idea of how far away we were from the stage. The second is pretty damned impressive, I’d say.

It was shot using the 4x telephoto 100mm equivalent lens on the iPhone with a 2x tele lens bolted on, proving again that the best camera really is the one you have with you. The rider at the gig was that no professional cameras were allowed….yes, I’m feeling pretty smug!

The only disappointment for me this week was the Open Gate feature. I know I’m supposed to love it, but it didn’t cut it for me when I tried to use it.

I had to record a vertical video for a sponsor and thought it would be quicker to use the iPhone 17 Pro Max than mess about setting up my Canon in an upright position.

Whilst there was nothing wrong with the quality of the video, there was no fall-off, so I was not ‘lifted’ from the background at all. It looked too flat for me to use commercially. I’d use it at a push, but Open Gate falls into that category of ‘why bother’? I guess I know it’s there, but I can’t see myself rushing back to it.

And breath

That was quite a week.

I thought possibly I’d bitten off more than I could chew, but both the 17 Pro Max and me are here to fight another day.

The week had one final highlight today as well. Every day I edit a photo and post it to Insta, Threads and the Lightroom Community. That’s a place where photographers share their work.

I logged in today and thought that a picture on their ‘featured’ page looked familiar…it turns out that somehow one of their editors had noticed a picture that I very nearly didn’t even post and featured it! Proof that plodding away each day can make a difference.

What I’ve learnt from taking this phone out and using it is invaluable. Like I said, I should be out on my feet, but with the fun I’m having, there’s no chance! I know I will end up buying another camera, but the lessons I’m learning from using the 17 Pro Max are invaluable.

They say a picture paints a thousand words….I’ll let you be the judge!