An alleged iPhone 17 Pro tester unit has been spotted in public in the hands of a man, according to a post on X by the account @Skyfops. Adding to its legitimacy, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who is known for his accurate predictions, shared the same post, commenting, “wow, this looks legit”. In the image, a man can be seen holding two iPhones. The iPhone in the background looks like a regular iPhone 16 Pro in the Desert Titanium colour, but the one in the foreground, which has a different camera module, appears to be the iPhone 17 Pro. iPhone 17 series is expected to launch in September.(Majin Bu)

A closer look at the image reveals several details that corroborate to previously leaked rumours and also reveals something new. Here is what we know about the alleged iPhone 17 Pro test unit.

iPhone 17 Pro Test Unit? What It Revealed

On the iPhone in the man’s hand, two sensors (could be the flash and LiDAR) are positioned on the far right of the rear panel, similar to what has been seen in previously leaked dummies, renders and images. Multiple tipsters have claimed that Apple will extend the camera module to the far right, and this image appears to support that.

However, a new, mysterious cutout is present on the top of the phone. Just above the triple-camera setup, there is a cutout. Reports suggest that this could be a second Camera Control feature for the Pro models.

Now, things get interesting because MacRumors, earlier this week, reported that a tipster contacted the publication claiming that the iPhone 17 Pro will have a second Camera Control button placed on top of the device, which would complement the existing Camera Control button.

This new leak, coupled with the MacRumors story, adds weight to this theory. The tipster also told MacRumors that Apple could be working on an 8x optical zoom feature, a big increase from the 5x zoom on current iPhones.

This seems a little odd, however, as an 8x zoom on the third camera would limit the options for portrait mode. Therefore, it depends on the implementation.

Our take (based on what reports say) is that Apple will likely opt for a higher-resolution telephoto camera with an approximately 3.5x optical zoom range. It could then use in-sensor zooming, similar to the base iPhone 16 and iPhone 16e, to achieve a 2x crop. A 2x crop of this 3.5x zoom would result in an approximately 7x zoom, which is how Apple could achieve near-optical quality at that range.

New Camera App Could Be In The Works Too

The tipster also added that Apple might be developing an entirely new Pro camera app for the iPhone 17 Pro models, for both photos and videos. This would certainly be an interesting addition, as many users have commented that while Apple’s camera systems are of a professional standard, they can be somewhat limiting, requiring reliance on third-party apps like Blackmagic Camera to achieve the ideal footage.