The Appearance of the iPhone 17 Pro in Public
iPhone 17 Pro design appears in the latest leak
Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17 series in September 2025. Ahead of the launch, leaks about the specifications and design of the device are increasingly circulating. One of the latest leaks came from the X account (formerly Twitter) with the username @skyfops. In his upload, he shared a photo of a man holding two iPhone units.
The first unit that is believed to be the iPhone 16 Pro, appears in white without a case. Meanwhile, the second unit uses a black casing which is strongly suspected to be the iPhone 17 Pro. This allegation arises because the camera module on the unit looks unusual. The shape of the cut shows the camera module horizontal or sideways. This design is different from the previous generation which usually has a diagonal camera arrangement or in a square module.
The photo also shows the area next to the camera lens that appears to have two additional circles. Allegedly, the circle is an LED flash and a LiDAR scanner, or perhaps another component.
Initially, the authenticity of the photo was doubted because it was uploaded by an unknown account. However, doubts began to fade after Mark Gurman, a technology journalist for Bloomberg and a well-known gadget leaker, shared the tweet again. Gurman, who is often accurate in leaking new Apple products, wrote a brief comment that “this looks original”.
Based on this information, speculation emerged that the photo did show the design of the iPhone 17 Pro. MacRumors technology media highlights another part of the photo, especially on the iPhone 16 Pro unit which has a sticker on the back. This sticker allegedly covers the matrix data code that Apple uses to track internal development units.
From this detail, two conjectures emerged. First, the man in the photo is most likely an Apple employee who is testing the device in the field. Second, the iPhone unit with a black casing and a horizontal camera module is most likely an iPhone 17 Pro prototype. However, this leak is yet to be confirmed.
iPhone’s first horizontal camera module?
The appearance of the iPhone 17 Pro reinforces previous rumors that Apple will design a device with a fresher design. If this design is actually adopted, then the iPhone 17 Pro will be the first generation to have a horizontal camera module.
Reportedly, this rectangular camera module will have an area of almost a third of the back body of the device. Inside the module, it is estimated that there will be three round camera lenses arranged in a zigzag manner. Beside the camera lens, there is an LED flash, a LiDAR scanner, and a rear microphone arranged vertically.
Design similar to POCO X5?
If the design of this horizontal camera module is actually implemented, the appearance of the iPhone 17 Pro will be very similar to the Android Poco X5 phone which was launched in 2023. The Poco X5 has a rectangular camera module that takes up almost a third of the phone body. The camera arrangement is also similar because it is arranged in a zigzag and is on the left side of the module.
The main difference lies only in the number of lenses. The Poco X5 has two camera lenses and one LED flash, while the iPhone 17 Pro, according to the leak, will carry three lenses. Even so, all the details regarding the design, specifications, and appearance of the iPhone 17 Pro will still be known at the official announcement later.
