- More iPhone 17 Pro Max images appear
- These are apparently “engineering models”
- We may not get a black version this year
There’s a big Apple event scheduled for this coming Tuesday, September 9, and we’re expecting four iPhone 17 models to be unveiled. With only days to go, the leaks are continuing, including new images of iPhone 17 Pro Max
These pictures have been posted by well-known tipster @UniverseIce, and are described as “engineering models”. It’s not exactly clear what that means, but we can assume these phones show the final design for Apple’s most expensive iPhone 17 model.
Another tidbit from this post is that there might not be a black version of the iPhone 17 Pro Max (which presumably applies to the iPhone 17 Pro too). The available titanium colors for the iPhone 16 Pro Max are Black, White, Natural, and Desert.
The colors shown here are a bright-ish orange and a dark-ish blue, which have both been previously rumored. Presumably some more subtle colors will be on offer as well, even if black isn’t – Apple may replace it with a dark gray or something similar.
Black is the color
This is the closest photo of the whole Internet to the real iPhone 17 Pro Max. They are engineering machine models. This time there is no black version, only this dark blue. pic.twitter.com/OKzHLuItC5September 7, 2025
There is another possibility here, that the phrase “this time there is no black version, only this dark blue” refers to this particular leak, rather than the iPhone 17 Pro Max colors in general. Based on earlier leaks, that actually seems more plausible.
Indeed, we’ve previously seen dummy units showing the iPhone 17 Pro in black. All these leaked pictures also show off the rear panel redesign, with a larger camera bump that’s been rumored for a long time now.
We’ll leave it up to you how you want to interpret this, but considering iPhones are almost always available in black – including the standard iPhone 16 and the iPhone 16e that launched in February – it would be a surprise if it wasn’t offered.
We’ll know for sure this coming Tuesday, when the phones are unveiled, together with new smartwatches and earbuds. Everything gets underway at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST (3am on September 10), and you can watch along live.