iPhone 17 Pro Max Tutorial & Users Guide
<—back to iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
See also the Cases, Chargers, Apps, Grips, Gimbals & Lenses, Filters and Microphones sections of my iPhone 17 Pro Max Review.
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iPhone 17 Pro Max, no case: 8.195 oz. (232.4g). bigger. |
Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max in Cosmic Orange (2TB, 1TB, 512GB or 256GB storage, water cooled, anodized aluminium case, Ceramic Shield and Ceramic Shield 2 screen protection. It's at Amazon and it's at eBay (How to Win at eBay).
Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max in Cosmic Orange. bigger. It's at Amazon and it's at eBay (How to Win at eBay).
Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max in Cosmic Orange (sapphire lens covers and matte glass over titanium edge). bigger.
This all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Thanks for helping me help you! Ken.
February 2026 Better Pictures Apple Canon Sony Nikon Fuji LEICA Zeiss HASSELBLAD All Reviews
NEW: How to Change the Focus Distance AFTER SHOOTING on iPhone!!!
NEW: How to Change the Depth-of-Field — AFTER SHOOTING on iPhone!
NEW: How to Get Motion Blur on iPhone.
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Transferring Everything from Your Old iPhone top iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
We all have our preferences. Since I have a ton of files on my iPhone imported from my Mac, simply restoring from an iCloud backup fails to copy 700 GB of photos, music and video that came from my Mac, requiring a long Sync later to get it all back.
Therefore what transfers everything for me is to transfer directly from iPhone to iPhone and keeping them close to each other, not downloading from iCloud.
700 GB took 3.4 hours to transfer, along with everything else like my Photos Library (all 110,000 of them).
Once my data is transferred, your new iPhone will download fresh copies of all your apps.
Once this is done, open every app and log in with your password. About half your apps will require this, so best to do it while you can rather than when you're in a rush out in the field and can't remember your passwords.
The Stopwatch keeps time even when transferred to the new phone! It doesn't miss a beat.
Google Maps Timeline is now stored on your phone, so to get your history back to your new phone, you have to go to the Google Maps app > Tap your face in the upper right > tap Your Timeline > tap the cloud on the top middle right > see "Your backups" toward bottom of screen > tap the three dots next to the older phone (not "This device") and tap Import. It will bring it all up to date! Be sure Location is set to Always and Backup is activated so it records and saves your activities. This lets Google Maps Timeline document and save a timeline of every place I've been ever since about 2018!
Be sure to go out to your garage and reconnect CarPlay to all of your cars now while you're not running out for an appointment, otherwise you'll be disconnected when you get in your car in a rush.
Hint: In the iPhone, select Settings > General > CarPlay (instead of Bluetooth) and look for your car under "others" at the bottom and take it from there. Assuming you have a CarPlay car, don't connect via old Bluetooth settings.
Hint: See the rest of this guide for how to reorganize your app icons in CarPlay. You do it in your iPhone, not on your car's CarPlay screen.
Be sure to reconnect all your headphones to Bluetooth again. Doing all this now while you're in the mood is much better than having to reconnect each device as you come across them and want to relax.
Ditto for eMail signatures; I had mine saying "sent from iPhone 16 Pro Max," and of course I updated it to "sent from iPhone 17 Pro Max." Don't laugh, if you don't go changing all this now you might go 8 months with the wrong signature.
Rename your phone; I have so many devices I name them with with kind of device they are. Set this at SETTINGS > GENERAL > ABOUT > NAME to be sure your new phone is named as you like. If you don't do this, your new iPhone will have the same name as your old one.
If you have a BMW digital car key stored in your Wallet so you can open and start your car with just your iPhone, it doesn't transfer automatically to your new phone. BMW had no idea how to transfer it and told me to delete everything everywhere and start from scratch. Wrong!; I didn't even bother trying that. All I had to do is share the key again from the original iPhone which happened to be the "owner" of the car. I got an invitation on my new iPhone and accepted it.
Last but not least, FaceBook Messenger asked me for some cockamamie password I had created years ago when it encrypted message history and we all clicked through whatever to get our messages back. I had to find that password and reenter it to restore my old FaceBook Messages on my new iPhone.
Charging top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
Wireless Charging Stations
While I have loads of USB-C chargers and my new iPhone 17 Pro Max works great with the same wireless chargers I've had since 2018 for my iPhone Xs Max, I really love my new Petino Samba Pad Pro 3-Way Wireless Charging Station:
Petino Samba Pad Pro 3-Way Wireless Charging Station.
Of course there are loads of other wireless charging stations. This one is fast and holds everything: iPhone, Airpods and Apple Watch, perfectly on my night stand.
Ideally use MagSafe wireless chargers. Generic wireless chargers aren't particularly fast, and often generic wireless car chargers do more to make my iPhone get hot than they charge it.
Super Fast Charging top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
While wireless chargers can charge at up to 25 watts which is more than fast enough to charge a totally dead phone in a few hours, the iPhone 17 Pro Max charges at up to 40 watts as I measure mine (15V at 2⅔A) with a USB-C charger, USB-C PD power bank or USB-C PD solar panel rated at least this power and a USB-C to USB-C cable.
How long it will charge at 40W is limited by heat. It slows the charging rate as it heats up, which is great because it's dynamically varying the charge rate for the fastest possible charge without blowing up.
I can charge from 20% to 80% in 37 minutes if I take it out of the case so it can cool better.
At only 30 watts mine charges at about 2% per minute, so 15 minutes gets me from 30% to 60%. 20 minutes gets me from 16% to 56%, and 50 minutes gets me from 14% to 88% - bravo!
The last 80% to 100% takes longer because the charge rate slows deliberately to control heat and for better battery health.
Use a 20W charger or better and it's fast; use at least a 40W charger for the fastest charge. Since it varies its charge rate with temperature, a 30W charger is often as fast as a 40W charger.
No matter how high your charger is rated, the system is smart enough not to charge too fast or overcharge. A 100W charger won't charge any faster than 40 watts with iPhone 17 Pro Max. It's safe to use a USB-C charger of any rating.
Don't expect generic USB-C ports in cars to charge fast, unless they're marked with their power ratings. Many cars have USB-C ports, but most only put out 15 watts at best. If you're as curious as I am, get a USB-C Power Meter and you can measure exactly how much power things draw or provide.
If you need fast charging in your car and your car lacks high-powered USB-C ports, I use this Anker 535 (A2731) car charger that provides up to 67W at each USB-C port, more than enough to power-charge my iPad Pro or MacBook Pro at the same time.
Classic Charging top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
The iPhone 17 Pro Max should charge at up to about 12.5 watts from an old-fashioned USB-A source with a USB-A to USB-C cable.
I haven't measured the actual rates, but I have tried and iPhone 17 Pro Max charges fine from all the usual the old USB sources with a USB-A to USB-C cable.
Battery Health top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
Lithium batteries give more years of service if you don't charge them all the way up or run them all the way down. They're like our stomachs; they don't like to spend time at 100% or 0%. If you keep them above 20% and below 80% they'll last just about forever — just like electric cars.
I set mine only to charge to 80% (Settings > Battery > Charging > Charge Limit > 80%), and it's rare that I ever run it down to less than 35% by the end of the day.
Of course your usage will vary.
Even Longer Battery Life: Low Power Mode top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
I have not needed this even if I'm out shooting all day in the wilderness or anywhere cell coverage is weak or questionable (which uses much more battery power than when you're close to cell towers).
With older phones I would set it to Low Power Mode (SETTINGS > BATTERY > LOW POWER MODE, or add the Low Power Mode icon on your Control Center at SETTINGS > CONTROL CENTER > add Low Power Mode) and I'd be fine.
Low power mode limits how bright the screen can get, and also displays HDR images with regular dynamic range, skipping brilliant highlights of the HDR display.
I carry a power bank and USB-C to USB-C cable to charge my iPhone or camera, but haven't had to use it since batteries last so long today. Hint: also bring a USB-C to Lightning cable for your friends with older iPhones. You'll be their friend forever when you get their phones recharged pronto while out in the boonies.
Heat and High Brightness top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
The 17 Pro Max has an astonishingly bright screen when used in sunlight, and much better than the iPhone 16 Pro Max and older phones, it's able to stay at these high brightnesses for quite a while before it has to dim to keep from overheating.
If your screen goes dim while outdoors, let it cool, and also try the dark theme because it will save battery and probably give you more time at full brightness when only the letters are white, rather than every pixel except the letters.
In high heat with the screen on in daylight for long periods it may get dimmer and dimmer to keep itself from overheating.
Good news is I haven't had any problems with this yet on my iPhone 17 Pro Max, unlike with older phones. This is most likely due to the new water-cooling and aluminium frame. Bravo, Apple!
Camera App top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
I shoot with only the iPhone's native Camera app.
While it's easy to read the iPhone's apertures, ISOs and shutter speeds in the Photos app (just tap the ⓘ photo info icon) as well as external software, I'm letting my iPhone set these all automatically as it shoots and reading the data later to report to you. I have no idea what it's doing as I shoot and I don't need to know.
Personally I read the EXIF exposure data for all my shots later in Photo Mechanic so I can report them under each image; I certainly don't fiddle with manual exposures or other apps.
Secret Hidden Camera Button top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
Separate from the dedicated Camera Control, you can set your iPhone to go to the camera immediately with two taps on the back! It doesn't even need to be unlocked; it just goes!
This feature has been around at least since iPhone 15 Pro Max on iOS 17.6.1, however I don't use this. I find getting the double tap just right is fidgety and doesn't always respond; the new Camera Control is much more reliable.
Set this at:
Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap > Double Tap > Camera.
Cool, huh?
New since iOS 18 is that you also can set this instead to Camera Controls, and now a double tap on the back will also take the picture once you're in the camera app. Cool, huh?
Image Look & Feel top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
I prefer to shoot everything with the Amber Style preset, which emphasizes warm colors. I set this in my iPhone at Settings > Camera > App Settings > Photographic Styles > Amber. The Amber Style preset looks awesome for FALL COLOR, as well as for everything else like people and places. The Gold Style preset also works great for FALL COLOR.
Set these as you like, and here's a cool thing if you shoot in HEIC or raw: in the Photos app, you can change the styles after you've shot them!
Lens Corrections top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
The 0.5× ultra-wide and front "selfie" cameras offer the option of electronic lens distortion correction. I leave this ON at Settings > Camera > Lens Correction > ON, although I've never seen it make any difference.
HEIF/JPG/DNG Format Settings top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
I use the default HEIF format (Settings > Camera > Formats > CAMERA CAPTURE > High Efficiency) mode.
High Efficiency gives me the smallest file size and adds HDR capture, and if looking at your photos on iPhone, adds brilliant HDR display as well for brilliant bright colors and highlights. "High Efficiency" is Apple's plain English name for HEIF.
Because Photoshop 2021 doesn't read the modern HEIF images I shoot on iPhone, I convert the iPhone HEIFs to JPGs as I import them to my Mac by selecting the appropriate images, tapping the SHARE icon, then OPTIONS > FORMAT > Most Compatible, which temporarily converts them to JPG before AirDropping them or Saving them to Files. I don't worry about archiving the HEIC files because they're still stored in my iPhone (and its backups) if I need them later.
This way my iPhone shoots and saves all my photos in the the very efficient (small file size) HEIF format with HDR, and does all the conversions to JPG to send them to my Mac for editing and storage. The HEIFs stay on my iPhone if I ever need them, and my Mac's system has the handy and universal JPGs. I've done it this way for years.
I never shoot raw for many reasons. Additionally, DNGs take forever to AirDrop and are not necessarily readable everywhere.
If you want to shoot DNG (ProRAW) be sure your software can read them before an important shoot. If your software can't read these DNGs, no worry, just AirDrop with Options > Most Compatible and it will transfer them as JPGs!
I never use ProRaw (DNG); I always shoot HEIC in-camera and save them on my Mac as JPGs, and obviously you can do whatever you want.
I see absolutely no quality difference between HEIC and converted JPGs.
I also see absolutely no difference between ProRAW and HEIC/JPG even if I do a lot of contrast stretching in Photoshop. I haven't explored this in depth, but when I tried some shots and really mucked with the curves to where I could see banding in the sky, it was the same between formats! I'll assume the limited precision in quantizing the sky lied not in the coding scheme, but the native ability of the tiny sensor to see well in the dark.
Resolution Settings top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
I shoot in the 24 MP mode at Settings > Camera > APP SETTINGS > Formats > PHOTO CAPTURE > Photo Mode > 24 MP. This saves images at 24 MP JPG at 0.5×, 1×, 1.2×, 1.5×, 2× and 4× when it can, otherwise it saves at 12 MP.
You get 24 MP by default from the 0.5×, 1×, 1.2×, 1.5×, 2× and 4× cameras, and 12 MP from everything else. Night Mode is always only 12 MP.
If you prefer it always save at 12 MP so you can save more pictures on your phone that still look great, then set Settings > Camera > APP SETTINGS > Formats > PHOTO CAPTURE > Photo Mode > 12 MP.
If you prefer 48 MP images, set Settings > Camera > APP SETTINGS > Formats > PHOTO CAPTURE > ProRAW & Resolution Control > ON, and then Settings > Camera > APP SETTINGS > Formats > PHOTO CAPTURE > Pro Default > then either HEIF Max or ProRaw Max (up to 48 MP), which will save at up to 48 MP in whatever format you like — but only when your camera (zoom) setting can do it.
Night Mode is always 12 MP.
I shoot in the HEIC Max setting and even 48 MP images are saved in the efficient HEIC format, and effortlessly transfer or save as JPGs when you select the "Most Compatible" options.
The cool thing about using these 48 MP options is that it shoots by default at the lower 12 MP or 24 MP resolutions, and to shoot a few images at 48 MP or some other format all you have to do is tap the top right Resolution and Format options and select what you like. It will reset to your usual preferences next time you use the camera.
Stills at 10 FPS (Burst Mode) top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
It's easy to shoot continuously at 10 FPS: just swipe the shutter button towards the last-shot photo icon and hold. It counts-up the number of frames as it shoots!
Electronic Level top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
You may notice a thin white or yellow line in the center of your screen. Rotate your iPhone until it turns yellow, and you're level. The line goes away once you're level.
The camera measures G forces with accelerometers to determine which way is down, so ignore it while in a moving vehicle.
It only shows roll (left-right), not pitch (up-down).
Macro top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
Simply select your zoom setting and shoot. iPhone figures out how to make it happen and just does it, which often means shooting with the 0.5× or 1× camera and cropping for the selected zoom level.
If you want to keep the full 48 MP resolution of the 1× or 4× camera, you can have your iPhone warn you that it's subbing the 0.5× camera if you set SETTINGS > CAMERA > MACRO CONTROL > ON, in which case it will show a yellow circle with a flower in it to let you know it's cropping from the 0.5× camera in the 1× or 2× settings. It doesn't show when it crops from the 1× camera when you're too close in the 4× or higher modes.
The closest you can get with the 1× camera is 6.5" (165mm) and the closest you can get with the 4× camera is 3 feet (89 cm). If you're closer, the iPhone will crop from the wider camera to make it happen.
Flash top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
I never use the flash, except maybe for fill indoors.
Tap the flash icon as you like, and if you need more flash settings, tap the "six squares" icon at the top right to see more options at the bottom.
Flashlight Trick top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
A one-touch way to turn off the flashlight is to hit the Camera Control button.
This turns off the flashlight as the camera turns on.
Tap the Lock button to close the camera.
I find this much easier than dickering with screen taps.
Time Exposures in the Dark top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
The Comet Swan (C/2025 R2), the North American Nebula and the Milky Way, Bridgeport, California, 9:12 P.M., Tuesday, 21 October 2025. iPhone 17 Pro Max 1× (6.8mm actual or 24mm eq.) camera at f/1.8 for 10 seconds in Night mode at Auto ISO 2,500 (LV minus 6.3!!!!), Tweaked in iPhone's native Photos app and curves adjustment layer masks in Photoshop CC, casual use of my Oben CT-2491 Carbon-Fibre Tripod with my Oben GH3W-15 Geared Head and Oben SPA-1000 iPhone adapter. More tech details. bigger or fit-to-screen.
With the flash off you can simply point-and-shoot the Milky Way handheld!
The iPhone is super-smart and its accelerometers let it know if you're on a tripod or not, and offers different exposure time options. Use a tripod and we can expose for up to 30 seconds rather than the default 3 seconds hand-held.
Time exposures are shown with a yellow moon icon at the top right also showing seconds. If it's not yellow and showing something like "3s" then tap it to turn it on. Once it's on, tap the six-boxes icon at the top right to get to more settings shown at the bottom.
For this shot I had it set to 30s, and that's how long it took to expose. The EXIF reports 10s, which I'll assume is how much actual exposure happened (night mode captures numerous shorter exposures which are aligned and then added together).
If the spinning shutter icon implies it's processing after an exposure but it still says "hold still," hold still or you can blur the result.
More at How to Photograph the Milky Way.
Hand Held Long Exposures for Motion Blur top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
Lee Vining Falls, 11 AM, 24 October 2017. 2½ second time exposure, hand-held. bigger.
How water looks at different exposure times.
All revealed at How to Smooth Motion Blur with Long Exposures on iPhone, using samples from the amazing October 2019 trip.
Screen Shots top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
Press the VOLUME UP and LOCK buttons simultaneously.
It's a little confusing because they're not directly across from each other.
To make screen shots just save the way they used to, rather than freezing the screen and waiting for you to do something, set SETTINGS > GENERAL > SCREEN CAPTURE > FULL-SCREEN PREVIEWS > OFF.
If you want your screen shots and recordings to capture the full dynamics of the HDR display and save as an HEIF (or HEVC HDR10) rather the the usual PNG or HEVC, set SETTINGS > GENERAL > SCREEN CAPTURE > FULL-SCREEN PREVIEWS > HDR.
Underwater Shooting top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
I'm too chicken to dunk my phone in water, and I know people who've gotten stunning results underwater, or carry their phones in their board shorts as they go out surfing. I also have friends who've had their iPhones in waterproof cases which sunk to the bottom when they lost hold of them out on the ocean. Doe!
While Apple rates the iPhone 17 Pro Max as water resistant to IP 68: 6 meters (20 feet) for up to 30 minutes per IEC 60529, this is for a new iPhone. As soon as you drop it a couple of times you may break the seals and it won't be this good.
Be careful unless you have a new iPhone. As far as I know, friends have made awesome underwater videos, but likewise Apple doesn't cover water damage if yours leaks. Good luck!
ACTION VIDEO top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
For years iPhone video has been so well stabilized it hasn't required any gimbals for superb hand-held results even while walking and moving around for tracking shots.
Ever since iPhone 6 of 2014 the screen would look very bumpy as we shot video, however the playback is always rock solid, even if we're walking and holding our phone in our hand. The unstabilized shooting screen tricks many people into buying gimbals, which we don't need with iPhone. Look at the playback image and you'll be amazed.
An "Action Mode" increases the amount of motion (angular displacement) for which the iPhone can compensate. It does this by using a smaller crop inside whatever camera is in use, which quite literally gives electronic stabilization more wiggle room to track camera shake. This has been a standard technique (being able to correct more motion by using smaller cropped areas) in professional video for decades.
ACTION VIDEO allows full stabilization even while running or dealing with even more extreme camera motion.
In the Camera app, select VIDEO and tap the top right six-boxes icon, which will show settings at the bottom.
Look for the crossed-out icon of a runner. Tap it, it lights in yellow as the screen blurs for a moment to hide the change in cropping, then shoot. As always in video mode, the screen image may be jittery as you shoot because the stabilization doesn't happen until iPhone saves your file. The file looks magnificent on playback.
See also Accessory Lenses, Gimbals, Grips, Filters and Microphones back in my iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
In-Camera Editing top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
iOS 26 has more options for "looks," and we can change these after we've shot if we shoot in the default HEIF or the raw format. If shot in JPG, then there are fewer after-shot options to change looks.
Today I use the iPhone's Photos app for editing. The advantage of the native app is that it preserves the HDR information, so with some luck your regular images will display in HDR where they can.
Hit the three sliders (edit & adjust) icon 
at the bottom of your screen and it has everything you need, including vignetting, perspective transforms and object removal!
Once there, the Styles option (bottom left) lets us change the Photographic Styles setting after you took the picture!!! I shoot everything in Amber Style, and if you want to see if you prefer a different one after you shot it, it's trivial to preview and change it.
Exposure, highlights, shadows, color and more are at the Adjust option at the bottom after you tap the three slider icon. There's also a slider for adding or removing vignetting, which I love for adding emphasis.
Under "Crop" after hitting the three sliders icon you also can correct for camera tilt and correct perspective, just like with a view camera!
If you want to apply the same corrections to other shots, hit the three dots icon and select Copy Edits. Select other images, tap the three dots icon and select Paste Edits. Easy!
Hit the Clean Up icon on the bottom right after you tap the three sliders icon, and you can remove power lines, cars and other distractions. You can do this manually by tracing a finger along whatever has to go, and often the iPhone itself is so smart that it will highlight what it thinks you'll want to remove. If so, just one tap of what the iPhone has highlighted will remove it.
With any of these edits you always can revert to the original by tapping the three sliders icon and then selecting Revert at the top right. If you prefer to save different edits or versions, simply make duplicates (with one or more photos selected, tap the three dots in the top center right and select Duplicate) and work on those. Easy!
Here's where it gets cool: after an exhausting shoot, I can lie on my sofa and tweak my images to my heart's content, easy-peasy on my iPhone, and when done, I'll transfer them to my Mac with most of the color and other corrections already done! Most iPhone photos are perfect, but on occasion I'll want warmer colors or my signature insane levels of color saturation.
No Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji, LEICA or OM SYSTEM camera can do all this in-camera, and even if one tried, their tiny, dim screens would make it nearly impossible. No computer is needed; I tweak the basics of all my iPhone shots in the phone before I transfer them to my Mac for more detailed editing. The iPhone's magnificently sharp and color-accurate screen make this all very precise and perfect.
I love Skylum Luminar Neo on my Mac for removing distractions and adding vignetting, and the iPhone now makes this even faster before I get to my Mac, often eliminating the need for Neo for some things. Neo does amazing things, and it's also so powerful it can take longer to chew on all the data.
As I'm selecting my photos in Photo Mechanic on my Mac, when I see a wire I need to remove or want a slightly different color rendition, it's very easy to pick up my phone, make the changes and AirDrop a JPG back to my Mac. I like easy, and Apple's adjustments are first rate and all working from the original HEIF file as layers; we're not losing anything each time we go in to make changes since the final "baked" result isn't created until we export the image from the iPhone. Brilliant!
These adjustments are why some bother with raw files. Not me! I can do all this with HEIFs on my phone much more pleasantly on my couch than on a Mac at my desk and avoid the file bloat of raw files. Of course the iPhone has so much dedicated image processing power that all these adjustments are instantaneous.
Some of these after-the-fact editing options aren't available if you have your phone save images as JPGs (Settings > Camera > App Settings > Formats > Camera Capture > Most Compatible. "Most Compatible" is Apple's plain English name for JPG).
I have not bothered with Apple's raw files, which I'll assume offers the same options, if not more, as HEIF.
This process gives new meaning to "camera original," as we say in Hollywood, or "Straight out of the Camera" or "Direct from Camera" or "Unedited," since the camera, an iPhone, is so complete that it allows intricate editing which results different versions coming from the camera! Bravo, Apple!
I used to love the free Snapseed app which let me do all sorts of amazing things with just one talented finger. Snapseed was a blast, but it does not preserve the HDR display data so images will look dull by comparison in many places, so I stick with the native Photos app.
As an artist I often edit images in my Mac, but I still haven't figured out how to preserve JPG gain maps so that HDR display information is retained.
HDR display today is still in the early stages of standardization, as was color management back in the mid 1990s.
Hint: Use the Clean Up option not just to remove distractions, it also works great to fill-in blank areas that weren't captured along the tops and bottoms of panoramas.
Subject Extraction top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
Every since iOS 17, iPhone has had one-touch ability to select, extract, copy and paste subjects and remove backgrounds.
It's so simple you'd never notice it: in the Photos app on iPhone simply hold your finger over a face or object in your image and you'll see it highlight the object. Remove your finger, you'll see options to COPY, ADD STICKER or SHARE (email, save, copy, print, assign to contact, etc.) and you're done.
Try it yourself. Snap a selfie, play it back, hold your finger on your face and release when you see it sparkle for menu options. It's this simple.
Change the Depth-of-Field — After Shooting! top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
In the iPhone's Photos app, be sure the image is set to the Portrait mode (otherwise this won't work), tap the three sliders icon to edit, then move the aperture slider under the photo. Easy!
| Find the image in the Photos app, tap the top left PORTRAIT drop-down and be sure it's set to Portrait, not Portrait Off: | Tap the three sliders icon at the bottom to edit, which brings us here. The default aperture is f/4.5: |
Slide the aperture scale under the image to the right to get larger apertures like f/1.4 for less in focus: | Slide the scale left to get smaller apertures like f/16 to get more in focus: | Slide the scale all the way to the left to OFF (turns off Portrait mode) for the most in focus: |
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Hit DONE at the top left, and you're done.
If you want to change this again, just tap the three sliders (edit & adjust) icon at the bottom and have at it.
More details at How to Change the Depth-of-Field After Shooting on iPhone.
Change the Focus Distance — After Shooting! top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
If you want a different person in focus or otherwise want to change the focus distance after you've shot a picture, here's how you do it.
Find the image in the iPhone's Photos app, be sure the image is set to the Portrait mode (otherwise this won't work), tap the three sliders icon under the image to edit, then tap what you want to be in focus:
| Find the image in the Photos app, tap the top left PORTRAIT drop-down and be sure it's set to Portrait (not Portrait Off): | Tap the three sliders icon at the bottom to edit, which brings us here. You'll see it already selected my face when I took the picture: |
Tap something else if you prefer a different point of focus, like the foreground: | Or tap the background if you prefer: |
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Hit DONE at the top left, and you're done.
If you want to change this again, just tap the three sliders (edit & adjust) icon at the bottom and have at it.
More details at How to Change the Focus Distance After Shooting on iPhone.
Image Search top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
iPhone's native Photos app makes it trivially easy to find anything you've shot purely by location or date, or just tap the 🔍 icon and search by your friend's names or "dog" or "pen" or anything and iPhone just finds it.
I have photos from at least 25 years of shooting film and digital in my iPhone, and it looks inside those photos, knows what's in them, and finds them for me. Yes, iPhone even sees and searches what's inside my saved film scans!
I'll say that again: iPhone has human-like intelligence to look inside the actual visual content of images from just about any digital photo, scanned film or screen shot, and search and find things based solely on their appearances, not needing keywords, metadata, captions or written text descriptions! Of course it easily finds signs or text inside an image as well, like STOP signs.
Mentioning captions, it's also easy to add, search and read text captions and notes to your iPhone photos' metadata (tap the ⓘ photo info icon), but none of this is needed for search.
I add text captions to help the system find things I will need to look up later, labeling a photo something like "Gym Hours" for a photo of my gym's hours.
Visual Look Up top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
If you don't know what something is, your iPhone can tell you what it is! Apple calls this Visual Look Up.
If you see little sparkles on the ⓘ (photo info) icon as you look through Photos, iPhone wants to tell you all about what it is. It can identify kinds of fungus, dogs, plants, pets, animals, landmarks, statues, works of art, album covers and just about anything:
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| Sparkles on the ⓘ icon tells you iPhone knows who this is. bigger. | What it finds for this Great Pyrenees puppy. bigger. | It even gets the tough ones, identifying fungus! bigger. |
These screens are from my iPhone 14 Pro Max, and it works the same on iOS 26. I didn't bother to get more screenshots as these are pretty cute and demonstrative of what it does.
Transfer Photos & Video to Mac top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
We all have our favorite methods. I select what I want to transfer in the Photos app on my iPhone, hit the Share icon at the bottom, swipe down to Save to Files, and save them to a folder marked INGEST on my iCloud Drive.
I look in iCloud Drive in the Finder of my Mac, and drag them where I want them. I then delete them from my iCloud Drive for sanity's sake. This way I know what's new next time. They are already backed up on my iPhone and on my iCloud backup from the iPhone, so no need for a fourth set of images along with the versions now on my Mac.
AirDrop stopped working well for me with iOS 26.1, and using iCloud Drive is faster than AirDrop ever was.
Photoshop CC 2021 still doesn't read modern HEIF or HEIC files properly. I set my iPhone to save my images in the more efficient and flexible HEIC format to save lots of storage space and offer more image options, so I have my iPhone convert these to JPGs as they're transferred to my Mac. I select images, hit the Share icon, tap "Options" near the top, select "Format > Most Compatible" and save them. This way my phone batch converts HEICs to JPGs before saving to my ICloud Drive, and leaves the original HEICs on my iPhone.
Hint: This only copies what you've selected. When shooting at 10 FPS in burst mode it usually only selects what it thinks is the best image of each burst. To transfer all the images from a Burst, be sure to select the burst in Photos, tap the "Burst (##) >" drop-down at the top left and select which you want.
I could shoot my iPhone in JPG (Settings > Camera > APP SETTINGS > Formats > CAMERA CAPTURE > Most Compatible) and save this conversion step, however I prefer HEIC which takes less space on my iPhone and offers more flexibility in shooting. I see absolutely no quality difference between HEIC and converted JPGs.
Hint: "Most Compatible" saves .MOV video files with about double the file size compared to leaving Share > Options > FORMAT at its default of Automatic. Seeing how the original MOVs play fine everywhere I need them, I AirDrop my MOVs without going into the Options option.
Hint: If I'm importing videos into iMovie, I will connect my iPhone to my Mac with a high-speed 10 Gb/s USB-C to USB-C cable, a Thunderbolt 3 cable or Thunderbolt 4 cable and then import directly into an iMovie project from within iMovie. It takes a moment for iMovie to show what's on the iPhone before you can start dragging and transferring, and I somehow feel this is faster with fewer steps than transferring wirelessly to iCloud and then dragging it into iMovie.
I believe the included USB-C woven charge cord is only rated for the old USB 2 standard of 60 MB/s (480 mb/s) for data transfer and only passes about 30 MB/s (240 mb/s) in practice, but I haven't confirmed that.
Mac Photo Editing top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
I use Photoshop CC in my Mac, usually with the Skylum Luminar Neo and/or the Radiant Photo plugins until each completed work looks as I originally envisioned it.
I'm not a fan of presets; I use this software as tools to get to the image I first saw in my mind faster, but skip the presets each offers.
Stereo Audio Recording top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
Voice Memos (Voice Notes audio recordings) usually record in mono, unless you select Stereo or Spatial at
SETTINGS > APPS > VOICE MEMOS > RECORDING OPTIONS > Spatial or Stereo.
Now it will record in Spatial or Stereo using the iPhone's built-in microphones — unless you have your iPhone connected to AirPods. When I'm using my AirPods Pro 3, it only records in mono, and it records from the mics in the AirPods. No, I have not figured out how to get stereo recordings from the AirPods; if I need Stereo or Binaural, I use my Sennheiser AMBEO 3D binaural recording earbuds.
Making Everything Legible top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
We all have our preferences; I prefer big, bold, legible text rather than the default of thin, illegible ultralight default text that took over as of iOS 7.
To make everything more legible, go to SETTINGS > DISPLAY & BRIGHTNESS > and in that series of menus chose a larger TEXT SIZE, select BOLD TEXT ON (which makes text of a normal weight rather than the default ultralight), and scroll down to the very bottom to DISPLAY > DISPLAY ZOOM > and select the LARGER TEXT option, which makes everything, even icons, more legible.
I also enable the ability to zoom the screen for any reason in any app with a few fingers at SETTINGS > ACCESSIBILITY > ZOOM > ON. Double-tap three fingers to zoom; instructions for zooming are at the menu listing.
Big Home Screen Icons top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
To get the big, clean App icons as shown above without text below them:
a.) At the Home screen, tap and hold a blank section on either side of the (🔍Search) icon for a moment until all the app icons start to wiggle.
b.) Tap Edit at the top left.
c.) Tap Customize.
d.) In the box that appears at the bottom, tap (Large) at the bottom right, and you're done:
Small/Large App Icons Icon! bigger.
The icons grow to fill the space previously occupied by the text with the name of the app. This looks great if your screen is all apps, but good luck trying to figure out what's inside each unmarked app folder before you hit it!
Control Center top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
We can set just about anything like volume, screen mirroring, Bluetooth and so much more from the Control Center.
Swipe down from the top left to get:
The Control Center. bigger.
There are three control centers. You're seeing the programmable Favorites ♥ screen here.
Tap the two eighth notes ♫ icon along the left side for the Music Control Center, and tap the antenna icon for all the radios (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Cellular & etc.).
Tap the ♥ on the left side to get back to the Favorites Control Center screen.
We can set everything about the Favorites Control Center: what's on it, and where and how big is everything.
To set everything, go to the ♥ Favorites screen and hold for a few seconds on a blank spot.
Notifications Center top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
To find the Notifications Center, swipe down from the top center or top left.
Once the Notifications Center is up, swipe up from the middle of the screen to see all your notifications, not from the bar at the very bottom.
Remote Control top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
When I lose my Apple TV remote in my sofa, no worries, it's duplicated in an app on iPhone: just swipe down from the top right and look for the REMOTE icon in the Control Center. If it's not there, be sure you added it to your Control Center as I just explained.
There's also a completely different app called Remote (that's still an app, not an icon in the Control Center) that lets us control iTunes on Mac to control and play from a Mac to anywhere. You even can see all the album covers of music in your Mac on the iPhone remotely!
"Please Return To" Message on Lock Screen top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
My iPod Touch lock screen from back in 2010.
I create an image in Photoshop with big text with my address, email and other phone numbers that I set as my Lock Screen image. This way if I leave my iPhone someplace, whoever picks it up can contact me to come get it! This article may be from 17 years ago, but you get the idea. Include a friend's phone number so whoever finds your phone can call them and get it back to you. Don't add your phone number; that would have them call the phone they just found!
I wish having our choice of text on the home screen all the time was a standard feature on iOS, but it's not. I've found a few left-behind iPhones, and never was able to figure out how to call or contact the owner other than getting nothing more than maybe a first name if I tried to AirDrop to it.
Hint: also set your AirDrop name (same as your iPhone name at SETTINGS > GENERAL > ABOUT > NAME) to something that a stranger could use to contact you. This is a tough one as there are a lot of different places to name things and I'll admit that I'm not sure which one appears when others try to AirDrop to you, and different fields are pulled-up depending on from what kind of device someone else is trying to AirDrop you.
Don't be paranoid; strangers in general want to help you, not rip off your phone or harass you with your contact info.
Good luck.
USB-C to 3.5mm Headphone Adapter top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
I've been using these ever since my iPad went to USB-C, and I just ordered some more at a whopping $9 each for my new iPhone 17 Pro Max. I use them to drive my corded Audeze planar magnetic headphones for serious listening.
Hint: Instead of buying new USB-C corded earpods (if anyone still uses these), you can use this USB-C to 3.5mm Headphone Adapter to let you use your 3.5mm EarPods from ancient times with your new iPhone 17 Pro Max.
If you need corded earpods, I'd get the newest USB-C corded earpods rather than adapt old 3.5mm ones from under your couch, however in my case since I have adapters and old earpods I rarely use, I'm good.
AirPods Pro 3 are multichannel and work so much better than corded 'pods, so I'd get them and be happy! I did. I use the USB-C to 3.5mm Headphone Adapter only for my professional studio headphones, not to use old 3.5mm EarPods.
USB-C to Lightning Adapter top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
This USB-C to Lightning adapter has a female Lightning receptacle and a male USB-C connector, effectively turning your new iPhone 17 Pro Max back into a Lightning device for charging and audio with older devices.
While this adapter works great with Lightning headphones and earpods and mics, it refuses to work with any docks or Apple's 30-pin to Lightning adapters. Hopefully this will be addressed in the future, as a $30 adapter doesn't serve much purpose just to prevent us from having to replace a $20 lightning charge cord.
This adapter works great with my Sennheiser AMBEO 3D binaural recording microphone system for recording and playback.
Reorganize Apps in CarPlay!!! top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
CarPlay Screen, BMW 850i xDrive Convertible (iDrive 7). bigger.
You can't touch and drag icons and apps on your car's screen, oddly you have to rearrange them in your iPhone:
iPhone 16 Pro Max/iOS 18 SETTINGS screen. bigger.
This works the same in iOS 26 in 2026. My graphics are from iOS 18 in 2025, and it has been the same for years.
The secret is to go to iPhone Settings > General > CarPlay > (select your car) > Customize!
With more than one car you can (and have to) set them separately for each car.
It's weird because you're moving them up and down a one-dimensional list on your phone which has no relation to how they look on screen. Just deal with it, and you'll love having your apps where you want them on your CarPlay screen.
Fixing CarPlay Connections top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
Don't buy a new car; I have Porsches, BMWs and Mercedes brand-new and used of various vintages, and in all of them, CarPlay will occasionally fail to connect.
It all comes down the the fact that Bluetooth was originally designed for keyboards and mice, and some times — usually when you need it most — it just won't connect. I have had these problems with all my brand-new and used cars with all my iPhones; don't think that replacing anything will make it any more reliable.
About once a year I lose my CarPlay connection in my BMW, and resetting and restarting and deleting and attempting to reconnect from my iPhones Settings > CarPlay screen gets me nowhere. This process restored it both times:
To fix CarPlay in a BMW with iDrive 7:
1.) Turn off the iPhone's Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections in the iPhone's Control Center (swipe down from the top right).
2.) Start the engine.
3.) Press and hold the radio power/mute ⏻ button inside the volume control knob on the center console below the air conditioning controls for 70 seconds (exactly). The screen turns on and off a few times.
4.) Go to the BMW's Apps by pressing the 🌐 globe icon button directly above the huge iDrive knob on the center console, press the OPTION button on the lower right of the huge iDrive knob, and select and click "Update Apps and Services." It says it's updating, and about 15 seconds later it's done. Yes!
5.) Turn Wi-Fi and Bluetooth back on in the iPhone's Control Center (drag down from the top right).
6.) Here's the critical part: DON'T try to reconnect with the iPhone at Settings > Bluetooth. Instead, get the BMW to its pairing screen and select CarPlay. Even easier, tap the Mic button on the steering wheel as a shortcut to the CarPlay setup screen.
7.) In the iPhone, select Settings > General > CarPlay (instead of Bluetooth) and look for your BMW under "others" at the bottom and take it from there.
The trick is going to Settings > General > CarPlay instead of Settings > Bluetooth.
Works like a champ again. The trick of going to Settings > General > CarPlay instead of Settings > Bluetooth probably applies to other cars as well.
Save Now to Save Yourself Later top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
Quick: you're stuck out in the woods with no cellular signal. You need help and need to use the Satellite Emergency 911, Text, Road Service and other satellite features. How do you do it? Easy: just Google it!
Oops! You have no signal so you can't Google anything. Now what?
I assume iPhone will somehow explain how to use the satellite text rescue feature without being connected to the internet to look it up when I'm stuck in the woods and actually need to use the feature, but just to be safe, I looked up the instructions on how to use the satellite text rescue feature while I have internet access, and saved and labeled screen shots of these pages to my Photos so I can find them offline.
This way I can look up the instructions with no signal or internet connection in case my phone doesn't make it obvious. Read these now as there are some things you need to set up before you get stuck in the woods. I use the Tailor app to stitch all the screenshots into one tall image through which I can scroll just as if it was online.
Here are the two pages I saved as screenshots in Photos (hold Volume Up and tap the Lock button to save a screen shot):
Satellite SOS 911 emergency instructions
and
Send Your Location via Satellite.
How to Set Up a Whole-House Music System top of User's Guide iPhone 17 Pro Max Review
It's easy to play anything from anywhere to anywhere all around your house with AirPlay and iTunes on your Mac, as well as with Apple Music.
This all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use any of these links to approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Thanks for helping me help you! Ken.
Thanks for helping me help you!
Ken.
© Ken Rockwell. All rights reserved. Tous droits réservés. Alle Rechte vorbehalten. Alla rättigheter förbehållna. Toate drepturile rezervate. Niciun vampir nu a fost implicat în crearea acestei lucrări. Doe! Omnia jura reservata. Ken Rockwell® is a registered trademark.
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