Apple iPhone 17 series use Sony sensors for all models

After weeks of speculation, the iPhone 17 lineup’s teardown confirms what many suspected. Every camera sensor, front and back, across all models, is from Sony.

The partnership continues Apple’s long-standing reliance on the Japanese imaging giant, but this year’s focus isn’t on flashy new hardware. Instead, it’s refinement with higher resolutions, bigger sensors, and smarter light capture.

On the top tier, the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max pack a trio of 48MP Sony sensors including the IMX903 for the main camera (1/1.28-inch, f/1.8), the IMX972 for ultrawide (1/2.55-inch, f/2.2), and the IMX973 for the telephoto (1/2.55-inch, f/2.8) with Apple’s now-signature 4X tetraprism zoom.

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Together, they unlock up to 8X in-sensor zoom, second-generation sensor-shift stabilisation, and cinematic-grade ProRes RAW capture. In short, this is the setup content creators will want to travel with.

The democratisation of detail

Move down the line, and Apple keeps things consistent. The standard iPhone 17 gets the same 48MP IMX972 ultrawide as the Pro, joined by a new IMX904 (1/1.56-inch, f/1.6) for the main shooter; a clear nod to the brand’s new “baseline-as-Pro” philosophy. It skips a dedicated telephoto but compensates with clever sensor-level cropping for 2X shots that actually look usable.

The iPhone Air, meanwhile, goes minimalist. One 48MP IMX904 handles everything from 1X to 2X zoom via digital crop. It may lack the ultrawide and telephoto lenses, but it still records in 4K and pulls off vibrant HDR shots, proving that computational photography is now Apple’s real magic trick.

And then there’s the selfie upgrade. All iPhone 17 models share Sony’s 18MP IMX914 front camera with OIS and PDAF. The sensor itself is 24MP but crops to 18MP for optimal detail and framing, and its quirky octagonal shape allows for natural portrait or landscape shots without turning the phone. A subtle tweak, but one that shows how Apple is thinking about orientation-free content creation.

What stands out this year is less about what’s new and more about what’s unified. Every iPhone 17, from the Air to the Pro Max, now speaks the same Sony-engineered visual language; one that prioritises clarity, balance, and consistency over gimmicks.