iPhone 17 Pro case leak shows Apple really is about to make a huge design swerve

If you're a fan of the iPhone, 2025 has already been an exciting year. The brand updated its offering in the cheap phone stakes, swapping out the iPhone SE for the new iPhone 16e.

That model has proven to be quite a popular addition, with a spec sheet that belies its miniscule price and offers a lot of phone for the cash. But after a successful launch, all eyes are focussed firmly on the future launch of the iPhone 17 range.

As ever, news and rumours about those handsets have been leaking out for months, giving us a significant insight into the makeup of the handsets. Now, we've had another look at the cases for the iPhone 17 Pro models – and it's certain to cause a stir.

The new design features a long, thick camera bar at the top of the handset. It's not entirely dissimilar to the camera bump found on the Google Pixel 9, though this one is notably taller.

That sees the camera modules themselves remain in their usual place on the left-hand side of the device, while the flash and LiDAR scanner have moved over to the right-hand side. It's certainly an unusual look from the brand, which has only really made minor revisions to its handset design for the last eight years.

Quite why the change has been made is unclear. Elongating the raised section would offer more space for those cameras – particularly the new periscope telephoto sensors which take up more space.

Of course, it could also be to appease the legions of users who bemoan the unbalanced nature of the current one-sided camera bump. The new design would certainly stop the device from rocking back and forth when placed on a surface.

Without really knowing any more about the design, we'll just have to wait for the handsets to be released. Following historic release schedules, we'd expect that to happen around September, so we're still a few months from anything more concrete.