iPhone 17 Pro's Biggest Design Mystery is Finally Solved

Apple is set to unveil the iPhone 17 series in just four days from now, and the biggest design mystery surrounding the Pro models has finally been solved.

In a report outlining his expectations for Apple's event next week, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the iPhone 17 Pro models will have "a new cutout area on the bottom two-thirds of the phone that doubles as the wireless charging area."

Last year, The Information reported that the back of the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max would feature "a new part-aluminum, part-glass design." However, it was not entirely clear what this design would look like, leading to rumor blogs and graphic designers creating differing concept images and 3D renders of the devices.

MacRumors renders of the iPhone 17 Pro showed a rounded rectangle area on the back of the device, and Gurman's report makes it sound like this is indeed the design that Apple has planned. The reason for this rectangular glass area is wireless charging like MagSafe and Qi, which would not be possible with an all-aluminum back.

It is still not entirely clear if the glass and aluminum will have a uniform color, or if Apple will opt for a two-tone appearance around the MagSafe area.

It is also not clear why Apple is apparently returning to an aluminum frame for the iPhone 17 Pro models, but Gurman says it could be for weight and heat dissipation benefits. iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro models have a stainless steel frame, while the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models are equipped with titanium frames.

Any lingering questions will be answered during Apple's event on Tuesday.