Apple fan ‘spots iPhone 17 Pro' out in the wild weeks before official launch as top ‘insider' admits ‘this looks legit'
X user @Skyfops sparked a flurry of online excitement after posting two blurry photos to the social media site of "Apple staff and security" with the new model.
To accompany the post, the user wrote: " I just spotted a test development iPhone in the wild."
While The Sun has been unable to verify the claims or images, a top "insider" admitted: "This looks legit."
In one of the photos, a person wearing reflective sunglasses can be seen holding what appears to be an iPhone inside of a thick black protective case.
There is speculation this might be intended to disguise the design of the iPhone 17 Pro in public.
The person is also holding what appears to be an iPhone 16 Pro with a sticker on the back of it.
This could be hiding a data matrix code that allows Apple to track internal iPhones used by employees for development purposes, reports MacRumors.
The X user who posted the images defended their decision to photograph what they claim to be the iPhone 17 Pro, which is due to launch in September.
They stated: "It was taken in the public where there's no reasonable expectation for privacy.
"They were super obvious walking around with a black brick and a security guard stopping whenever the guy carrying the iPhone stopped."
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The post was later shared by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
"This looks legit," he said.
Adding to the intrigue, @Skyfops, in a reply to a comment on his post, said: "The guy on the right was security and trying to go in front of the iPhone to hide it."
The post comes as Apple is believed to be cooking up huge design changes for the iPhone 17 release – including tempting tweaks to the battery and screen.
That's according to a list of 10 rumoured features for the upcoming iPhone 17 Pro revealed by Apple watchers.
On current iPhone Pro models, there's a raised square on the top-left of its rear casing where the camera lives.
But the iPhone 17 Pro could see this bump stretch right across the back of the handset.
It's still expected to only feature three cameras, keeping the current triangle layout.
However, it would dramatically change how the back of your iPhone looks.
What else could be new on iPhone 17?
Other rumoured tweaks include a new aluminium frame (swapping away from titanium), an upgrade to 12GB of RAM, better cooling, a more powerful Apple A19 Pro processor, and an Apple-built Wi-Fi 7 chip for connecting to the internet.
So to recap, the 10 features would be:
Bigger battery
Scratch-resistant screen
Rectangular camera bump
24-megapixel selfie camera
48-megapixel telephoto camera
Aluminium frame
12GB RAM
Improved cooling
Apple A19 Pro chipset
Apple Wi-Fi 7 chip
Of course these changes aren't guaranteed – they're simply based on leaks.
And even if Apple is working on these tweaks, its plans could always change in the meantime.
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