Apple’s new ‘Detectives’ ad touts iPhone 17 Pro’s zooming abilities

Apple’s long-running Shot on iPhone campaign has never been shy of cinematic ambition, but its latest spot for the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max leans into film grammar more knowingly than most. Instead of relying on breathless montages or scenic vistas, Apple has chosen a rather nerdy device as its hero: the crash zoom.

Released this week, the ad is set inside a dimly lit warehouse, where two detectives are methodically working a case. The atmosphere is familiar noir territory, with low light, echoing footsteps and an air of impending menace. Then the ad breaks the fourth wall. One of the detectives pauses the investigation to ask his partner whether he can “feel” the crash zoom, earnestly explaining that it “heightens tension” and “builds suspense”.

What follows is a series of exaggerated, rapid zoom-ins on decidedly unglamorous details: a dripping pipe, a scurrying rat and a balloon slowly losing air. The moment borders on parody, until an actual crash jolts both characters, and the viewer, into conceding that, yes, the technique works after all.

It is a clever creative pivot. Rather than simply stating that the iPhone 17 Pro now offers 8x optical-quality zoom, Apple turns the feature into a narrative device. The crash zoom, a staple of genre cinema from kung fu films to grindhouse thrillers, becomes the launchpad to show off what the phone’s new telephoto lens can do.

Apple says the lens offers an equivalent 200mm focal length, the longest ever fitted to an iPhone, and a significant leap from the 5x zoom previously reserved for Pro Max models. In practice, the ad uses those rapid push-ins to demonstrate clarity, stability and reach, without ever lapsing into a spec-sheet lecture.

There is also something quietly confident about the way the film looks. Shot entirely on the iPhone 17 Pro, the visuals are moody but controlled, with shadows that hold detail and highlights that do not crumble under pressure.

The warehouse feels like a set, not a compromise. If anything, the ad’s biggest achievement is how little it feels like a technical demo. You notice the zoom because the story insists on it, not because Apple underlines it with on-screen text.

That said, the spot is not without its self-awareness bordering on smugness. The meta dialogue about cinematic technique may amuse film students and advertising insiders more than the average viewer. And as with most Shot on iPhone films, the question of how much post-production polish is involved remains delicately unanswered.

Still, the ad does its job. It reframes a hardware upgrade as a storytelling tool, reminding viewers that smartphone cameras are no longer just about convenience, but creative possibility. More importantly, it implies how far smartphone filmmaking has come.

A decade ago, the idea of staging a noir-inspired short film around a crash zoom, shot on a phone, would have felt like a gimmick. Here, it feels almost natural.