iPhone 17 evaluation: Nearer to Professional

For years, the “common” iPhone obtained hand-me-downs from the Professional fashions. This was much less so with the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, however the trickle-down philosophy was nonetheless there to a level. For 2025 and the iPhone 17 ($799) is not the compromise that the bottom mannequin was. Apple lastly blessed it with a 120Hz show and this 12 months’s most fun digicam function, Middle Stage.

Whereas it might seem to be Apple is not forcing iPhone customers to compromise, or at the very least to not the diploma it used to, there’s nonetheless one huge factor to think about. With the introduction of the iPhone Air, the corporate has shaken up the display sizes throughout the iPhone 17 lineup. As an alternative of the earlier 6.1-inch iPhone and 6.7-inch Plus mannequin, Apple is splitting the distinction with the iPhone 17’s 6.3-inch display. That additionally aligns it size-wise with the iPhone 17 Professional, whereas the Air sits in the course of the collection at 6.5 inches.

I suppose I’m a big-phone man now, as a result of it’s been a tough week transitioning from the 16 Plus to the iPhone 17. At instances I really feel like my cellphone is a toy, and at others it’s like I stepped again in time. I don’t notably like both sensation.

Placing my display measurement preferences apart, the iPhone 17 stays the very best iPhone for most individuals. Since Apple introduced its finest new options to this common mannequin this 12 months, you don’t must really feel such as you’re ready for the thrilling instruments from the Air or Professional to make it to a extra reasonably priced iPhone mannequin in 12 months. The upgraded show and new entrance digicam are definitely the highlights, however the iPhone 17 stays a solidly constructed system with reliable all-day battery life and succesful efficiency.

Lastly, a 120Hz show

A giant change on the iPhone 17 is the 6.3-inch ProMotion 120Hz show. Not solely is it barely greater than the 6.1-inch iPhone 16, however it lastly refreshes sooner now. The upper refresh price was one of many final remaining objects Apple had but to convey down from its Professional fashions, and this one makes an enormous distinction to the general expertise. Swiping round iOS 26 feels so much smoother. Apps like Instagram and Safari the place I beforehand encountered some jitters now transfer effortlessly. When it’s time to enterprise outdoors, you’ll be glad that Apple boosted the height brightness to three,000 nits — a 1,000-nit enhance from the iPhone 16. It’s a welcome improve for the instances it’s essential to use your cellphone in direct daylight.

The corporate additionally outfitted the iPhone 17 with an always-on show, which is helpful for updates at a look in case you’ve missed a notification. And naturally, Dynamic Island remains to be there, offering ongoing information for progress on issues like stay sports activities, music playback, navigation, journey sharing and extra.

You gained’t actually discover the show improve till you begin utilizing the cellphone, so a fast look gained’t reveal any apparent {hardware} modifications. Except you do a side-by-side with the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, the place the dimensions variation will likely be obvious, you gained’t detect any distinction. Flip over to the again although and there’s an virtually completely new shade palette. Black and white stay, however Lavender, Sage and Mist Blue have changed final 12 months’s Ultramarine, Teal and Pink choices. I want this 12 months’s hues, as they aren’t as pastel-y because the 2024 lineup, and that Sage inexperienced appears to be like actually sharp in particular person.

Enterprise again to the entrance and there’s one other vital replace that isn’t seen. Apple upgraded the scratch resistance with Ceramic Protect 2, which the corporate says supplies 3 times higher safety than on the iPhone 16. I wanted to maintain my iPhone 17 pristine for pictures throughout my evaluation, so I haven’t put it in conditions with the potential for harm simply but. My mischievous cocker spaniel did come up with it for a couple of minutes, however there aren’t any seen enamel marks or scratches from that harrowing (for me) incident.

Digicam updates take Middle Stage

For a lot of, digicam efficiency is essentially the most important side of an iPhone, and this 12 months’s mannequin bought a big improve there. The largest change is the brand new 18MP Middle Stage entrance digicam that replaces the 12MP TrueDepth digicam. This new model has a sq. sensor that allows the iPhone 17 to routinely change from portrait to panorama when extra individuals enter the body for a selfie.

After utilizing Middle Stage for a few week, it’s simply the very best new digicam function Apple has launched in years. I can concede that the addition of macro mode and Photographic Types in earlier iPhones had been additionally wonderful, however Middle Stage looks like magic. I’m not even an enormous selfie taker, however once I do must snap one on a household outing, this 41 12 months outdated not looks like a Boomer holding his cellphone sideways. The changes occur rapidly so that you’re not left ready, and in case you don’t prefer it, you may disable the auto rotation, auto zoom or each.

Middle Stage additionally works with video calls to maintain you within the body. That is notably useful in case you’re strolling or in any other case transferring round whereas attempting to have a chat. It does take a second for the system to make its adjustment after you progress from the middle of the body, however it’s easy and gained’t be a distraction to anybody on the decision.

One other replace to the front-facing digicam is a brand new Twin Seize mode. This concurrently data footage with the entrance and rear cameras for issues like response movies. Because the mum or dad of two youngsters in youth sports activities, I can see the utility for issues like championship video games, and even milestone moments at college. I believe lots of people can even movie themselves singing alongside at live shows, however I’m not certainly one of them.

The one difficulty I’ve with Twin Seize is that it’s a problem to maintain each the motion and your self in body. You may’t look in two locations without delay, so if you wish to keep a centered response shot or ongoing commentary, you’ll have to determine a option to juggle the pictures. I’ve but to grasp it myself and also you’ll possible battle in case you want your selfie clips shot from a downward angle.

The front-facing digicam isn’t the one photography-centric improve on the iPhone 17. Round again, there are actually two 48MP Fusion cameras. On the iPhone 16, solely the principle was a Fusion digicam whereas the ultra-wide has a 12MP sensor. You’ll get the identical 0.5x, 1x and 2x zoom choices as earlier than, automated macro mode, True Tone flash and the remainder of the useful options from the iPhone 16 — like Portrait Lighting. Should you’re into Apple’s Photographic Types, there’s a brand new one referred to as Vivid that enhances pores and skin tones and makes the remainder of the picture extra vibrant. My colleague Cherlynn Low in contrast it to the now-retired Oslo filter on Instagram, and I believe that’s an apt comparability.

By default, the principle digicam delivers pictures in 24MP decision for a steadiness of element and brightness. Generally, the pictures I took with the iPhone 17 seemed to be barely sharper than these I captured with my iPhone 16 Plus, particularly in particulars like texture (as evidenced by the pictures of pumpkins and my canine Biscuit). There isn’t an enormous leap in rear digicam efficiency right here, however I seen a slight enchancment.

In lower-light settings, like in my photos below the awning of my native produce stand and inside an area bar, colours remained correct and crisp. Macro photos had been simply as sharp and detailed as earlier than, judging from my close-up of a sunflower which you’ll be able to see right here. Evening time pics nonetheless produce correct colours, particularly when rendering the heat or coolness of avenue lights, and people components aren’t missing in readability both. Swap your digicam settings to 48MP and also you’ll discover enhanced element in photos that include landscapes, as one instance. Simply understand that these max-res pictures are restricted to 1x zoom and any Evening mode or flash pictures will all the time be saved at 12MP.

Moreover the truth that it makes use of the non-Professional A19 processor, the cameras are the principle space the iPhone 17 lags behind the 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max. They’ve a 3rd digicam round again — a 48MP Fusion telephoto — that’s outfitted with 3D sensor-shift optical picture stabilization. That three-camera array additionally supplies further zoom choices at 4x and 8x. In addition they unlock ProRAW for stills and each ProRes and ProRes Uncooked for video, and include a four-microphone setup for “studio-quality” audio seize. Should you need the top of Apple’s photographic prowess (at present, anyway), the iPhone 17 Professional begins at $1,099 — $300 greater than the iPhone 17.

Efficiency

Whereas Apple outfitted the iPhone 17 with its newest A19 chip, there’s nonetheless a six-core CPU and five-core GPU — identical because the iPhone 16. The distinction right here is that the GPU now has Neural Accelerators on every core, which Apple says will increase peak computing energy for AI duties. Except you’re coming from an older iPhone, you most likely gained’t discover an excessive amount of of an enchancment year-to-year. Apple explains that the CPU efficiency within the iPhone 17 is as much as 50 % sooner than the iPhone 13, however that cellphone is from 4 years in the past — principally an eternity. Clearly, you’d count on to see a significant uptick in velocity when evaluating the flashy new mannequin to such an growing old system.

That mentioned, the iPhone 17 speedily dealt with any job I threw at it. Throughout my on a regular basis use, I didn’t encounter a single time the cellphone stuttered or struggled to finish the job. The one time I needed to watch for something was for Apple Intelligence and ChatGPT to generate my newest immediate or make a Genmoji in Picture Playground (I don’t advocate asking for “a scorching canine thunderstorm,” by the way in which). What’s extra, I by no means seen the iPhone 17 getting heat when utilizing these AI instruments on their very own, however it did begin to warmth up once I concurrently began multitasking (enjoying music, and so forth.). The iPhone 17 by no means bought greater than noticeably heat to the contact, although.

I’m not an avid cellular gamer, however I did play some Future: Rising (a suggestion from the Engadget employees) on the iPhone 17 for my due diligence. The mix of the A19 chip and the 120Hz show supplied silky easy motion for the first-person shooter, even in chaotic skirmishes. Plus, the iPhone 17 did not get scorching throughout my gaming periods, regardless of not having the vapor chamber that the Execs do. This most likely led me to play so much longer than I ought to at instances, because the system by no means bought heat sufficient to remind me of how a lot time had handed. The iPhone 17 Professional, Professional Max and Air all have the extra highly effective A19 Professional chip, however the common iPhone this 12 months is a succesful cellular gaming system too.

The arrival of iOS 26

My colleague Mat Smith coated all the new features of iOS 26 intimately, so I’ll refer you to his information for the nitty gritty on the replace. I’ll provide some fast ideas on the brand new software program general, beginning with Liquid Glass. After every week with the newest design, I’m nonetheless not a fan. In some areas the refresh is helpful: I notably just like the modifications to CarPlay, the cellphone app and Messages. I’m additionally beginning to get onboard with the tweaks to the Digicam app. However for each one replace that’s useful, I discover 5 extra I hate. I don’t like the brand new menu in Apple Music that typically requires an additional faucet to disclose the choices, which is certainly one of my greatest annoyances.

I do love the mixture of the iPhone 17’s always-on show and iOS 26’s Precedence Notifications. It’s immensely useful to look over at my cellphone and see if there’s something I want to handle instantly. This pairing can also be useful when it reveals me issues once I may’ve missed a notification because it first popped up. It’s solely been every week, so I’m prone to discover different components I can put to good use as I spend extra time with the brand new OS. And since iOS 26 is an even bigger visible overhaul than Apple’s typical annual refresh, the iPhone 17 looks like much more of an improve.

Since I’ve additionally been utilizing the AirPods Pro 3 for the final a number of days, two options I’ve examined so much are the earbuds’ heart-rate monitoring and Dwell Translation. It’s good to not must postpone a exercise if my Apple Watch is charging, since I now know the AirPods Professional 3 will observe my motion and correctly credit score my Exercise Rings. I can also’t wait to journey overseas with Dwell Translation, because the exams I’ve carried out at house have already produced surprisingly useful outcomes.

Battery life

As soon as once more, Apple guarantees “all day” battery life on the iPhone 17. After all, the corporate doesn’t quantify that phrase, aside from a dedication to 30 hours of video playback or 27 hours of streaming time. My colleague Sam Rutherford bought almost 25 hours whereas streaming a video as a comparability for his review of the iPhone Air. Throughout a day of what I’d think about “common” use — checking electronic mail, responding to Slack messages, listening to music, calls, texting, scrolling Instagram and watching a couple of episodes of The Bear — I nonetheless had 16 % battery left by mattress time. That’s after a day that began at 7AM and ended at 12AM, and I had the always-on show lively the whole time.

Apple barely elevated the MagSafe wi-fi charging wattage on the iPhone 17. It’s now as much as 25W (with a 30W adapter), which matches the iPhone 16 Plus, and is a 3W enhance from the iPhone 16. Should you don’t thoughts cables, you may count on to recharge to 50 % in 20 minutes with a 40W (or greater) adapter and to get midway with a 30W charging accent in half an hour. That charging-to-50-percent time on the iPhone 17 is quicker than what you get on the 16 and 16 Plus by 10 and quarter-hour respectively.

The competitors

Should you’re in search of a non-Apple various, Google’s Pixel 10 is your finest guess. It has improved efficiency in comparison with its predecessor together with an upgraded telephoto digicam with 5x zoom. There’s assist for Google’s tackle MagSafe (Pixelsnap) and the Gemini-powered Magic Cue function is surprisingly useful. Plus, the Pixel 10 begins at $799, identical to the iPhone 17.

Samsung’s newest entry-level flagship, the Galaxy S25, is much less of an apparent selection. Because the collection has lengthy been a rival of Apple’s iPhone, it deserves inclusion right here. The S25’s show and cameras haven’t been upgraded over the S24’s, however it has a strong new processor and wonderful battery life. Gemini works higher on the S25 than it did up to now and there’s the stable construct high quality that Samsung all the time affords at this value vary. Talking of price, the S25 additionally prices the identical because the iPhone 17.

Wrap-up

With essentially the most vital replace in years, the iPhone 17 is a simple selection for an improve for most individuals. Even in case you’re coming from the iPhone 16, you’ll reap the advantages of the overhauled show and improved cameras. I don’t say any of that evenly as I’m not an individual who recommends getting a brand new cellphone yearly. More often than not, there merely aren’t compelling sufficient modifications to warrant it. That’s not the case this 12 months, and in case you’re coming from an iPhone that’s a couple of years outdated, you’ll possible really feel as in case you’ve stepped into the long run.

I went into this evaluation anticipating to be desirous to return to my iPhone 16 Plus once I was by way of testing. And whereas I do want the bigger system after utilizing it for a 12 months, the updates Apple has amassed on the iPhone 17 — particularly the Middle Stage digicam — have appeased that need… for now. I don’t have a lot use for the efficiency boosts that the iPhone 17 Professional or Professional Max present, and I can’t justify splurging only for an even bigger show. So, I can confidently say that although there’s one much less choice within the common iPhone lineup than there was a 12 months in the past, the iPhone 17 remains to be the very best iPhone for many of us.