I’ve tested every iPhone 17 model, and I’m recommending something different this time

The concept of “tyranny of choice” says that having a set of excellent decisions is meant to let everybody discover precisely what makes them most blissful, however the actuality is that having so many good decisions can typically result in nervousness, indecisiveness, and discontent. If we apply this idea to the iPhone 17 lineup, then Apple is sort of the tyrant this yr.

In spite of everything, the bottom mannequin iPhone 17 is extra professional than ever and affords the perfect value-for-money in 2025. The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max have addressed the 2 greatest weak spots of final yr’s Professional fashions. And the iPhone Air provides you an opportunity to make use of tomorrow’s expertise right now. 

Additionally: I tested the iPhone 17 for 24 hours, and I’m already questioning if I need a Pro

I’ve upgraded my iPhone yearly for the reason that first iPhone in 2007 and I’ve spent hands-on time with all 4 of this yr’s iPhone fashions. And but, my shopping for recommendation this yr is wildly completely different than every other yr prior to now. And there are a number of the reason why.

Let’s unpack it by every of the product strains, in addition to who I might suggest as the perfect upgrader for every one. 

The $799 iPhone 17 fits extra folks than ever

Don’t sleep on the bottom mannequin iPhone 17 this yr. 

In recent times I largely relegated my suggestions of the bottom mannequin iPhone to children, youngsters, first-time iPhone customers, and individuals who simply wanted a telephone that will work as a result of their outdated telephone had a cracked display or a battery that would not maintain a cost — they usually needed to restrict how a lot they spent on a telephone. 

Not so this yr.

The truth that Apple poured so many upgrades into the iPhone 17 was the shock of the 2025 Apple Event for me. To begin with, Apple lastly did a serious facelift to the iPhone 17’s display expertise, kicking it as much as 6.3-inches (from 6.1 final yr) with thinner bezels, 120Hz ProMotion show, 3000 nits of peak brightness, an anti-reflective coating, and an always-on show. 

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Apple additionally upgraded the cameras on the iPhone 17, transferring to a 48MP twin fusion digicam with a 48MP important digicam and 48MP ultrawide. Plus, the iPhone 17 will get the identical upgraded selfie digicam expertise because the Professionals and Air get this yr. That is a 24MP sq. sensor that successfully shoots 18MP photos in both portrait or panorama mode and may now robotically swap between the 2 with out forcing you to flip your telephone. 

Even higher, you’ll be able to let the digicam use machine studying to seek out all of the faces within the shot and robotically use portrait or panorama mode to get the perfect picture. Kudos to Apple for not retaining this new digicam tech within the Professional telephones solely this yr. 

Apple additionally stored the worth of the iPhone 17 at $799 whereas elevating the bottom storage from 128GB to 256GB. Final yr, 256GB of storage on the iPhone 16 would have put the worth of the telephone at $899. From that perspective, Apple successfully gave the iPhone 17 a $100 worth lower. Likewise, the iPhone 17’s two greatest Android rivals, the Pixel 10 and the Samsung Galaxy S25 nonetheless begin with 128GB of storage on their base fashions and each value $799. 

Additionally: I compared the iPhone 17, iPhone Air, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max: Here’s who should upgrade

From one other perspective, this yr’s iPhone 17 is almost equivalent to final yr’s iPhone 16 Professional, besides that it does not have the telephoto zoom, but it surely provides the next-gen selfie digicam and the dual-capture digicam. And final yr’s iPhone 16 Professional began at $999 for 128GB of storage and $1,099 for 256GB.

Because of this, there are folks I’d have beforehand really helpful to go for the iPhone Professional line who I am very blissful to suggest the iPhone 17 base mannequin to as a substitute this yr, saving them a pair hundred {dollars}. When you’re somebody who does not use the telephoto zoom very a lot and also you’re coming from an iPhone 14 Professional or an iPhone 13 Professional (or earlier), then I might suggest contemplating the iPhone 17 this yr. It is a way more highly effective and critical telephone now.

The iPhone Air affords a style of the longer term

The iPhone Air steps right into a little bit of a cursed place within the iPhone lineup between the bottom mannequin and Professionals — a spot the place the iPhone 12-13 Mini and the iPhone 14-16 Plus fashions all struggled to generate a lot curiosity over the previous half decade. 

Like Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge, the iPhone Air is taken into account a expertise demonstration of simply how skinny its engineers could make a telephone as a precursor to a leap ahead in foldables — the Fold 7 in Samsung’s case. 

So the iPhone Air is not simply haunted by the previous, it is also standing within the shadow of the long-awaited foldable iPhone that is extensively anticipated to launch within the fall of 2026. 

Additionally: I replaced my iPhone 16 Pro Max with the iPhone Air – here’s my buying advice now

Nonetheless, the iPhone Air is undoubtedly the one which generated the largest wow issue when holding it in my arms. It is tremendous spectacular how skinny, mild, and futuristic it feels. I might encourage you to enter an Apple Retailer or one of many wi-fi service shops beginning on Sept. 19 to see if you happen to get the identical emotional response to holding a telephone that’s principally the width of a USB-C port. 

There is not any doubt that it is one of the vital spectacular technological achievements of 2025. However do you have to purchase it? 

For the overwhelming majority of iPhone upgraders, I am nonetheless going to say no — not when the bottom mannequin iPhone 17 has higher cameras and prices much less. And if you happen to’re a real energy consumer, then you definitely’re not going to be happy with the battery life or the cameras on the iPhone Air. 

However if you happen to’re somebody who likes to dwell on the slicing fringe of tech and run forward of the pack, you are in all probability going to be fairly giddy while you put your arms on the iPhone Air. You are in all probability somebody who would have beloved to put on Google Glass or the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional and also you’re one of many main candidates to get the iPhone Fold in 2026. The iPhone Air will allow you to dwell in that future. Simply be sure to order the if you happen to often use your telephone for greater than about 4 hours a day. 

The iPhone 17 Professional Max solves large issues

The iPhone 16 Professional Max and the iPhone 15 Professional Max are two telephones that I’ve beloved utilizing throughout the previous two years. I particularly beloved utilizing the primary digicam on these telephones to take extra photographs than every other smartphone digicam and even my skilled Sony mirrorless digicam over the previous two years. 

However I additionally struggled with the identical two issues on each of these telephones. 

Additionally: I tried Apple’s 2 big AI features announced at the iPhone 17 event – and both are game changers

First, the zoom digicam was merely lower than the identical normal of high quality as the primary digicam — as a lot I needed it to be as a result of I really like zoom pictures. Pictures taken on the 5x telephoto (first launched on the iPhone 15 Professional fashions) have been okay for social media, however the high quality would usually disintegrate once I began enhancing them. So I often needed to attain for my Sony mirrorless every time I needed high-quality zoom pictures. In the meantime, I have been printing high-quality photographs from the iPhone’s important digicam for over a decade.

The opposite large downside I had with the 2 titanium iPhone 15 and 16 Professional Max telephones over the previous two years was common overheating. Each time I used to be doing lots of picture or video capturing, once I was in crowded city areas with weak wi-fi alerts, or once I had the telephone out within the solar for prolonged intervals, these two Professional Max telephones would get extremely sizzling. And once they overheated, the battery would begin to drain in a short time. 

That is positively not the dynamic you need to see from an costly, high-end telephone.  

I used to be thrilled that Apple has addressed each issues within the iPhone 17 Pro Max — in addition to the iPhone 17 Professional, which is identical actual telephone besides that it has a 6.3-inch display as a substitute of a 6.9-inch display and a smaller battery. 

Additionally: Should you upgrade to an iPhone 17 Pro from last year’s model? I am – here’s why

Let’s discuss in regards to the thermals first. Apple has changed titanium and gone again to aluminum for the casing of the iPhone 17 Professional Max. Aluminum might be as much as 5-10 instances simpler at conducting and dispersing warmth than titanium. However Apple additionally added a vapor chamber cooling system that makes use of deionized water to chill the telephone’s A19 Professional chip and permit it to run at most power whereas not overheating. 

I must do lots of testing over weeks and months, however I am very inspired that the iPhone 17 Professional Max addresses the overheating problem head-on in its design.

In terms of the telephoto zoom digicam, I am additionally inspired by the best way Apple has addressed this within the iPhone 17 Professional Max. First, Apple upgraded its tetraprism zoom from a 12MP sensor to a 48MP sensor, matching the 48MP sensor on the primary digicam. Then, Apple made this a 4x sensor (slightly than 5x), which seemed to be a curious downgrade at first. 

Nevertheless, having extra pixels enabled an 8x zoom cropped to 12MP, which Apple boldly known as an optical high quality 8x. Thankfully, I bought to strive it out, and I am impressed by what I’ve seen to this point. Under is an instance of what the 8x zoom lens is able to, and it is increased high quality than any zoom shot I’ve taken with an iPhone earlier than. 

After all, I am going to must do much more testing with the zoom digicam earlier than I can say whether or not it is able to tackle extra of my on a regular basis zoom pictures. I am additionally going to check it with the Pixel 10 Professional XL zoom, which I am additionally testing. Like final yr, I plan to do a devoted assessment of the brand new iPhone 17 Professional digicam system. So preserve a watch out for that in early October. 

Additionally: iPhone Air vs. Samsung S25 Edge: I compared both ultra-thin phones to decide a winner

However, I am now going to make a advice that I’ve by no means made earlier than — with an asterisk. When you have been like me and bumped into plenty of overheating and zoom issues with the iPhone 15 Professional Max and even the iPhone 16 Professional Max, I feel you could need to think about the potential for a more-rapid-than-usual improve to the iPhone 17 Pro Max this yr. 

Once more, I’ll do extra testing earlier than I definitively make that advice, however I need to put it in your radar. I will be doing extra rigorous testing over the approaching weeks and I am going to report again. I am going to additionally preserve a watch out for some good trade-in offers that may ease the blow of a fast improve.