Apple’s huge fall occasion simply wrapped up, and we rushed out of the Steve Jobs Theater to get our arms on the most recent iPhones. Right here’s a take a look at the brand new iPhone 17, Apple’s base mannequin this 12 months, which is joined by the thinner iPhone Air and beefier iPhone 17 Professional and Professional Max — there’s no Plus this time round.
The primary place to start out is the rear digicam. Not as a result of so much has modified right here, however moderately as a result of it hasn’t: whereas the iPhone 17 Professional and Air have each adopted new horizontal digicam “plateaus,” the common 17 has the identical two vertically stacked lenses as final 12 months. Meaning that is the one iPhone 17 that really seems just like the iPhone 16 vary — which could possibly be or a nasty factor, relying in your perspective.
The twin rear cameras look the identical, however there’s been an enormous change. Each lenses now use 48-megapixel sensors — an enormous improve for the ultrawide, which was beforehand 12 megapixels. Apple claims that the primary digicam will double as a 2x telephoto, whereas the ultrawide handles macro duties, however don’t count on a digicam as versatile as these on the Professionals — nonetheless, it’s higher than the one lens on the Air. The selfie digicam has been upgraded too, with an 18-megapixel sensor supported by Heart Stage for computerized framing and even orientation adjustment.
The common iPhone is at all times the final to get no matter shiny new options Apple rolls out to the Professionals, nevertheless it seems particularly left behind this 12 months with the Air within the combine and a brand new design for the Professional. However the selfie digicam enhancements shall be appreciated right here by anybody upgrading to the bottom mannequin, and the colours are pleasantly saturated in particular person.
You’ll get 5 coloration choices with the bottom iPhone 17: lavender, mist blue, black, white, and sage. They’re all on the subdued, pastel finish of the spectrum although — bizarrely, you’ll must go for the 17 Professional’s shiny orange to get a very punchy end this 12 months.
That’s to not say that nothing has modified. The iPhone 17 has adopted within the footsteps of final 12 months’s 16 Professional fashions by shrinking its bezel for a barely bigger show, leaping from 6.1 inches within the iPhone 16 to six.3 inches now. Meaning it has the identical measurement show because the iPhone 17 Professional, supplying you with one much less cause to improve.
Dimension isn’t the one improve, both. That is the primary 12 months that the bottom iPhone has included help for as much as 120Hz refresh charges, lastly matching a function you will discover on $200 Android telephones. That ought to imply smoother scrolling and extra fluid animations, helped alongside by the upgraded A19 chip — it’s a change that’s typically laborious to note at first, however is instantly obvious once you return to a 60Hz display. It’s additionally a brighter display than earlier than, with a peak outside brightness of three,000 nits, and is protected by the brand new, harder Ceramic Defend 2.
Throw in additional energy because of the up to date A19 chipset, longer battery life, and help for sooner 25W MagSafe charging, and the iPhone 17 is an even bigger replace than many people anticipated.
The iPhone 17 begins at $799, the identical value because the 16, however you get double the storage at 256GB. It’ll be out there to order from this Friday, with gadgets hitting retailer cabinets on September nineteenth.
