Apple iPhone 17 Review: This is The Year to Upgrade

Worth When Reviewed

From $799

Finest Costs Right now: Apple iPhone 17

Not all iPhone line-ups are created equal. For those who’re not somebody who upgrades annually, some iterations are skippable, and a few gives you way more bang to your buck.

2024’s iPhone 16, for instance, was pretty missable. Sure, there was an honest digicam improve, however due to the give attention to Apple Intelligence options – a few of which have nonetheless come to nothing – its most notable improvements have been the Digital camera Management and Motion buttons, they usually’re not universally beloved.

Then there are the classic years, and for the bottom mannequin iPhone, 2025 is one in every of these. We will speculate that, due to the potential promoting energy of the eye-catchingly redesigned Professional fashions and the slender new iPhone Air, Apple felt snug showering its base mannequin with upgrades, protected within the information that iPhone fanboys and fangirls would nonetheless go for the pricier fashions.

However if you happen to’re extra involved with quiet high quality, you’ll get so much to your £799/$799 with the iPhone 17.

Design & Construct

• Identical measurement, bigger display than final 12 months
• More durable display safety
• 5 color choices

Let’s be actual. The iPhone 17 seems to be very very similar to the iPhone 16. It’s a cellphone that’ll be extremely acquainted to anybody who’s left the home within the final 12 months.

However there’s a cause Apple has been slowly refining its base mannequin design and that’s as a result of it’s easy, elegant and beautiful. It’s leant into that class this 12 months with 5 color choices that maybe err barely on the facet of tastefulness: black, white, mist blue, lavender and (everybody’s favorite) sage inexperienced.

I’ve the white mannequin in to check and in particular person, it’s very engaging. My solely criticism, and that’s largely for the needs of this evaluation, is that it doesn’t come out properly in photographs: its matt, colour-infused again glass is ghostly and all of the pics I’ve taken of it appear to be examples of paranormal images.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

The iPhone 17 is similar measurement (149.6mm x 71.5mm x 7.95mm), as final 12 months’s mannequin, with the identical matt aluminium body and rounded corners. Nonetheless, the display measurement has elevated ever so barely from 6.1 to six.3 inches, decreasing the bezel to a slim body. It’s a minor revision, however one which brings it according to Android rivals such because the Pixel 10.

Apple claims that the ceramic protect safety on the display is 3 times as scratch-resistant as final 12 months’s mannequin, so I’m residing life on the sting with no display protector. However, regardless of receiving just a few knocks, it’s nonetheless pristine.

Keep in mind that there’s no ceramic protect on the again glass, which is one in every of plenty of causes we’d at all times counsel shopping for and utilizing a case. I’m utilizing an official Apple silicone case with MagSafe in a delicate shade of lurid neon yellow that’s good sufficient however appears dear (£49.99/$49.99) for what it’s.

Another excuse is that the again glass is slippery and, except you wish to clutch at your cellphone with a dying grip, it’s straightforward to drop. Nonetheless, the cellphone is gentle within the hand at 177g, and except you’re a lover of huge telephones, its measurement is nearly supreme.

It’s sufficiently small to slot in a night bag or most pockets, giant sufficient to comfortably watch movies on, but not giant sufficient to interrupt your nostril if you happen to drop it in your face whereas scrolling.

Apple says that the iPhone 17 is waterproof to a depth of 6 metres for as much as half-hour, however I received’t be the particular person to check this declare. When it comes to official scores, its IP68 verifies it for a dunking in as much as 1.5m of freshwater and ensures it’s totally dust-proof.

There are 5 bodily facet buttons. Of the three on the left, two are for quantity and above them is the Motion button, which you should utilize to change to silent, enter focus mode, Shazam a tune (which is such an awesome characteristic), immediately translate and extra.

On the best is the Aspect button, to energy down or summon Siri, and beneath it the Digital camera Management button, which you should utilize to open after which management the digicam.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

I don’t love the digicam button as a result of it’s not the place I would like it to be, however as I’m left-handed, that’s typically the case for me. Nonetheless, my right-handed colleagues don’t appear to be wowed by it both.  

There’s an argument to be made that there are extra buttons than are strictly crucial, particularly while you consider programmable accessibility options comparable to again faucets, however if you happen to don’t use them, you’ll be able to swap them off.

Elsewhere, I hold haptics switched off however if you happen to use them for calls and alarms, you’ll discover they’re properly judged, and highly effective sufficient to warn you from a pocket or on a desk.

Display & Audio system

• All the time-On show
• 3,000 nits peak brightness
• 120Hz refresh charge

A few of this 12 months’s key upgrades are to the display and the way in which you utilize it.

What stays the identical is that it’s a Tremendous Retina XDR show, a high-spec OLED panel that gives a vivid viewing expertise, with wonderful color copy.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Whereas it nonetheless has the identical typical (1,000 nits) and HDR (1,600 nits) brightness, and nonetheless drops right down to 1 nit minimal brightness to guard your eyes if you happen to choose it up in a darkish room, it now peaks at 3,000 nits for out of doors use. This makes an enormous distinction when utilizing your cellphone exterior.

My earlier cellphone was an iPhone 14, which peaked at 1,200 nits, which is simply not sufficient to learn outside on a sunny day – so this can be a favorite improve for me.

One other change is the refresh charge. For the primary time, Apple has given its base mannequin ProMotion expertise, which suggests adaptive refresh charges of as much as 120Hz.

For those who’ve come from a 60Hz cellphone, what this implies for you is that your show could look smoother and extra responsive. You’re almost definitely to identify the distinction when gaming (minimising stutters and lag), however you may additionally discover it whereas scrolling.

What this implies for me is there’s one much less factor my Android-wielding colleagues can mock my iPhone for, 120Hz being customary throughout flagship and mid-range Android fashions.

ProMotion is likely one of the options that’s facilitated one other improve: the All the time-On show. The important thing benefit of that is which you could at all times see the time and any notifications at a look.

However to my thoughts, there’s an obstacle in that the addictive glowing rectangle I carry round with me is at all times drawing consideration to itself. I’ve discovered increasingly more that I unconsciously choose it up whereas watching a movie or chatting to somebody. For those who don’t just like the All the time-On characteristic, you’ll be able to flip it off in Settings. And I’ll undoubtedly try this quickly.

The ultimate factor to say in regards to the display is Dynamic Island, which arrived on the bottom mannequin final 12 months. It’s an interactive pill-shaped characteristic on the prime of the display that works as a part of the Face ID authentication system and offers you controls and data for plenty of native app options, together with timers, music and cellphone calls.

Probably the greatest issues about it’s that you simply don’t want to determine use it. It’s simply there while you want it. That’s as a result of it solves an issue you’re truly prone to face: shortly entry one app while you’re in one other.

There’s excellent news by way of audio, too. Lastly, the iPhone 17 has an honest pair of audio system that ship clear sound while you’re on a name or watching a video.

They’re even adequate to hearken to music at shut quarters, though you’re clearly not going to be having fun with a really bassy expertise, and it’ll distort if you happen to go too loud. However I used to convey a Bluetooth speaker into the lavatory for bathe music – now I simply iPhone and go.

Specs & Efficiency

• Apple A19 chip
• 256GB/512GB storage choices

Apple has given the iPhone 17 one other recent chip improve this 12 months, to the A19. The A19 is a 3nm chip, with a 5-core Apple-designed GPU.

The A19 matches or betters the A18 Professional chip from final 12 months’s Professional fashions by way of efficiency benchmarks. This once more speaks to the iPhone’s worth for cash – the 16 Professional launched in September 2024, beginning at £999/$999.

This 12 months’s Air and Professional fashions run on the A19 Professional, so as soon as once more, all fashions are utilizing the identical collection of chipset.

The iPhone 17 does really feel seamless in use. Scrolling is stutter-free and gaming is clean, though downloading and taking part in giant video games comparable to Genshin Impression will nonetheless heat up the cellphone, however to not a regarding diploma. And informal video games are a doddle.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

The hardware-accelerated ray tracing signifies that graphics-heavy video games show with extra visible depth and once more, much less probability of stuttering efficiency.

This cellphone is a champ in relation to multitasking. Whereas working, I are likely to open apps as I want them, pasting from Safari to Slack or importing photographs, jotting down notes in conferences and generally composing articles in Pages, with the consequence that I can have greater than a dozen apps open at a time. However I’ve but to have an issue or a crash.

This 12 months, the bottom mannequin begins with 256GB of storage, with the choice of 512GB for £999/$999.

iPhone 17 benchmarks

Cameras

• 48Mp principal and 48Mp ultrawide rear lenses
• 18Mp selfie digicam
• Centre Stage and Twin Seize options

The digicam module seems to be precisely because it did final 12 months, with two lenses stacked on the prime left. It’s a neater association than the diagonal formation on the iPhone 15. The one downside with the positioning is, if you happen to use your cellphone with no case, it would rock annoyingly when positioned on a tabletop.

However by way of specs and efficiency, there are upgrades from final 12 months. Whereas the 48Mp principal digicam stays the identical, the ultrawide has been bumped up from 12Mp to 48Mp. The lens can seize way more knowledge, which suggests extra element. It may possibly make a distinction in macro photographs and it’s helpful to anybody who needs to print their photographs.

The ultrawide has a 120° subject of view and 13mm focal size, in comparison with the roughly 75° of the primary 48Mp Fusion lens, with its 26mm focal size. It’s straightforward to make use of: simply select 0.5x from the main target choices or pinch the display.

When reviewing the iPhone 16 final 12 months, my colleague Chris Martin, who’s a wonderful photographer, took difficulty with a few of the default digicam settings, together with the truth that they’re hidden away within the iPhone’s principal settings menu and aren’t accessible from the digicam app.

However that’s as a result of the iPhone digicam is designed for somebody like me, who’s notably not a photographer, however reasonably an individual who factors their cellphone at nice-looking issues and expects a nice-looking picture to look.

And, typically talking, it does. The iPhone 17’s color copy is superb and pictures hardly ever look over-processed.   

Select Portrait and also you’ll get an honest shot of a pal. If the background bokeh doesn’t present sufficient distinction, you’ll be able to regulate it afterwards by taking part in with depth.

Maintain your cellphone very near a flower, and the macro will kick in, supplying you with a wealthy, detailed shot of the petal and stem.

Low-light images, nevertheless, continues to be not significantly spectacular. It’s come a good distance because the iPhone 14, whose low-light photographs have been uniformly grainy. However I dwell within the metropolis and the iPhone 17 struggles with gentle air pollution, opting to flood most nighttime photographs with a bizarre gray gentle. Even so, the element and crispness are a lot improved in comparison with three generations in the past.

Even much less spectacular is the zoom. The iPhone 17 has a 4x optical zoom vary, from 0.5x on the ultrawide to 2x on the primary lens, however the photographs it produces at 2x, particularly in low gentle, are fairly blurry and are unlikely to make it into your favourites folder.

Past this, it has a digital zoom of as much as 10x, however that is achieved (as it’s on just about any digicam cellphone with no telephoto lens) by enlarging and cropping the picture with out adjusting the lens. So, if you happen to’re a frequent gig-goer and frequently wish to snap pics of a faraway stage, you may wish to put money into an iPhone 17 Professional mannequin – or go for one in every of our advisable digicam cellphone picks.

However Apple is aware of its viewers, and it has added a few cool new options to its selfie digicam.

The primary is bringing Centre Stage to its entrance digicam. Through the use of a bigger, sq. sensor as an alternative of the normal rectangular one, the iPhone’s software program can compose the shot as wanted to maintain you – and any mates you’re posing with – in the course of the body.

This implies you don’t have to show your cellphone from portrait to panorama to get everybody in. After taking part in round with it for some time, I can say it does work, though it’s not fairly as dynamic because it seems in Apple promos.

The second is a video characteristic involving each cameras. Change on Twin Seize and also you’ll document what you’re taking a look at (gigs and sporting occasions appear the almost definitely use instances) and your individual response to it.

Whereas I can’t see myself utilizing it, I’ve already noticed Twin Seize movies just a few occasions on Instagram and TikTok. Nicely performed, Apple.

Battery Life & Charging

• 30 hours’ video playback
• MagSafe charging

Apple says that video playback has elevated to 30 hours on the iPhone 17, up from 22 hours on the iPhone 16. This means fairly a major enhance in battery life.

Throughout the week, I’m a heavy cellphone person. I begin the day studying the information or a e book on my cellphone. I’ve Slack open all by the working day, and I typically hearken to music whereas I work as properly. If I run or go for a stroll within the night, the iPhone comes with me for music and my working app. Then there’s often a little bit of scrolling earlier than mattress.

Regardless of all of that, I can nonetheless get by a day with no need to cost the iPhone 17.

On the weekend, once I’m not on my cellphone as a lot, I can get virtually two days of use earlier than I’ve to plug it in. The iPhone 17 comes with a USB-C charging cable, however, as you’d count on now, no adapter.

Having beforehand used an iPhone that charged through Lightning cable, USB-C is a large improve. Unusually, I don’t thoughts Apple’s proprietary expertise – but it surely must be higher than alternate options, which the Lightning cable was very a lot not.

However you don’t want to make use of a cable in any respect, because the iPhone 17 helps MagSafe charging equipment, in addition to wider Qi2 charging, one thing Android is just beginning to meet up with.

Apple claims that the iPhone 17 can cost as much as 50% in 20 minutes if you happen to use a 40W adapter or larger. Wi-fi charging or a 30W adapter will get you as much as 50% in half an hour.

Testing this out is once I found that I don’t have a quick charger in the home. The quickest I used to be capable of get, utilizing no matter outdated adapter I discovered in a drawer, was round 48% in half an hour. However I’ll be updating this evaluation and the benchmarks to mirror the way it works with a brand-spanking-new 40W charger.

Within the meantime, you’ll be able to see the iPhone 17 evaluation by my colleague David Worth in our sibling publication Macworld. He was capable of verify the 50% cost in 20 minutes declare.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Software program and Apps

• Runs on iOS 26
• AI options combined

The iPhone 17 runs the newly launched iOS 26, with its Liquid Glass redesign. Despite the truth that that is Apple’s largest software program redesign since iOS 7 in 2013, it’s already light into the background in a ho-hum manner.

In some respects, this can be a good factor. I don’t need an interface that I consistently discover, and, the truth is, my solely difficulty with iOS 26 entails some third-party apps which can be considerably over-engineered to take advantage of the brand new design. Slack is one such offender, with a textual content field that glows irritatingly while you click on on it.

The lock display and residential display customisations are enjoyable, though I think about that most individuals will depart their icons alone reasonably than tinting them and making them tougher to determine.

Different options are tiny, helpful upgrades, like with the ability to change the default snooze timer.

I’ve discovered the AI options to be hit or miss. I initially beloved Apple Music’s AutoMix, which suggests you by no means should energy by lifeless air between songs when working, however after a string of cacophonous mixes, I needed to swap it off.

In the meantime, Picture Clear Up is beneficial if you happen to don’t ask an excessive amount of of it. Voicemail transcriptions have been a combination of correct and simply alarmingly flawed, and I don’t are likely to ask Siri for something lately. We get alongside significantly better that manner.

Apple will assist the iPhone 17 with software program updates and safety patches for a minimum of 5 years, and doubtlessly as much as seven.

Worth and Availability

As soon as once more, Apple has saved the iPhone 17 on the similar worth as its predecessor, though it’s truly a greater deal.

For £799/$799 you’ll get 256GB of storage, 512GB for £999/$999. That’s way more cost-effective than final 12 months, the place the identical £799/$799 solely netted you 128GB of storage, whereas 256GB and 512GB price £899/$899 and £1,099/$1,099 respectively.

This pricing places it head-to-head with the Google Pixel 10. For those who can’t determine between the 2, take a look at our Pixel 10 versus iPhone 17 specs comparability. The Pixel 10 is the higher guess if you would like a zoom lens or stable AI options – however in any other case, it’ll most likely come right down to your most popular working system.

You should purchase the iPhone 17 within the UK from retailers together with Apple, Currys and Amazon, or from EE, O2, Vodafone and different cellphone suppliers.

Within the US, you should purchase from plenty of retailers, together with Apple itself.

See extra alternate options in our full information to one of the best telephones you should purchase.

Do you have to purchase the iPhone 17?

For many iPhone customers, upgrading isn’t a query of if however when. Let’s not child ourselves: we’re all locked into the ecosystem and ultimately, we’ll be shopping for one other iPhone. iPhone tremendous followers and massive spenders will benefit from the Professional fashions this 12 months, and people who desire a pocket-sized speaking level will go for the Air.

However for the remainder of us, who seemingly have an ageing mannequin and are questioning whether or not it’s value going for the brand new iPhone 17 or getting final 12 months’s mannequin at a reduction, I’d say that that is the 12 months to put money into a shiny new cellphone. Until you already personal an iPhone 16, you’ll discover an actual distinction if you happen to’re upgrading.

Specs

• Working system: iOS 26
• Show: 6.1-inch Tremendous Retina XDR show
• Chipset: A19
• Storage: 256GB/512GB
• Rear Cameras: 48Mp f/1.6 principal digicam, 48Mp f/2.2 ultrawide digicam
• Entrance digicam: 18Mp f/1.9 Centre Stage digicam
• Charging: USB-C quick PD 2.0 charging, 25W wi-fi MagSafe charging, 25W wi-fi Qi 2 charging, 4.5W reverse wired
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, 5G NFC
• Water resistance: IP68
• Dimensions: 149.6mm x 71.5mm x 7.95mm
• Weight: 177g
• Colors: Black, White, Mist Blue, Lavender, Sage