The iPhone 17 Pro is Apple’s most daring redesign in years, and I think it pays off

With the iPhone 17 Pro, it feels like Apple is finally targeting a truly “professional” audience, especially now that the 120Hz refresh rate-equipped iPhone 17 is clearly the phone for everyone, and the super-thin iPhone Air is laying the groundwork for Apple’s future iPhone plans.

With that in mind, most of the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max’s updates are targeted at users that care about photography, including a revamped telephoto camera that supports 8x zoom through sensor cropping and the front-facing shooter’s useful new Center Stage camera.

Then there’s the polarizing redesign, which features a panel-shaped camera bump, a two-tone rear, and an aluminum build. I initially disliked this look, but it has grown on me significantly over the past several days, and I’d even go so far as to say that it’s my favorite iPhone design yet, especially the new vibrant orange color (this review features silver). When it comes to Apple’s products, design often matters more than anything else, and in an uncharacteristic move, the tech giant really took a chance with the iPhone 17 Pro’s look.

4.5/5

Brand

Apple

SoC

A19 Pro

Display

6.3-inch 1206 x 2622 pixel resolution Super Retina XDR OLED, 120Hz, HDR10, Dolby Vision, 1000 nits / 1600 nits peak brightness

RAM

N/A

The iPhone 17 Pro is Apple’s next-generation flagship smartphone, with a new aluminum unibody design, a full-width camera plateau, the A19 Pro chipset, and a 6.3-inch display.

Pros & Cons

• Stunning new design
• 8x sensor crop zoom is great
• New selfie camera impresses

• Not that much of an upgrade over the iPhone 16
• New look might not be for everyone
• Early reports indicate aluminum body scratches easily

The iPhone 17 Pro’s new look is undeniably polarizing

It’s a jarring change at first, but I’m a big fan of the design now

When I first caught a glimpse of the iPhone 17 Pro during Apple’s reveal keynote, I was confused. Why is the camera bump so big? Is that even glass? Why the switch to aluminum? Now that I’ve used the phone for over a week, and I’ve spent the past week with the silver iPhone 17 Pro, I can confidently say that I really like the new look.

The rounded edges are back, marking the first time Apple has adopted a softer look for the iPhone since the iPhone 11. While I like the squared-off iPhone look from the past few years, this softer shape is a welcome shift, and in a way, it feels kind of nostalgic. With the iPhone 17 Pro, there’s an interesting contrast between the aluminum unibody and the ceramic-and-glass square panel on the rear. For example, the silver color features a white back panel, while the cosmic orange colorway has a slightly lighter shade of orange. This differentiation stands out and looks cool. It also works as a visual target for MagSafe accessories.

While the iPhone 17 Pro features an aluminum unibody, the back panel is constructed of Ceramic Shield, which Apple says is more resistant to cracks. Additionally, the tech giant claims that the iPhone 17 Pro’s front glass is more resistant to cracks and scratches compared to the iPhone 16 Pro. I haven’t tested these claims, but I’m looking forward to seeing how the iPhone 17 Pro holds up over the next several months, though I always put my smartphones in cases with screen protectors anyway.

Then there’s the camera bar, which Apple refers to as a “plateau.” Let’s get this out of the way first — it’s clear this design direction is inspired by Google’s Pixel 9 Pro/Pixel 10 Pro to some extent. On the plus side, the bar gives the iPhone 17 a cohesive look for the first time in several years, and also makes the phone stand out from previous iPhones. The camera bump doesn’t feel haphazardly dropped on the back; instead, it melds into the rear of the iPhone 17 thanks to its smooth edges. The overall camera bump design takes a bit of getting used to, but I prefer the sprawling new look to the smaller, left-set camera array that’s been around for the past few years.

On a side note, the iPhone 17 Pro is slightly heavier than the iPhone 16 Pro at 7.2oz (206g) versus 7.2oz (199g). This doesn’t seem like a substantial shift on paper, but I definitely feel it when I’m holding the phone for long periods. The minor weight increase is likely due to the switch from titanium to aluminum. Given how hard Apple pushed titanium over the past few years and the fact that the iPhone Air still features the material, this feels like a weird move (more on this later).

Minor hardware improvements across the board

A new chip, brighter display, marginally better battery life, and more

When it came down to using the iPhone 17 Pro, one of the first things I noticed was that its 6.3-inch screen looks notably brighter under direct sunlight, thanks to the bump from 2,000 nits to 3,000 nits. I appreciate this upgrade when I’m using the phone outside, though I find that I need to turn down the brightness significantly when I’m doomscrolling the depths of the internet before bed.

Next up there’s the A19 Pro. Apple’s phone chips have been overkill for years, and the A19 is no exception. Whether I’m playing games, surfing the internet, or snapping photos, my experience with the iPhone 17 Pro has been smooth — but I’ve also said that same thing about the iPhone line for several generations. What’s different this year is that the iPhone 17 Pro stays cooler when running processor-intensive tasks for extended periods, like editing photos in Lightroom CC, thanks to its aluminum body and new vapor chamber (it does still get hot sometimes, though). Given how hot the iPhone 16 Pro becomes, I’m glad Apple made this change. If you care about benchmarks, the A19 Pro hits 3,210 for single-core performance and 8,438 for multi-core performance on Geekbench 6.

While I’ve noticed several reviews cite the iPhone 17 Pro’s improved battery life over the iPhone 16 Pro, that hasn’t been my experience (I have the always-on screen turned on without a background). I easily get through a full day of social media scrolling, watching the occasional video, listening to podcasts, and responding to messages, with about 20-30% battery remaining by the late evening. This was also my experience with the iPhone 16 Pro over the past year, so I haven’t noticed a significant improvement in battery life this year. It might be a bit better, but the change is marginal.

Minor, but meaningful camera upgrades

8x sensor cropping zoom is a welcome addition

This year’s most notable upgrade relates to the iPhone 17 Pro’s cameras. First off, there’s an entirely new f/1.9 18-megapixel front-facing shooter that features a square sensor, which powers Center Stage’s ability to automatically switch from portrait to landscape mode, depending on the number of people in the frame. This feature works great and is so useful that I’m surprised Apple is the first company to implement something like it. You can also switch between portrait and landscape on the fly with the tap of a button.

I don’t take many selfies, so I don’t see this being a feature I’ll use very often, but it’ll be undeniably useful for many people. This year, you can also capture content from both the front and back cameras simultaneously when recording. This is pretty cool and works quite well (I can see it being useful for reaction videos), but similar to Center Stage, it’s not a feature I see myself using very often.

Flipping to the rear shooter, all three cameras now feature 48-megapixel sensors, with the telephoto camera getting the upgrade to f/2.2 48-megapixels. Apple boasts that this allows the lens to feature 8x optical zoom, but that’s not entirely accurate. Thanks to the larger sensor, Apple is able to crop in to hit that focal length, which technically isn’t optical zoom. That’s not to say that 8x zoom photos look bad — they’re very impressive thanks to Apple’s computational photography magic.

As a result, the iPhone 17 Pro features 4x optical zoom compared to the iPhone 16 Pro’s 5x, making it a 100mm equivalent lens instead of 120mm. Some might consider this a downgrade, but I didn’t have much use for 5x optical zoom (it’s a bit of an awkward in-between focal length, anyway). The f/1.8 48-megapixel wide and f/2.2 ultrawide lenses from last year’s iPhone 16 Pro make a return, too.

Along with the lens upgrades, Apple has also introduced Genlock support, which enables videographers to synchronize timecodes across multiple cameras, and ProRes RAW recording to an external hard drive. Both of these features are outside my photography and video shooting capabilities, but given the iPhone 17 Pro’s professional user target audience, it makes sense for them to come with the iPhone 17 Pro.

The Photographic Styles I was such a big fan of last year are also back again. Like last year, this is the iPhone 17 Pro’s secret photography. It allows you to tweak photos to look exactly how you want and offers a level of customization that you won’t find on other smartphones (I wish tweaking the settings was less finicky, though).

In general, the iPhone 17 Pro’s camera performance is top-tier, offering true-to-life colors, a solid range between blacks and highlights, and excellent low-light shooting. The iPhone 16 Pro was my go-to smartphone camera last year, and that isn’t changing with the iPhone 17 Pro.

iOS 26’s Liquid Glass looks great

Where’s the smarter Siri we were promised?

iOS 26’s Liquid Glass is pretty jarring at first, but it’s grown on me over the last few weeks. There’s a retro Windows Vista vibe to it that’s catching enough to be attention-grabbing but not too overwhelming. Icons also pop now in a way they didn’t before. I also appreciate the new Lock Screen customization options, alongside other features like Call Screening, Live Translation, and the useful new Adaptive Power mode that adjusts processor load to save battery life.

But Apple Intelligence? I still don’t have much use for Apple’s suite of AI features, like Visual Intelligence. The tech giant’s smarter, more capable Siri is also still nowhere to be found. Will we see it at WWDC next year? Who knows. With that in mind, if a capable AI assistant like Google’s AI Gemini is something you’re after, the iPhone 17 Pro doesn’t deliver in that department. I’ve never really taken to using voice activated assistants consistently, so this doesn’t bother me very much.

Is the iPhone 17 Pro worth the upgrade?

As always, that depends on what iPhone you’re rocking right now

If you take away the visual redesign, this is a very minor, camera-focused hardware upgrade year for Apple’s iPhone, just like it was with the iPhone 16 Pro — but I’m a sucker for a cool-looking tech product, especially one that takes as many aesthetic chances as the iPhone 17 Pro.

With that in mind, Apple’s latest flagship is a worthwhile upgrade for me, even from the iPhone 16 Pro. On the other hand, if you don’t care about design, and you’re using an iPhone 15 or iPhone 16, there isn’t much to get excited about with the iPhone 17 Pro. However, those still rocking an iPhone 13 or iPhone 12 will find Apple’s latest high-end iPhone to be a solid all-around package and a worthwhile upgrade.

4.5/5

Brand

Apple

SoC

A19 Pro

Display

6.3-inch 1206 x 2622 pixel resolution Super Retina XDR OLED, 120Hz, HDR10, Dolby Vision, 1000 nits / 1600 nits peak brightness

RAM

N/A