The iPhone 17 series is here, and as expected, Apple has packed its newest models with features that excite tech enthusiasts and everyday users alike. But the key question remains: Is the iPhone 17 series truly a big upgrade? To answer this question, we compare iPhones from various angles, hoping to give you a helpful answer.
Yes, the iPhone 17 series represents a significant upgrade across the entire lineup, not just for the Pro models. It focuses heavily on bringing "Pro" features to the standard iPhone and introduces a new design philosophy with the iPhone Air.
The standard iPhone 17 finally gets a 120Hz ProMotion display, a feature previously exclusive to the Pro models. This makes scrolling, animations, and gaming much smoother. It also enables the Always-On display feature.
The camera system is a major step up. The iPhone 17 now features a 48MP Ultra Wide camera (up from 12MP), bringing it on par with the main camera's resolution. The front-facing camera is also upgraded to 18MP and includes the new "Center Stage" feature. What's more, iPhone 17 series is powered by the new A19 or A19 Pro chip, which brings a notable performance jump and is more efficient.
Tips: What should you do before getting a new iPhone 17? Here's an important list for you.
The iPhone 17 series features notable changes in both screen size and design, with each model offering distinct characteristics. Here's a comparison of the screen and design of the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and the new iPhone Air.
The entire iPhone 17 lineup now features a Super Retina XDR OLED display with ProMotion technology, allowing for an adaptive refresh rate up to 120Hz. All models also include an Always-On display, a Dynamic Island, and a peak outdoor brightness of 3,000 nits. The key differentiators among the screens are their size and resolution.
All displays are protected by Ceramic Shield 2, which Apple claims offers 3x better scratch resistance and improved anti-reflection compared to previous generations.
The design language across the iPhone 17 series is more varied than in previous generations, with each model having a unique build and camera layout.
The iPhone 17 series brings significant camera advancements across the board, with each model offering a distinct photography and videography experience.
All four models in the lineup share a new 18MP Center Stage front camera. This is a major upgrade from the 12MP front cameras in previous iPhone generations. This new camera features:
The rear camera systems are where the phones diverge the most, catering to different user needs.
iPhone 17: Dual-camera system
Plus, iPhone 17 offers a 2x optical-quality zoom by cropping the high-resolution 48MP main sensor.
iPhone 17 Pro & iPhone 17 Pro Max: Triple-camera system
LiDAR Scanner: Exclusive to the Pro models, the LiDAR scanner improves autofocus in low-light conditions and enables advanced portrait mode effects and augmented reality (AR) features.
Pro Video Features: The Pro models are designed for professional creators, offering support for ProRes RAW, Apple Log 2, and Genlock video synchronization. They also support 4K video recording at up to 120fps.
Zoom Range: With the three lenses, the Pro and Pro Max offer a total of five optical zoom options: 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 4x, and 8x. They also support up to 40x digital zoom.
Their performance is defined by two new chips: the A19 and the A19 Pro. Besides, their battery performance is a key differentiator, with each model balancing capacity, power efficiency, and design.
iPhone 17
The standard iPhone 17 is powered by the A19 chip. It is a highly capable processor designed to handle everyday tasks, mobile gaming, and new AI features in iOS 26 with ease. This device comes with 8GB of RAM.
It provides a great balance of performance and efficiency for a non-pro device. It's more than sufficient for most users, offering smooth app launches, multitasking, and a great gaming experience.
iPhone 17 Pro & iPhone 17 Pro Max
These two models are the performance kings of the lineup. They are powered by the full-fat A19 Pro chip and have a new cooling system to maintain peak performance.
The Pro models feature a new vapor chamber cooling system within their aluminum unibody design. This allows the A19 Pro to sustain its peak performance for much longer periods without thermal throttling, which is crucial for gaming and heavy workloads.
The Pro and Pro Max models now feature 12GB of RAM, an upgrade from the 8GB in the previous generation, which further enhances multitasking and performance for professional apps.
iPhone Air
The iPhone Air also uses the A19 Pro chip, but with a slight modification to balance its ultra-thin design. Additionally, it comes with 12GB of RAM.
Due to its extremely thin design, the iPhone Air does not have the same vapor chamber cooling system as the Pro models. While its titanium frame helps with heat dissipation, it may be more susceptible to thermal throttling during sustained, intensive tasks like gaming or 4K video editing.
Simply Put
Battery Capacity & Life (Based on Apple's Claims)
Apple's official battery life ratings are based on video playback, and they show a clear hierarchy within the lineup. The Pro and Pro Max models benefit from both larger physical batteries and the power-efficient A19 Pro chip.
iPhone 17 Pro Max offers the longest battery life of any iPhone, with up to 39 hours of video playback and 35 hours of streamed video playback. The larger form factor allows for a significant battery capacity of approximately 5,088 mAh, making it a true all-day, and for many, a two-day phone.
Despite its more compact size, the iPhone 17 Pro delivers an impressive up to 33 hours of video playback and 30 hours of streamed video playback. It features a new internal unibody design with a vapor chamber that helps with thermal management and allows for a larger battery (around 4,252 mAh) than its predecessor.
The standard iPhone 17 has a great battery life, especially when compared to previous models. It offers up to 30 hours of video playback and 27 hours of streamed video playback, a notable improvement over the iPhone 16. Its battery capacity is approximately 3,692 mAh.
The iPhone Air, while being the thinnest and lightest iPhone ever, sacrifices some battery life for its design. It provides up to 27 hours of video playback and 22 hours of streamed video playback. While still considered "all-day" battery life, it is the shortest-lasting device in the iPhone 17 lineup. Its battery capacity is around 3,149 mAh.
Charging Speeds
All models in the iPhone 17 series use a USB-C connector for charging and data transfer. All support both MagSafe and Qi2 wireless charging.
Fast Charging (Wired): iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max can charge up to 50% in approximately 20 minutes with a 40W power adapter or higher. iPhone Air can charges up to 50% in about 30 minutes with a 30W adapter.
Wireless Charging: iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max support MagSafe and Qi2 wireless charging up to 25W. iPhone Air supports MagSafe and Qi2 wireless charging up to 20W.
The A19 Pro, A19, and A18 Pro are Apple's top-tier mobile processors, each representing a step in the company's silicon development. The A19 and A19 Pro are the latest generation, while the A18 Pro was the previous flagship. Here's a comparison of the three:
All three chips feature a 6-core CPU with two high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores.
A19 Pro & A19 both chips have the same CPU configuration and clock speeds, with the performance cores clocked at 4.26GHz and the efficiency cores at 2.60GHz. This is a noticeable increase from the A18 Pro. The A19 Pro also features a larger Last-Level Cache (LLC) which contributes to its superior performance. A18 Pro's CPU had a peak performance core clock speed of 4.05GHz.
The A19 Pro shows a significant performance gain over the A18 Pro. In Geekbench 6 CPU tests, the A19 Pro is about 12-14% faster in both single-core and multi-core performance. The standard A19 also outperforms the A18 Pro in CPU tasks by a smaller margin (around 3-4% in multi-core).
This is a key area of differentiation among the three chips.
The full A19 Pro chip (found in the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max) has a new 6-core GPU. This GPU is a major upgrade, with Apple claiming up to a 40% increase in sustained performance over the A18 Pro, thanks to improved thermal architecture and hardware. The iPhone Air's A19 Pro has a slightly reduced 5-core GPU to manage thermals in its ultra-thin design.
The standard A19 chip has a 5-core GPU, which is a solid improvement over previous non-Pro models.
A19 Pro & A19 feature an updated 16-core Neural Engine and, more importantly, have Neural Accelerators built directly into each GPU core. This is a major change designed to accelerate on-device AI workloads, such as generative AI models, computational photography, and "Apple Intelligence" features. This new architecture is a significant leap in AI processing capabilities.
A18 Pro has a 16-core Neural Engine but lacks the dedicated Neural Accelerators within the GPU, making it less efficient at handling the most demanding AI tasks.
Modem: The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max still use a Qualcomm modem, while the iPhone Air features Apple's new in-house C1X 5G modem. The A19 on the standard iPhone 17 also uses a Qualcomm modem.
Connectivity: The A19 and A19 Pro chips bring support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0, providing faster and more reliable wireless connections compared to the A18 Pro's Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3.
Q1: Why is the standard iPhone 17 cheaper than iPhone Air?
The standard iPhone 17 is cheaper than the iPhone Air primarily due to the different design philosophies and features that Apple has chosen for each device. The iPhone Air isn't simply a thinner version of the base model; it's a new, premium tier in the iPhone lineup.
The iPhone Air features the more powerful A19 Pro chip, the same one found in the high-end iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max models. In contrast, the standard iPhone 17 uses the slightly less powerful A19 chip. This difference in processing power is a major factor in the price gap, as the A19 Pro includes advanced components like Neural Accelerators and a more powerful GPU.
Q2: Does iPhone 17 have touch ID?
No, the iPhone 17 series, including iPhone Air, does not have Touch ID. While there have been persistent rumors and reports about Apple potentially reintroducing an in-display Touch ID sensor on future iPhone models, particularly for the Pro lineup, the iPhone 17 series does not feature this technology.
Q3: Why does the appearance of the iPhone 17's rear lens module need to change?
The appearance of the rear camera module on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max is different from previous Pro models for a few key reasons, stemming from both new technology and a revised design philosophy.
One of the most crucial aspects of upgrading to a new iPhone is transferring your data from your old device. While Apple's built-in iCloud and iTunes methods are effective, this iOS data transfer software - Samsung Data Transfer, offers a more streamlined and user-friendly approach. It supports most Android and iOS devices, including iPhone 17/17 Pro/17 Pro Max/Air/16/15/14/13/12/11/X, iPad, Samsung, OnePlus, Motorola, TCL, Google, Xiaomi, Honor, Tecno, Vivo, etc.
- Directly transfer data from one phone to another.
- Transfer books, calendars, Safari bookmarks, and contacts between iOS devices.
- Allow you to move iOS data to Android, including photos, videos, music, documents, and more.
- The transferred data will not replace the existing data on your new phone.
- Support Android 6.0 or later and iOS 5.0 or upper, including Android 16 and iOS 26.
Download the data migration tool on a computer.
Step 1: Download and install the data transfer software on a computer, and launch it.
Step 2: Connect both mobile phones to the computer with USB cables, and click "Trust" on iOS. If your old phone is Android, please enable USB debugging on it. The software will recognize both devices quickly.
Step 3: Make sure your new iPhone is the "Destination" device. If not, tap "Flip". Then select the data types you want to transfer, and click "Start Copy" to start the process. You will get the data on your new iPhone soon.
The iPhone 17 series represents a notable upgrade, especially for users coming from older models. While the differences may not be monumental for those upgrading from last year's iPhone 16 series, the improvements in screen quality, camera performance, chip architecture, and battery life are significant enough to make it a worthwhile upgrade for many.
Additionally, transferring data to your new iPhone has never been easier, thanks to tools like Samsung Data Transfer. Then you can swiftly access your data on your new iPhone.
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