There’s little ambiguity concerning the Apple iPhone 17 Pro this yr. It will get a bit of larger and heavier to make a present of placing perform over kind and separating itself from the iPhone Air. As such, there wasn’t one particular function— beit a 48MP telephoto lens, or excessive battery life—that makes this cellphone a Professional.
As an alternative, I discovered the sum of its elements to be well worth the general stature and lack of thinness.
8/10
- SoC
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A19 Professional chip
- Show
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6.3-inches
- Storage
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256GB, 512GB, or 1TB
- Ports
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USB-C
The Apple iPhone 17 Professional is the corporate’s strongest smartphone so far, providing spectacular cameras and the A19 Professional chip. It permits you to do virtually something, together with capturing high quality movies.
- Nice battery life
- Wonderful digital camera system
- Higher thermals and efficiency over final yr
- Out there colours look nice
- No black coloration
- Aluminum will be slippery, much less premium
Value and Availability
The Apple iPhone 17 Professional begins at $1,099 for 256GB of storage. Further storage capacities for the 17 Professional embrace: 512GB and 1TB. The Professional Max is the mannequin that goes as much as 2TB and prices a whopping $1,999.
Each Professional fashions can be found in three colours: silver, orange, and blue. The iPhone 17 Professional fashions are the one ones and not using a black choice this yr.
8/10
- SoC
-
A19 Professional chip
- Show
-
6.3-inches
- Storage
-
256GB, 512GB, or 1TB
- Ports
-
USB-C
- Working System
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iOS
- Colours
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Silver, Cosmic Orange, Deep Blue
- Show sort
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Tremendous Retina XDR show Footnote
These Specs Make the Professional Mannequin Skilled
Regardless that most individuals in all probability gained’t be upgrading from final yr’s iPhone 16 Professional, this yr’s mannequin does, the truth is, add some good updates from only a yr in the past. The iPhone 17 Professional is powered by an A19 Professional chip for higher all-around efficiency. For cover, the entrance has a Ceramic Defend 2 with 3 times higher scratch resistance. And for the primary time, there’s additionally a Ceramic Defend on the again.
The cameras, back and front, have been upgraded with new sensors. There’s sooner charging accessible. The battery life has elevated. A vapor chamber and aluminum unibody design ought to assist preserve the cellphone cooler and extra performant. Throughout, there are nips, tucks, and tweaks to push this particular cellphone out of the function of needing to cater to everybody and be as superior as it may be. For the primary time, that additionally means getting a daring orange coloration choice.
By the way in which, when talking concerning the iPhone 17 Professional, that largely contains the Professional Max too. That system has a bigger display screen and battery capability, which suggests it prices extra. However past these stretched-out dimensions, the 2 Professional telephones align on almost each spec.
The Change to Aluminum Is a Double-Edged Sword
It is not simply the addition of the orange coloration that will likely be immediately noticeable. However anybody who’s touched an iPhone 15 Professional or 16 Professional ought to immediately really feel the swap from titanium to aluminum. It’s smoother and slicker within the hand. Though the brand new cellphone feels advantageous to carry, it definitely doesn’t really feel as premium as final yr’s. For the primary time in just a few years, I discovered myself gravitating in direction of utilizing a case. Final yr, I didn’t.
The trade-off for utilizing aluminum is hopefully a cooler cellphone, temperature-wise. The fabric ought to dissipate warmth higher. The iPhone 17 Professional additionally contains deionized water that’s sealed inside a vapor chamber and welded to the cellphone’s body, which is designed to maneuver warmth away from the A19 Professional chip.
In sensible phrases, this yr’s cellphone shouldn’t throttle velocity or display screen brightness as shortly. This can take extra long-term testing to guage absolutely, however to this point, the 17 Professional does appear to remain cooler for longer. In direct daylight, I didn’t see it dim as shortly as final yr’s iPhone Professional.
It’s arduous to argue that individuals ought to improve for minor enhancements like this, however for folks upgrading regardless, it’s these particulars that may make day-to-day use a lot better.
Images Is the iPhone 17 Professional’s Most Apparent Benefit
For those who’ve ever uttered the phrases, “My cellphone is my digital camera,” or “That is my digital camera that makes calls,” then you definitely’re a 17 Professional individual. There are three main lenses on the again, all of that are 48MP now.
The primary focus is the higher 48MP telephoto digital camera. Final yr, the 16 Professional featured 0.5x, 1x, 2x, and 5x ranges of designated focal lengths. This yr, that modifications to 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 4x, and 8x. The 2x is a crop of the primary digital camera sensor, whereas the 8x is a crop of the 4x telephoto sensor. Nonetheless, regardless of a few of the strategies used to attain these totally different zooms, every of the stops appears to be like crisp and clear to my eyes.
After all, you may transcend 8x in order for you, however I discovered even for the baseball fields and distant sports activities pictures, that’s a candy spot for zoom and readability.
These unedited instance pictures go so as from the ultra-wide focal size to probably the most zoomed in.
Listed below are some unedited examples from the primary digital camera on the 35mm equal.
The improved telephoto sensor is a noticeable enchancment, however the brand new 18MP Heart Stage entrance digital camera is the larger deal. The sensor is now sq., so it may well produce panorama and portrait pictures with out rotating the cellphone.
The Heart Stage a part of the digital camera refers to its ability to keep you centered, even if you happen to start to float from one aspect to a different. For those who’re the one individual within the body, then it may well zoom in on you. However if you happen to’re joined by different faces, then it may well mechanically zoom out to incorporate extra folks as nicely.
The brand new performance works nicely, but it surely’s a bit of disorienting to see it in follow. It’s taken me a number of days to attempt to construct new muscle reminiscence for a way this works, and that I don’t have to show my cellphone and maintain it awkwardly for panorama selfies.
I’m hoping that inside just a few weeks, it gained’t be as jarring and can really feel extra pure. The digital camera is nice and its options are nicely applied, but it surely’s going to take time to get used to them.
Listed below are some unedited examples of the entrance digital camera. All of those had been shot with the picture held vertically. The primary two are generic portrait and panorama cropped orientations, and the final two are the identical however utilizing Apple’s blurred Portrait mode.
Apple Intelligence and iOS 26 Would possibly Be Irritating
The iPhone 17 Professional comes with iOS 26 put in. Whether or not you’re able to get Apple’s newest software program or not, it’s what you’ll be utilizing. After all, the brand new working system isn’t distinctive to this system and is accessible for telephones as outdated because the iPhone 12.
Liquid Glass is the interface design language that provides a shiny clear look. Ever because it was introduced, it’s been divisive amongst folks. Nonetheless, after a number of weeks utilizing it in beta kind and one other week in public kind, I don’t thoughts the working system.
Within the context of the iPhone 17 Professional, I’ve skilled just a few visible glitches. I’ve seen the lock display screen act jumpy and glitchy. Simply remember that you simply’ll in all probability see some bugs for a month or two.
Apple Intelligence remains to be very current on the iPhone 17 Professional, however the cellphone doesn’t have any unique AI options. If this will likely be your first cellphone with Apple’s AI integrations, you must attempt holding down the digital camera management button to activate Apple Visible Intelligence to realize insights into what you level the digital camera at.
Battery Life, Charging, and Energy Administration Are Prime-Notch
If the digital camera system is likely one of the foremost causes you wish to improve your cellphone this yr, then battery life needs to be the opposite purpose. Even from one yr to the subsequent, I am discovering the extra battery is noticeable. With pretty fixed use, I used to be capable of go from 7:50 AM to eight:00 PM with out charging and nonetheless have 29% battery life remaining.
Within the Battery Utilization part of Settings, it reported these figures had been with 7 hours and 50 minutes of the display screen being lively. On one other day, with 3 hours and 10 minutes of lively display screen time, I made it from 7:00 AM till 8:30 PM with 50% battery remaining.
The distinction in acknowledged battery life from final yr’s cellphone to this one is six hours of further battery life for taking part in movies—33 hours up from 27. That gained’t translate to a direct six hours longer utilization for all duties, but it surely needs to be a noticeable bump for every kind of normal duties.
On eSIM iPhone fashions, Apple has particularly stated it reclaimed the world beforehand used for a SIM slot for extra battery. So, there are {hardware} additions contributing to raised efficiency. On high of that, iOS 26’s adaptive battery administration may assist you get a bit of extra utilization time, too.
I additionally noticed sooner charging speeds than final yr’s mannequin. Wirelessly, this cellphone helps Qi2 25W, which may take a battery from 0 to 50% in about 20 minutes. You’ll need upgraded equipment for this, but it surely shouldn’t be too lengthy earlier than extra chargers launched are Qi2 25W succesful.
Ought to You Purchase the Apple iPhone 17 Professional?
The Apple iPhone 17 Pro is the perfect cellphone the corporate can supply proper now. If you would like probably the most superior and pocketable system, then this (or the Professional Max, for bigger pockets) is it. I like that Apple is continuous to make the Professional fashions a bit of larger and heavier within the identify of battery life, thermal efficiency, and digital camera options. So, in that regard, the corporate nailed the target and put out a extremely good high-end product.
It doesn’t harm that if you happen to like orange as a coloration, then this needs to be a compelling system for you. Orange isn’t a selected favourite coloration of mine, however I nonetheless discover this hue intriguing. It’s daring however not outlandish. It’s simply authentically colourful.
And whereas I don’t advocate shopping for any system strictly based mostly on its coloration, I don’t assume it’s a horrible excuse if you happen to want one ultimate purpose that can assist you justify the acquisition.
For those who had been hoping that this yr’s Professional cellphone would get smaller, lighter, or cheaper, then you definitely’re in all probability disillusioned. The excellent news is that Apple made a cellphone for you within the iPhone Air. It’s simply not fairly as Professional, although.
8/10
- SoC
-
A19 Professional chip
- Show
-
6.3-inches
- Storage
-
256GB, 512GB, or 1TB
- Ports
-
USB-C
The Apple iPhone 17 Professional is the corporate’s strongest smartphone so far, providing spectacular cameras and the A19 Professional chip. It permits you to do virtually something, together with capturing high quality movies.
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