For all of the criticisms leveled at smartphone producers in 2025, the very fact stays that the very best phones are exceptionally good merchandise.
We’ve got to call out Samsung for its ropey One UI 7 rollout as a result of the Galaxy S25 Ultra is a near-perfect cellphone. We’ve got to find fault with Apple Intelligence as a result of the iPhone 16 Pro is a powerhouse in all of the ways in which truly matter.
My job as TechRadar’s Phones Editor has, in some ways, never been easier (everything is good now!). But it’s also harder than ever to find meaningful faults in products that are the product (sorry) of multi-generational innovation.
By all accounts, the iPhone 17 Pro will be another home run from Apple. However as somebody who’s already completely proud of the efficiency of my iPhone 16 Professional, I’m struggling to purchase into the September 9 Apple event hype.
To be clear: should you’re at present rocking an iPhone 13 or iPhone 14, I can completely admire that the iPhone 17 sequence seems like a serious step-up. And it is going to be.
However lots of the rumors we’ve been reporting on over the previous few weeks consult with upgrades over the iPhone 16 sequence, particularly. You’ve examine new telephoto cameras, smoother displays, and the minor redesign of the iPhone’s rear panel. That is how Apple will present its 2025 lineup on September 9 – as a year-on-year enchancment over its suite of present best iPhones.
In sure contexts, these upgrades will show significant (I’ve already written about why a 120Hz screen for the base model is a major win for entry-level iPhone buyers). However as an iPhone 16 Professional consumer, I’m not anticipating to see something subsequent week that’ll justify a $999 / £999 / AU$1,799 outlay on the iPhone 17 Professional.
Apple, after all, is conscious of this dilemma.
10 years in the past, the iPhone 6 felt like a serious improve over the iPhone 5s as a result of it was larger, sooner, longer-lasting, and appeared completely totally different from its predecessor. However as of late, Apple simply can’t make the identical mixture of enhancements to each new iPhone era.
Let me rephrase: Apple might make the iPhone 17 Professional larger, sooner, and longer-lasting than the iPhone 16 Professional – in reality, it most likely will do – however these enhancements can be nigh-on intangible to the common consumer (are you able to inform the distinction between the A17 Professional chipset and A18 Professional?). My iPhone 16 Professional is the right measurement, it’s loads quick, and I’m hardly ever let down by its battery life; if I weren’t TechRadar’s Telephones Editor, I’d most likely maintain onto it for one more three years.
Which begs the query: how does Apple persuade its current-gen Professional customers to improve? And will it even attempt to?
It’s true that, for some individuals, early-upgrade packages like these provided by Verizon and AT&T could make switching iPhones yearly a genuinely possible prospect. To promote lots of iPhone 17 Professionals, Apple doesn’t essentially should persuade somebody who dropped $999 / £999 / AU$1,799 on the iPhone 16 Professional to do the identical on its shiny new mannequin.
My iPhone 16 Professional is the right measurement, it’s loads quick, and I’m hardly ever let down by its battery life.
However this entire practice of thought has obtained me hoping that Apple pitches this 12 months’s iPhones to those that actually would profit from an improve. When the corporate debuts new MacBooks, it rightly makes spec comparisons with merchandise from a couple of generations in the past – not with no matter MacBook instantly preceded the brand new mannequin in query.
Granted, laptops have by no means been ‘improve yearly’ merchandise, however smartphones additionally not fall into that class. If Apple can acknowledge that reality at subsequent week’s product showcase, it will make the iPhone 17 Professional appear like an thrilling, significant improve in consequence.
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