The wait is over, and our verdicts on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPhone Air are in. We've been using these phones as our daily drivers since they were announced, shot plenty of photos and subjected them to our own benchmarking and battery tests.
Long story short, these phones are impressive. If you're considering whether or not to upgrade this year, consider these facts: Apple's finally added ProMotion to the regular iPhone 17, the brand new iPhone Air is the sleekest iPhone every while the 17 Pro packs in vapor cooling and the best battery life we've ever seen in an iPhone.
Now, I understand there's a lot of information and a lot of detail to wade through for each device. So while you should absolutely go and read our full reviews of each phone, I'm going to break down some of the core points of each review in this blog. It'll give you the best snapshot on some of the most interesting features of these new phones.
New iPhone Reviews Scorecard
- iPhone 17: ★★★★½ "The iPhone 17 gets some of the biggest upgrades in years for Apple's entry-level flagship, all without costing any more than previous models."
- iPhone Air: ★★★½ The iPhone Air delivers remarkable performance in a super thin and light design that’s also surprisingly tough, but you have to make some trade-offs for its $999 price."
- iPhone 17 Pro: ★★★★ "Smaller than its Pro Max sibling, the iPhone 17 Pro gets all the same upgrades that make it a stellar flagship, including double the storage, brilliant Center Stage camera, and a redesign that makes it look like an instant classic. The only thing missing is more AI features."
- iPhone 17 Pro Max: ★★★★½ "The iPhone 17 Pro Max is a stellar flagship phone based on my testing. You get a more powerful zoom, better sustained performance helped by vapor chamber cooling and improved durability in a head-turning design with the longest iPhone battery life ever. Just don’t expect “wow” AI features."
iPhone pre-orders
As far as iPhone 17 pre-order deals are concerned, sales if you opt to buy from Apple, you can get a trade-in credit from $40 (for an iPhone 8) to $700 (for an iPhone 16 Pro Max).
If you opt to buy from a carrier, you can get up to $1,100 in credits with trade-in of an eligible device in any condition. For example, both T-Mobile and Verizon are offering the iPhone 17 Pro for free with trade-in and select data plans.
You can find all the information you need on iPhone 17 pre-orders right here.
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The iPhone most people should get
If you're simply looking for the recommendation on which iPhone to get, for most people that will be this year's iPhone 17. The reason is simple: Apple's entry-level device actually gets some of the biggest upgrades in years.
Personally, I'm so glad to see Apple has finally brought its 120Hz ProMotion adaptative refresh rate to the base iPhone.
"Honestly, it makes a big difference as everything on the iPhone 17 panel has this fluid look to it," agrees my colleague John Velasco in his review.
What's also great about the regular iPhone 17 is storage starts at 256GB but the price has stayed the same at $799 / £799 / AU$1,399. You're getting a big upgrade for the same price.
So, what are the verdicts?
Let's get the most important part of this right out in front. How did the phones score?
Here are the star ratings:
- iPhone 17 ★★★★½
- iPhone 17 Pro ★★★★
- iPhone 17 Pro Max: ★★★★½
- iPhone Air: ★★★½
We test each phone thoroughly before we post a review. This means we live with the phone to test all its new features in a real-world setting. We also put the phones through a series of like-for-like stress tests designed to measure how elements like the processor and battery hold up. This tells us how the phones perform against their predecessors and market rivals. And we take a lot of photos.
Finally, we sum everything up in a score out of five. Here's how it breaks down:
1 star - Very poor and among worst products we’ve tested
2 stars - Poor and not recommended
2.5 stars - Below average and not recommended
3 stars - Good but there are better options
3.5 stars - Very good
4 stars - Excellent and recommended
4.5 stars - Superb and among best in class highly recommended
5 stars - Best of the best and close to perfect
You can find more information about how we test here.
iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max: Camera comparisons
One of the biggest reasons you may be tempted by the iPhone 17 Pro or Pro Max over the regular iPhone 17 is that camera upgrade. The additional telephoto lens on the Pro models has been upgraded to 48MP up from 12MP.
There's also a new variable aperture system and multi-cam simultaneous video recording. Here's how the cameras on all four models stack up:
iPhone 17 |
iPhone 17 Air |
iPhone 17 Pro |
iPhone 17 Pro Max |
|
Rear cameras |
48MP (main), 12MP (ultrawide) |
48MP |
48MP (main), 48MP (ultrawide), 48MP telephoto (3.5x optical zoom) |
48MP (main), 48MP (ultrawide), 48MP telephoto (3.5x optical zoom) |
Front camera |
24MP |
24MP |
24MP |
24MP |
And here's the results from some of our test photos gathered during the review process.
iPhone 17 Pro vs Pixel 10 Pro XL (no zoom)
iPhone 17 Pro Max vs Galaxy S25 Ultra (2x and 10x zoom)
iPhone 17 Pro camera sample shots
iPhone 17 vs iPhone 17 Pro vs iPhone Air: battery life
Battery life is one of the most important features of any phone and this year's iPhones make huge gains in the battery department. Not least, the iPhone 17 Pro Max, which blew us away with its longevity.
One of our battery tests involves surfing the web over 5G at 150 nits of screen brightness and measuring how long the phone lasts. We compared the iPhone 17, 17 Pro Max and Air alongside Samsung's Galaxy S25 Edge and S25 Ultra.
Here are the results:
Web surfing |
|
iPhone Air |
12:02 |
iPhone 17 |
12:47 |
iPhone 17 Pro Max |
17:54 |
Galaxy S25 Edge |
11:48 |
Galaxy S25 Ultra |
14:27 |
As you can see, the iPhone Air turned in a decent 12 hours despite its razor thin design. That’s nearly a half hour better than the Galaxy S25 Ultra and even the regular iPhone 17 lasted 45 minutes longer.
But the iPhone 17 Pro Max, as you'd expect, takes the crown. It managed almost 18 hours before the battery died. If you want endurance, the iPhone 17 Pro Max should be top of your list.
Check out our iPhone 17 Pro video review
We're summarising all the key points from our reviews right here, but you can also check out our thoughts on the Tom's Guide YouTube channel. If you haven't already, subscribe to make sure you never miss our latest video.
Here's what our Global Editor-in-Chief, Mark Spoonauer, thought of the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max.
iPhone 17 models: How much do they cost?
Apple revealed all the prices for the phones when it unveiled them on September 9. If you need a refresher, here's the pricing for all models depending on storage:
iPhone |
Storage |
Price |
iPhone 17 |
256GB |
$799 / £799 / AU$1,399 |
iPhone 17 |
512GB |
$999 / £999 / AU$1,799 |
iPhone 17 Pro |
256GB |
$1,199/ £1,199 / AU$2,149 |
iPhone 17 Pro |
512GB |
$1,399 / £1,399 / AU$2,599 |
iPhone 17 Pro |
1TB |
$1,599 / £1,599 / AU$2,999 |
iPhone 17 Pro |
2TB |
$1,999 / £1,999 / AU$3,799 |
iPhone 17 Pro Max |
256GB |
$1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,199 |
iPhone 17 Pro Max |
512GB |
$1,399 / £1,399 / AU$2,599 |
iPhone 17 Pro Max |
1TB |
$1,599 / £1,599 / AU$2,999 |
iPhone 17 Pro Max |
2TB |
$1,999 / £1,999 / AU$3,799 |
iPhone Air |
256GB |
$999 / £999 / A$1,799 |
iPhone Air |
512GB |
$1,199 / £1,199 / A$2,199 |
iPhone Air |
1TB |
$1,399 / £1,399 / A$2,599 |
iPhone 17 pre-orders are live, but unless you already put your order in, chances are you won’t receive your phone on the September 19 launch day. Here are the expected delivery dates for each model.
iPhone 17 series: Benchmarking performance
As part of our review process, we put all the latest iPhone models through a series of benchmarking tests. This kind of number-crunching isn't for everyone, but it gives us a cold, hard look at the performance on offer.
The iPhone 17, 17 Pro and Pro Max and iPhone Air were all tested on GeekBench, which measures single and multi-core overall performance and 3DMark which tests graphics capability. You'll want to pay attention to that if you plan to use your iPhone for gaming. Finally, we record how long it takes to export a video in Adobe Rush.
Here's how each iPhone measured up.
Geekbench |
Adobe Premiere Rush |
3DMark |
|
iPhone 17 Pro Max |
3,871 / 9,968 |
22 seconds |
46.6 / 12,260 (Solar Bay Unlimited) |
iPhone 17 Pro |
3,834 / 9,988 |
22 seconds |
158.37 (WildLife Original Unlimited) |
iPhone 17 |
3,701 / 9,460 |
22 seconds |
130.97 (WildLife Original Unlimited) |
iPhone Air |
3,723 / 9,665 |
23 seconds |
29.5 fps / 7,764 (Solar Bay Unlimited) |
Apple Watch Series 11, Ultra 3 and SE reviews
We're here to talk iPhones, but before we continue, it's worth pointing out the Apple Watch is one of the best accessories you can pair with your new iPhone. Apple announced three new variants at this year's September event — and we've reviewed all three.
If you're considering upgrading your smartwatch, make sure you check out our in-depth reviews below.
iPhone Air vs Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge: Which thin phone is best?
Now the iPhone Air is here and we've had a chance to test it out, the obvious next question is how it compares to the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge.
Firstly, here's how the specs compare:
iPhone Air |
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge |
|
Starting price |
$999 / £999 / AU$1,799 |
$1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,849 |
Screen size |
6.5-inch Super Retina XDR display |
6.7-inch AMOLED |
Refresh rate |
120Hz |
120Hz |
Chipset |
A19 Pro |
Snapdragon 8 Elite |
Storage |
256GB, 512GB, 1TB |
256GB, 512GB |
Rear cameras |
48MP Fusion |
200MP main, 12MP ultrawide |
Front camera |
18MP Center Stage |
12MP |
Battery life (Hrs:Mins) |
12:02 (web surfing) |
11:48 (web surfing) |
Size |
6.2 x 2.9 x 0.22 inches (156.2 x 74.7 x 5.64mm) |
6.23 x 2.98 x 0.23 inches (75.6 X 158.2 X 5.8mm) |
Weight |
5.82 ounces (165 grams) |
5.75 ounces (163 grams) |
Colors |
Sky Blue, Light Gold, Cloud White, Space Black |
Titanium Silver, Titanium Jetblack, Titanium Icyblue |
As you can see, the iPhone Air is the better option if you're looking for affordability. It undercuts the Galaxy S25 Edge at each different storage option. It also scores higher on our battery tests, which is something you want to factor in when buying a super-thin device.
The two phones both scale back the number of rear cameras you'd normally expect from a premium handset, though the Galaxy S25 Edge is likely the better bet for photographers. In addition to its 200MP main camera, Samsung's phone offers a 12MP ultrawide lens. The iPhone Air features a single rear camera powered by a 48MP sensor.
Here's how the cameras fared against each other:
Want to know even more about how these phones compare? Check out my colleague, Phil Michael's, in-depth article on the iPhone Air vs Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge.
Testing the iPhone 17 selfie camera
One of the biggest improvements to the iPhone 17 this year is the front-facing selfie camera. Apple has equipped it with an 18MP Center Stage front camera with a square sensor. That means you can grab your shot and choose between landscape or portrait without having to turn the phone.
Here's what John had to say about it in the review: "When it comes to performance, the iPhone 17 matches the iPhone 16’s detail capture with the few freckles on my nose and fabric material of my collared shirt. But the important thing here is that the iPhone 17 has a wider field of view, which is able to get the same level of details and definition because of its larger 18MP sensor."
Check out some of his selfies below:
iPhone 17 Pro Max video capture
Videographers will find a lot to like about the iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera prowess. Apple's top-tier device will now support ProRes RAW — a first for smartphones. Another first is Genlock support, which allows for precise syncing across multiple cameras.
Like the base iPhone 17, the Pro Max has a front-facing Center Stage camera but phone also offers Dual Capture, letting you can record using the front and rear cameras at the same time.
During our testing, we found the stabilization had improved and the iPhone 17 Pro Max cemented its position as one of the very best smartphones you can buy for video capture. Here's an examples from our review. To test the video quality, my colleague Mark shot this 4K clip by the water and zoomed in on a boat at 24x. The iPhone 17 Pro Max did a great job exposing some of the trees in the shadows.
Take a look for yourself.
What about that Orange color, eh?
Off all the iPhone colors of recent memory, the iPhone 17 Pro in Orange has become my new favorite. Just from the photos, I can see it really pops and my colleague John Velasco agrees in his review.
"I’m in love with the new redesign, it’s exactly what was needed to evolve the Pro’s design language. The first thing I notice is the two-toned design of the iPhone 17 Pro, which really stands out with the new Orange color," John wrote.
"At the right angle, the deeper orange shade of the aluminum frame contrasts nicely with the lighter shade of the back casing."
You know what? I dig orange tech. My personal smartphone history includes the "Oh So Orange" Pixel 4, and I loved that phone. Tom's Guide's audio editor Tammy Rogers agrees with me. She's buying the iPhone 17 Pro Max — but only because it's orange.
Apple has ditched last year's titanium in favor of an aerospace-grade 7000-series aluminum alloy. According to our testing, it doesn’t appear to compromise its construction and we're happy to report the phone feels incredibly solid. That's helped by Ceramic Shield 2 covers for the front and back of the phone.
A new look for the Pros
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max see the biggest changes to design in the iPhone lineup, and it could prove divisive among iPhone fans. Tom Pritchard of Tom's Guide doesn't much care for the new look, though he acknowledges there's some motivation on Apple's part to change up the design of the phones to improve performance.
In his iPhone 17 Pro Max review, Mark Spoonauer calls the new look a risk that pays off: "Some may not like it, but to me, it actually feels more Pro."
Measuring sustained performance
Does the new vapor chamber on board the iPhone 17 Pro Max make a difference in helping the phone maintain performance over time? We decided to put that to the test in our review, running the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Stress Test, which simulates a 20-minute gaming session. The results are below.
Stability Score (20 mins) |
Stability Score 2nd (40 mins) |
Average temperature (40 mins) |
|
iPhone 17 Pro Max |
65.2% |
68.4% |
100.66 |
iPhone Air |
65.1% |
58.8% |
96.06 |
iPhone 16 Pro Max |
54.7% |
67.7% |
101.12 |
Galaxy S25 Edge |
41.9% |
44.3% |
95.78 |
Galaxy S25 Ultra |
49.3% |
52.5% |
100.32 |
From the looks of it, the iPhone 17 Pro Max's stability score went up over time, suggesting that the A19 Pro didn't begin to flag as things heated up. You can read more in our full report on iPhone 17 Pro sustained performance testing.
