iPhone 17 Series - The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

The iPhone 17 series was just announced, and I have strongly mixed feelings about these brand-new Apple offerings. On the one hand, the 17 series brings important hardware upgrades and that visual breeze to the eyes, as the first major redesign in years. On the other hand, it's another minor step up from the 16 series, which was a minor step up over the 15 series, and so on.

The options to choose from - iPhone 17 Air joins the party

When it comes to the options you get to choose from, you have the regular go-to options like iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. However, if you've always wanted a thinner alternative or something to match your Macbook Air energy, the iPhone Air is here to fulfill your desire. It's thinner, it's lighter, but it also has a smaller battery and a single camera.

Does it make sense to upgrade from the iPhone 16 models? Probably not. But if you are coming from an older generation or seeking the fresh looks and/or thinner profiles, the iPhone 17 series is the one for you. These are again, unmistakably iPhones, and combined with the new 3nm A19 SoCs, iOS 26 features, and perhaps the new AirPods Pro 3, these are still great phones to have.

iPhone 17 Series - what are these offering?

iPhone 17

Perhaps the biggest improvement this year was made to the regular iPhone 17, as it finally comes with a bigger and faster 6.3-inch ProMotion display. That means the refresh rate goes from 1Hz to 120Hz, and an always-on display is now available on the base iPhone. The display also goes to 3000 nits outdoors and is protected by Apple's new second-generation Ceramic Shield.

Apple equipped its base iPhone this year with the new A19 SoC, which comes with a 3nm Process Technology and is 20% faster compared to the A18 last year. This is a trend that Apple is now following, where they have more powerful processors for the Pro models, but the base SoCs are also ridiculously powerful when compared to some of the competition, so I can't exactly complain here.

The cameras are also improved with a 48MP Main Camera, a 48MP Ultrawide Camera, and a 24MP Front Camera with a square sensor, which allows landscape selfies at 18MP while holding the phone in portrait mode.

The design doesn't change at all for the base iPhone 17, other than maybe thinner bezels around the display, but it does have the new N1 wireless chip and faster 40W charging, allowing 0-50% in just 20 minutes. So, overall, it's a significant step up for the go-to iPhone.

iPhone Air

Apple has done away with the Plus, and instead of being the replacement, the iPhone Air is the new sleek & shiny member that still has a Titanium frame with the improved ceramic shield covering both the front and the back. It has a slightly bigger 6.5-inch display with the same 3000 nits of Outdoor Brightness and thinner bezels and an unrealistic 5.6 mm thickness, just like it came right out of a science fiction movie.

The iPhone Air also comes with the new A19 Pro SoC, but expect the performance to be affected due to major thermal constraints, and it also has 5 GPU cores instead of 6 like the 17 Pros. Another minus point will be the smaller battery capacity.

Apple is claiming all-day battery life, and at the same time, already selling an iPhone Air Magsafe battery pack for $99 to improve the battery life, so make of that what you will.

iPhone Air does get the better processor, the new N1 chip, the new C1X modem, and the internal hardware "plateau" redesign with ceramic shield on both sides. Combined with the slim form factor, it is one of the most visually appealing smartphones right now that also has good internals.

However, the single camera (same as the iPhone 17's main sensor), the single top speaker, the smaller battery, eSIM exclusivity, and the thermal limitations will act as bottlenecks, and you need to keep that in mind if you're deciding on getting one.

iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max

The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max are the major upgrades this year, with a redesigned chassis, an improved cooling system, and upgraded cameras. The display improvements are also there with the same 3000 nits outdoor brightness, and the Pro Max is bigger at 6.9 inches. These are better displays, of course, but expect similar clarity as all the iPhone 17 models have 460 ppi pixel density this year.

The redesigned chassis is a big part of the upgrades, as it does away with Titanium this year and, after many years, returns to an all-aluminum unibody design. That means the back is a part of the new, redesigned frame, and glass only exists in the small portion where it's required for the wireless charging.

As a bonus, the heat should dissipate better, and the new anodised orange and blue colors look great. There's also a vapour chamber inside the phone, for the very first time. Combine that with the full-fledged A19 Pro SoC (a 40% performance improvement over the A18 Pro), and the peak & sustained performance should get a significant boost over the iPhone 16 Pro.

The cameras are also improved this year, and the Telephoto camera is the one that received the biggest upgrade, as it's a new 48MP sensor (up from 12 MP last year), and it also enables 4x optical (8x optical-quality) zoom with 40x digital zoom. The 48MP Main & Ultrawide cameras should also perform better, and there is also that 24MP square sensor in the front, enabling 18MP horizontal selfies, just like the rest of the lineup.

For video, 4K 120 FPS and ProRes RAW recording are also available with storage options going up to 2TB, but there is no 8K Video recording (again). The Pro series is still a major step up over its predecessors.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

iPhone 17 series finally seems like the upgrade everybody was hoping for from the last four generations of iPhones, and in some areas, it truly is that. However, in other areas, it's not all sunshine & rainbows.

On the good side, the improvements to the base iPhone 17 and the complete overhaul of the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max finally make these worthy upgrades for iOS users. Even if you had an iPhone 16 series device, the new 17 series iPhones can still offer a good value if you upgrade, which is saying a lot. This is also the year when the base iPhone is an excellent value for the money.

Then comes the bad side of things, which is, of course, the limitations of the iPhone Air. It looks amazing, not going to lie, but it's more expensive than the regular iPhone 17 with a single camera, little to no thermal headroom, and a tiny Lithium-ion battery.

In fact, the new battery pack made exclusively to fit the iPhone Air clearly shows the real situation of this smartphone, regardless of Apple's marketing claims. I see no good reason for getting this phone over the other iPhone 17 variants.

Is there an ugly part here? Well, kind of, as at the heart of it all, iOS 26 is still pretty undercooked. While bringing in a visual overhaul, it still lags behind Google and Samsung when it comes to advanced AI capabilities.

Apple Intelligence has been a major disappointment with missing features and an underbaked Siri. This is affecting the entire Apple Ecosystem, but iOS 26 is a major victim. Even after so many hardware improvements, the software is still a major limitation for a flawless user experience.

In conclusion, this is still a great year to buy a new iPhone. The iPhone 17 is the best value for money, and the 17 Pros hold their own for intensive use cases. The iPhone Air is more of an exotic risk, and it may be a good option for some people, but I have a feeling that number is pretty low.

How much will the iPhone 17 cost you?

The prices have gone up in India, while US prices remain the same for iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max. The iPhone Air costs $100 more compared to last year's iPhone 16 Plus. All of the iPhone 17 variants start with 256GB of Internal Storage.

• iPhone 17 starts at $799/₹82900

• iPhone 17 Air starts at $999/₹119900 

• iPhone 17 Pro starts at $1099/₹134900

• iPhone 17 Pro Max starts at $1199/₹149900

All iPhone 17 models are available for Pre-order now and will be available for purchase from September 19th alongside the AirPods Pro 3 ($249) and the new Apple Watches (starting at $249 for the SE3, $499 for the Series 11, and $799 for the Ultra 3).