At a look
Knowledgeable’s Score
Professionals
- Extra storage for a similar worth as final 12 months’s mannequin
- 120Hz ProMotion and At all times-On Show
- Centre Stage and Twin Seize digicam options for socials
Cons
- AI options are nonetheless hit or miss
- Digital camera could possibly be improved
Our Verdict
After seasons of incremental upgrades and a few vital bumps this 12 months, the iPhone 17 has reached a degree the place it delivers a shocking quantity for its worth. Its show and efficiency are top-notch, its battery life is stable and charging is fast, and it has a terrific mix of high-end and enjoyable options. In the event you’re mulling over an improve, that is the time to do it, and that is the mannequin to get.
Worth When Reviewed
This worth will present the geolocated pricing textual content for product undefined
Finest Pricing As we speak
Finest Costs As we speak: Apple iPhone 17
Not all iPhone line-ups are created equal. In the event you’re not somebody who upgrades every year, some iterations are skippable, and a few gives you far more bang on your buck.
2024’s iPhone 16, for instance, was pretty missable. Sure, there was a good digicam improve, however due to the give attention to Apple Intelligence options – a few of which have nonetheless come to nothing – its most notable improvements have been the Digital camera Management and Motion buttons, they usually’re not universally cherished.
Then there are the classic years, and for the bottom mannequin iPhone, 2025 is one in all these. We will speculate that, due to the potential promoting energy of the eye-catchingly redesigned Professional fashions and the slender new iPhone Air, Apple felt snug showering its base mannequin with upgrades, secure within the data that iPhone fanboys and fangirls would nonetheless go for the pricier fashions.
However when you’re extra involved with quiet high quality, you’ll get lots on your £799/$799 with the iPhone 17.
Design & Construct
- Similar measurement, bigger display than final 12 months
- More durable display safety
- 5 color choices
Let’s be actual. The iPhone 17 seems very very like the iPhone 16. It’s a cellphone that’ll be extremely acquainted to anybody who’s left the home within the final 12 months.
However there’s a motive Apple has been slowly refining its base mannequin design and that’s as a result of it’s easy, elegant and beautiful. It’s leant into that magnificence this 12 months with 5 color choices that maybe err barely on the facet of tastefulness: black, white, mist blue, lavender and (everybody’s favorite) sage inexperienced.
I’ve the white mannequin in to check and in particular person, it’s very engaging. My solely criticism, and that’s largely for the needs of this assessment, is that it doesn’t come out properly in images: its matt, colour-infused again glass is ghostly and all of the pics I’ve taken of it appear like examples of paranormal images.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
The iPhone 17 is similar measurement (149.6mm x 71.5mm x 7.95mm), as final 12 months’s mannequin, with the identical matt aluminium body and rounded corners. Nevertheless, the display measurement has elevated ever so barely from 6.1 to six.3 inches, decreasing the bezel to a slender body. It’s a minor revision, however one which brings it in keeping with Android rivals such because the Pixel 10.
Apple claims that the ceramic protect safety on the display is thrice as scratch-resistant as final 12 months’s mannequin, so I’m residing life on the sting with no display protector. However, regardless of receiving just a few knocks, it’s nonetheless pristine.
Keep in mind that there’s no ceramic protect on the again glass, which is one in all numerous causes we’d all the time counsel shopping for and utilizing a case. I’m utilizing an official Apple silicone case with MagSafe in a delicate shade of lurid neon yellow that’s good sufficient however appears dear (£49.99/$49.99) for what it’s.
Another excuse is that the again glass is slippery and, except you need to clutch at your cellphone with a dying grip, it’s straightforward to drop. Nevertheless, the cellphone is mild within the hand at 177g, and except you’re a lover of huge telephones, its measurement is nearly superb.
It’s sufficiently small to slot in a night bag or most pockets, massive sufficient to comfortably watch movies on, but not massive sufficient to interrupt your nostril when you drop it in your face whereas scrolling.
There’s an argument to be made that there are extra buttons than are strictly mandatory
Apple says that the iPhone 17 is water-proof to a depth of 6 metres for as much as half-hour, however I received’t be the particular person to check this declare. By way of official rankings, its IP68 verifies it for a dunking in as much as 1.5m of freshwater and ensures it’s absolutely dust-proof.
There are 5 bodily facet buttons. Of the three on the left, two are for quantity and above them is the Motion button, which you should use to modify to silent, enter focus mode, Shazam a track (which is such a terrific characteristic), immediately translate and extra.
On the precise is the Facet button, to energy down or summon Siri, and under it the Digital camera Management button, which you should use to open after which management the digicam.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
I don’t love the digicam button as a result of it’s not the place I need it to be, however as I’m left-handed, that’s typically the case for me. Nonetheless, my right-handed colleagues don’t appear to be wowed by it both.
There’s an argument to be made that there are extra buttons than are strictly mandatory, particularly while you think about programmable accessibility options similar to again faucets, however when you don’t use them, you’ll be able to change them off.
Elsewhere, I preserve haptics switched off however when you use them for calls and alarms, you’ll discover they’re properly judged, and highly effective sufficient to warn you from a pocket or on a desk.
Display screen & Audio system
- At all times-On show
- 3,000 nits peak brightness
- 120Hz refresh price
A few of this 12 months’s key upgrades are to the display and the best way you utilize it.
What stays the identical is that it’s a Tremendous Retina XDR show, a high-spec OLED panel that gives a vivid viewing expertise, with glorious color copy.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Whereas it nonetheless has the identical typical (1,000 nits) and HDR (1,600 nits) brightness, and nonetheless drops right down to 1 nit minimal brightness to guard your eyes when you decide it up in a darkish room, it now peaks at 3,000 nits for outside use. This makes a giant distinction when utilizing your cellphone exterior.
My earlier cellphone was an iPhone 14, which peaked at 1,200 nits, which is simply not sufficient to learn open air on a sunny day – so it is a favorite improve for me.
One other change is the refresh price. For the primary time, Apple has given its base mannequin ProMotion expertise, which suggests adaptive refresh charges of as much as 120Hz.
In the event you’ve come from a 60Hz cellphone, what this implies for you is that your show might look smoother and extra responsive. You’re almost certainly to identify the distinction when gaming (minimising stutters and lag), however you may additionally discover it whereas scrolling.
What this implies for me is there’s one much less factor my Android-wielding colleagues can mock my iPhone for, 120Hz being commonplace throughout flagship and mid-range Android fashions.
It now peaks at 3,000 nits for outside use. This makes a giant distinction
ProMotion is among the options that’s facilitated one other improve: the At all times-On show. The important thing benefit of that is which you can all the time see the time and any notifications at a look.
However to my thoughts, there’s a drawback in that the addictive glowing rectangle I carry round with me is all the time drawing consideration to itself. I’ve discovered increasingly that I unconsciously decide it up whereas watching a movie or chatting to somebody. In the event you don’t just like the At all times-On characteristic, you’ll be able to flip it off in Settings. And I’ll positively try this quickly.
The ultimate factor to say in regards to the display is Dynamic Island, which arrived on the bottom mannequin final 12 months. It’s an interactive pill-shaped characteristic on the high of the display that works as a part of the Face ID authentication system and provides you controls and data for numerous native app options, together with timers, music and cellphone calls.
Probably the greatest issues about it’s that you just don’t want to determine learn how to use it. It’s simply there while you want it. That’s as a result of it solves an issue you’re truly more likely to face: learn how to rapidly entry one app while you’re in one other.
There’s excellent news when it comes to audio, too. Lastly, the iPhone 17 has a good pair of audio system that ship clear sound while you’re on a name or watching a video.
They’re even ok to hearken to music at shut quarters, though you’re clearly not going to be having fun with a really bassy expertise, and it’ll distort when you go too loud. However I used to deliver a Bluetooth speaker into the lavatory for bathe music – now I simply iPhone and go.
Specs & Efficiency
- Apple A19 chip
- 256GB/512GB storage choices
Apple has given the iPhone 17 one other recent chip improve this 12 months, to the A19. The A19 is a 3nm chip, with a 5-core Apple-designed GPU.
The A19 matches or betters the A18 Professional chip from final 12 months’s Professional fashions when it comes to efficiency benchmarks. This once more speaks to the iPhone’s worth for cash – the 16 Professional launched in September 2024, beginning at £999/$999.
This 12 months’s Air and Professional fashions run on the A19 Professional, so as soon as once more, all fashions are utilizing the identical collection of chipset.
This cellphone is a champ in terms of multitasking
The iPhone 17 does really feel seamless in use. Scrolling is stutter-free and gaming is easy, though downloading and taking part in massive video games similar to Genshin Impression will nonetheless heat up the cellphone, however to not a regarding diploma. And informal video games are a doddle.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
The hardware-accelerated ray tracing signifies that graphics-heavy video games show with extra visible depth and once more, much less likelihood of stuttering efficiency.
This cellphone is a champ in terms of multitasking. Whereas working, I are likely to open apps as I would like them, pasting from Safari to Slack or importing photos, jotting down notes in conferences and generally composing articles in Pages, with the consequence that I can have greater than a dozen apps open at a time. However I’ve but to have an issue or a crash.
This 12 months, the bottom mannequin begins with 256GB of storage, with the choice of 512GB for £999/$999.
iPhone 17 benchmarks
Cameras
- 48Mp predominant and 48Mp ultrawide rear lenses
- 18Mp selfie digicam
- Centre Stage and Twin Seize options
The digicam module seems precisely because it did final 12 months, with two lenses stacked on the high left. It’s a neater association than the diagonal formation on the iPhone 15. The one drawback with the positioning is, when you use your cellphone with no case, it would rock annoyingly when positioned on a tabletop.
However when it comes to specs and efficiency, there are upgrades from final 12 months. Whereas the 48Mp predominant digicam stays the identical, the ultrawide has been bumped up from 12Mp to 48Mp. The lens can seize far more information, which suggests extra element. It might make a distinction in macro pictures and it’s helpful to anybody who desires to print their images.
The ultrawide has a 120° subject of view and 13mm focal size, in comparison with the roughly 75° of the primary 48Mp Fusion lens, with its 26mm focal size. It’s straightforward to make use of: simply select 0.5x from the main focus choices or pinch the display.
But that’s because the iPhone camera is designed for someone like me, who is notably not a photographer, but rather a person who points their phone at nice-looking things and expects a nice-looking photo to appear.
And, generally speaking, it does. The iPhone 17’s colour reproduction is excellent and images rarely look over-processed.
Choose Portrait and you’ll get a decent shot of a friend. If the background bokeh doesn’t provide enough contrast, you can adjust it afterwards by playing with depth.
Hold your phone very close to a flower, and the macro will kick in, giving you a rich, detailed shot of the petal and stem.
The iPhone camera is designed for someone like me, who is notably not a photographer
Low-light photography, however, is still not particularly impressive. It’s come a long way since the iPhone 14, whose low-light shots were uniformly grainy. But I live in the city and the iPhone 17 struggles with light pollution, opting to flood most nighttime shots with a weird grey light. Even so, the detail and crispness are much improved compared to three generations ago.
Even less impressive is the zoom. The iPhone 17 has a 4x optical zoom range, from 0.5x on the ultrawide to 2x on the main lens, but the images it produces at 2x, especially in low light, are pretty blurry and are unlikely to make it into your favourites folder.
Beyond this, it has a digital zoom of up to 10x, but this is achieved (as it is on pretty much any camera phone without a telephoto lens) by enlarging and cropping the image without adjusting the lens. So, if you’re a frequent gig-goer and regularly want to snap pics of a faraway stage, you might want to invest in an iPhone 17 Pro model – or go for one of our recommended camera phone picks.
But Apple knows its audience, and it has added a couple of cool new features to its selfie camera.
The first is bringing Centre Stage to its front camera. By using a larger, square sensor instead of the traditional rectangular one, the iPhone’s software can compose the shot as needed to keep you – and any friends you’re posing with – in the middle of the frame.
This means you don’t have to turn your phone from portrait to landscape to get everyone in. After playing around with it for a while, I can say it does work, although it’s not quite as dynamic as it appears in Apple promos.
The second is a video feature involving both cameras. Switch on Dual Capture and you’ll record what you’re looking at (gigs and sporting events seem the most likely use cases) and your own reaction to it.
While I can’t see myself using it, I’ve already spotted Dual Capture videos a few times on Instagram and TikTok. Well played, Apple.
Battery Life & Charging
- 30 hours’ video playback
- MagSafe charging
Apple says that video playback has increased to 30 hours on the iPhone 17, up from 22 hours on the iPhone 16. This indicates quite a significant boost in battery life.
During the week, I’m a heavy phone user. I start the day reading the news or a book on my phone. I have Slack open all through the working day, and I generally listen to music while I work as well. If I run or go for a walk in the evening, the iPhone comes with me for music and my running app. Then there’s usually a bit of scrolling before bed.
At the weekend, when I’m not on my phone as much, I can get almost two days of use
Despite all of that, I can still get through a day without needing to charge the iPhone 17.
At the weekend, when I’m not on my phone as much, I can get almost two days of use before I have to plug it in. The iPhone 17 comes with a USB-C charging cable, but, as you’d expect now, no adapter.
Having previously used an iPhone that charged via Lightning cable, USB-C is a huge upgrade. Unusually, I don’t mind Apple’s proprietary technology – but it has to be better than alternatives, which the Lightning cable was very much not.
But you don’t need to use a cable at all, as the iPhone 17 supports MagSafe charging accessories, as well as wider Qi2 charging, something Android is only starting to catch up with.
Apple claims that the iPhone 17 can charge up to 50% in 20 minutes if you use a 40W adapter or higher. Wireless charging or a 30W adapter will get you up to 50% in half an hour.
Testing this out is when I discovered that I don’t have a fast charger in the house. The fastest I was able to get, using whatever old adapter I found in a drawer, was around 48% in half an hour. But I’ll be updating this review and the benchmarks to reflect how it works with a brand-spanking-new 40W charger.
In the meantime, you can see the iPhone 17 review by my colleague David Worth in our sibling publication Macworld. He was in a position to verify the 50% cost in 20 minutes declare.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Software program and Apps
- Runs on iOS 26
- AI options blended
The iPhone 17 runs the newly launched iOS 26, with its Liquid Glass redesign. Regardless of the truth that that is Apple’s largest software program redesign since iOS 7 in 2013, it’s already pale into the background in a ho-hum means.
In some respects, it is a good factor. I don’t need an interface that I continuously discover, and, in truth, my solely difficulty with iOS 26 entails some third-party apps which might be considerably over-engineered to profit from the brand new design. Slack is one such offender, with a textual content field that glows irritatingly while you click on on it.
I don’t are likely to ask Siri for something today. We get alongside significantly better that means
The lock display and residential display customisations are enjoyable, though I think about that most individuals will go away their icons alone slightly than tinting them and making them tougher to establish.
Different options are tiny, useful upgrades, like having the ability to change the default snooze timer.
I’ve discovered the AI options to be hit or miss. I initially cherished Apple Music’s AutoMix, which suggests you by no means must energy by means of useless air between songs when operating, however after a string of cacophonous mixes, I needed to change it off.
In the meantime, Picture Clear Up is beneficial when you don’t ask an excessive amount of of it. Voicemail transcriptions have been a combination of correct and simply alarmingly unsuitable, and I don’t are likely to ask Siri for something today. We get alongside significantly better that means.
Apple will help the iPhone 17 with software program updates and safety patches for a minimum of 5 years, and probably as much as seven.
Worth and Availability
As soon as once more, Apple has stored the iPhone 17 on the identical worth as its predecessor, though it’s truly a greater deal.
For £799/$799 you’ll get 256GB of storage, 512GB for £999/$999. That’s far more cost-effective than final 12 months, the place the identical £799/$799 solely netted you 128GB of storage, whereas 256GB and 512GB value £899/$899 and £1,099/$1,099 respectively.
This pricing places it head-to-head with the Google Pixel 10. In the event you can’t determine between the 2, try our Pixel 10 versus iPhone 17 specs comparability. The Pixel 10 is the higher guess if you need a zoom lens or stable AI options – however in any other case, it’ll in all probability come right down to your most popular working system.
You should purchase the iPhone 17 within the UK from retailers together with Apple, Currys and Amazon, or from EE, O2, Vodafone and different cellphone suppliers.
Within the US, you should buy from numerous retailers, together with Apple itself.
See extra alternate options in our full information to the very best telephones you should buy.
Do you have to purchase the iPhone 17?
For many iPhone customers, upgrading isn’t a query of if however when. Let’s not child ourselves: we’re all locked into the ecosystem and ultimately, we’ll be shopping for one other iPhone. iPhone tremendous followers and large spenders will benefit from the Professional fashions this 12 months, and those that desire a pocket-sized speaking level will go for the Air.
However for the remainder of us, who doubtless have an ageing mannequin and are questioning whether or not it’s price going for the brand new iPhone 17 or getting final 12 months’s mannequin at a reduction, I’d say that that is the 12 months to spend money on a shiny new cellphone. Until you already personal an iPhone 16, you’ll discover an actual distinction when you’re upgrading.
Specs
- Working system: iOS 26
- Show: 6.1-inch Tremendous Retina XDR show
- Chipset: A19
- Storage: 256GB/512GB
- Rear Cameras: 48Mp f/1.6 predominant digicam, 48Mp f/2.2 ultrawide digicam
- Entrance digicam: 18Mp f/1.9 Centre Stage digicam
- Charging: USB-C quick PD 2.0 charging, 25W wi-fi MagSafe charging, 25W wi-fi Qi 2 charging, 4.5W reverse wired
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, 5G NFC
- Water resistance: IP68
- Dimensions: 149.6mm x 71.5mm x 7.95mm
- Weight: 177g
- Colors: Black, White, Mist Blue, Lavender, Sage