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Buyer's Guide: iPhone 17, Air, Pro, or Pro Max? 40 Differences Compared

robertosh said:
I think Apple will have a bad time trying to sell the Air at that price point and lack of features. Just $99 more and you get a lot more with the Pro. They should have put at least the camera system of the 17 and stereo speakers and a price point of $899.
Maybe they can fix it with next year version, otherwise I think it will follow the path of the mini/plus.
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I don’t know about that. AU$200 for a Pro with a smaller screen. It’s AU$400 extra for the Pro Max. That extra can be a bit hard to justify. I’d like the extra battery of the Pro Max, and the better cameras. I could even use the LiDAR sensor! That $400 makes a difference though.
 
I think the chart should include the 16e. I think a large chuck of people should get that model given their priorities. The main things, I think, they would lose compared with iPhone 17 would be promotion and double the storage. But for $200 less (and that without counting widely available discounts), it is a better choice for many.
 
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drmacnut said:
I'll bet it's all about however much RAM it takes to run an on-device large-language model (LLM) to process our user data in the future. The 17's might be the first fully capable generation, but we won't see it put to use for another year at least.
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My hot take : 12 GB RAM is still irrelevant for any powerful local AI workload but I am expecting iOS 27+ to gatekeep features for those devices just like Apple Intelligence did with 8 GB RAM.

Those devices will age better if you plan to keep it 4+ years. if you change every 2-3 years dont worry about it i guess

If you want to have a great AI experience on your iPhone all the compute heavy tasks should be done via cloud computing never locally. Running a local LLM with a 2025 $4000 laptop is not even great for any heavy stuff so...
 
robertosh said:
I think Apple will have a bad time trying to sell the Air at that price point and lack of features. Just $99 more and you get a lot more with the Pro. They should have put at least the camera system of the 17 and stereo speakers and a price point of $899.
Maybe they can fix it with next year version, otherwise I think it will follow the path of the mini/plus.
Click to expand...
It's no difference than when they launched the Macbook Air. Compared to the Macbook, it had less features, and look at it now.
 
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Lwii2boo said:
My hot take : 12 GB RAM is still irrelevant for any powerful local AI workload but I am expecting iOS 27+ to gatekeep features for those devices just like Apple Intelligence did with 8 GB RAM.

Those devices will age better if you plan to keep it 4+ years. if you change every 2-3 years dont worry about it i guess

If you want to have a great AI experience on your iPhone all the compute heavy tasks should be done via cloud computing never locally. Running a local LLM with a 2025 $4000 laptop is not even great for any heavy stuff so...
Click to expand...
Interesting! I know enough about AI to not be a luddite, but I don't know a lot about the technicals of on-device vs cloud computing, e.g. what "more RAM" does to get me a better answer to my request. (I think I trust Apple more than any other company to keep my AI stuff "secure and safe" if something goes to the cloud, but I don't know enough about what those words mean yet.)

I also had that same thought about a future iOS gatekeeping certain features to 12GB, but it could also be something to do with a future Apple Intelligence+ (paid subscription) product that I'm sure Apple is developing. I don't think it'll happen for a couple more iOSes, though, maybe 28.

All that being said, I was set on the Pro Max yesterday but the regular 17 seems like such a good phone to replace my 13 Pro. I guess I'll wait for reviews/supplies to restock. (I do think this year's lineup will be a great revenue year for $AAPL!)
 
NoIdentity said:
Can aynone who has more experience with the proRAW give more information how much difference does it make? Considering that either format will be processed to a certain degree, what gets baked in the proRAW and what doesn't?

I would love to go for the lower model, but as a photographer is really hard to move away from the option of a RAW format. But since it isn't exactly RAW, is it really worth it?
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if you are a photographer, you should use your camera unless you stumble upon something amazing while the camera is at home. Just because you can doesn't mean you should...
 
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robertosh said:
I think Apple will have a bad time trying to sell the Air at that price point and lack of features. Just $99 more and you get a lot more with the Pro. They should have put at least the camera system of the 17 and stereo speakers and a price point of $899.
Maybe they can fix it with next year version, otherwise I think it will follow the path of the mini/plus.
Click to expand...
Agree. I like the Air, but there are just too many photography features missing and the mono (!!!) speaker is a real let down! The Pro it is then!
 
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I briefly considered getting the Air to replace my iPhone 13 Pro Max, but there’s just too many compromises for my taste. I also have a feeling the battery life will disappoint BIG TIME once the reviews are released.

Of course I could get the 17 Pro Max, but I really don’t use my phone as much as I used to and I don’t think I need the top of the line phone. Also, I prefer black, and at that price I want the color I want.

I’ll definitely consider the standard 17, but my hands are larger than average and I prefer the feel of the larger phone. It’s disappointing that they stopped making the Plus version.

I’m seriously leaning towards a 16 Pro Max while my carrier still has them. I get a Pro Max phone at a fantastic price with a trade-in that I can use for the next 4 years.
 
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tonie walker said:
so the Air is the second lowest tier before SE? No cinematic and a mono speaker but more expensive than the 17 due to screen size.
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Due to it lacking the features of the other iPhone models it seems to me that the Air is the lowest tier at second tier prices. It’s a hard sell, IMO.
 
“More differences”? For a consumer, the only meaningful difference between the iPhone and the Pro is the 4x optical telephoto lens. Is worth £300, maybe.
 
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cardfan said:
More marketing gibberish you skip over..
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I mean, I have been using RAW files for over a decade and I know their strenghts. The thing is iPhone is not like a regular camera and I just don't know in what way is their RAW format implemented. It could be just marketing, but is it?
skier777 said:
if you are a photographer, you should use your camera unless you stumble upon something amazing while the camera is at home. Just because you can doesn't mean you should...
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When is neede I'll use my camera, but having the convience of a capable snapshot camera along my phone is something I do consider.
 
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