I’m a bit torn with only a few days left to decide whether to keep my 17 Pro.
With my usual evening-only use, it seems fine, though I’ve noticed my eyes can feel slightly stingy in the mornings. Could be age, could be the change in temperature, but I do wonder if it’s a sign of mild eyestrain building up.
During the day, I’m on two Studio Displays plus my iPhone 11, and when I switch to the 17 Pro, the warm yellow OLED tint really stands out to me in a bad way. At night, with warm lighting, it’s less noticeable, but in daylight I see the familiar blotchy yellows I’ve disliked on past OLED iPhones. I usually keep brightness at around 40% for comfort—higher levels make whites look cleaner, but the extra brightness feels too harsh.
Interestingly, dark mode actually feels more comfortable this time around (first time ever), though I still find reading long passages of white text on black background tiring, so it’s not a long-term solution.
Then there’s the physical side of the phone. It’s light, but the shape feels a bit awkward in hand. I prefer using devices without a case, just a simple neoprene sleeve for my pocket, but I keep reading about the finish chipping easily, which makes me feel I have to buy a case. The camera bump also means my existing Belkin charger doesn’t work properly, so I’d need a MagSafe charger too. It all starts to feel like I’m paying extra just to make the phone usable but not the way I want, which isn’t ideal.
And there’s always the risk that Apple changes something in the OS that makes the device harder to live with down the line. I know—very much a first world problem—but it does sit in the back of my mind.
I can afford the phone, but it’s still a lot of money to spend on something I’m not 100% happy with. In a funny way, it’s made me appreciate my older iPhone more. 🙃
What really throws me is that this device does seem to be working for me. Did I just get lucky with a “unicorn” display? The iPhone Air I tried before was immediately unusable—shimmery, classic LG panel look. Yet with this one, I can even tolerate 120Hz, when in the past it gave me motion sickness. I find it hard to believe PWM smoothing alone is making such a difference. But it raises a concern: if this unit has a rare screen/build combo that works for me, what happens if the display ever needs replacing? Would I end up with a panel that I can’t use?
For the first time in nine years of buying iPhone flagships, I’ve got one that’s about 90% right for me—but I’m still not quite comfortable with it. It’s making me seriously consider a return, which is not where I expected to be.
