iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 17 Pro Buyer's Guide: 25 Changes Compared

[MacRumors]

The iPhone 17 Pro launches next week, offering 25 changes and improvements over its predecessor from last year. Here's everything that's different between the two generations.

The iPhone 17 Pro introduces an aluminum unibody design, the A19 Pro chip, a new front-facing camera with Center Stage, and a 48-megapixel telephoto camera. Beyond these headline features, how much of an improvement does the ‌iPhone 17 Pro really offer?

This guide breaks down the differences between the iPhone 16 Pro and ‌iPhone 17 Pro models to help you understand all of the changes and determine whether these enhancements are enough to justify making the switch‌.

iPhone 16 Pro (2024)	iPhone 17 Pro (2025)
iPhone 16 Pro: Weighs 7.03 ounces (199 grams) iPhone 16 Pro Max: Weighs 7.99 ounces (227 grams)	iPhone 17 Pro: Weighs 7.27 ounces (206 grams) iPhone 17 Pro Max: Weighs 8.22 ounces (233 grams)
8.25 mm thickness	8.75 mm thickness
Titanium frame	Aluminum unibody
Glass rounded square camera bump	Full-width rounded rectangle aluminum camera plateau
Glass back	Ceramic Shield back
Ceramic Shield front	Ceramic Shield 2 front with 3x better scratch resistance
2,000 nits peak display brightness (outdoor)	3,000 nits peak display brightness (outdoor)
A18 Pro chip (N3E)	A19 Pro chip (N3P)
6-core GPU	6-core GPU with Neural Accelerators
	Apple N1 chip for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity	Bluetooth 6 connectivity
12-megapixel TrueDepth camera	18-megapixel TrueDepth camera
Tap to zoom on front-facing camera	Tap to zoom and rotate on front-facing camera
	Center Stage front-facing camera
	Ultra-stabilized video on front-facing camera
	Dual Capture (up to 4K Dolby Vision at 30 fps)
12-megapixel Telephoto camera	48-megapixel Fusion Telephoto camera
0.5x, 1x, 2x, and 5x optical zoom options	0.5x, 1x, 2x, 4x, and 8x optical zoom options
	ProRes RAW capture support
	Genlock support
iPhone 16 Pro: Up to 27-hour battery life iPhone 16 Pro Max: Up to 33-hour battery life	iPhone 17 Pro: Up to 33-hour battery life iPhone 17 Pro Max: Up to 39-hour battery life
iPhone 16 Pro: MagSafe wireless charging up to 22W with 30W adapter or higher iPhone 16 Pro Max: MagSafe wireless charging up to 25W with 30W adapter or higher	MagSafe wireless charging up to 25W with 30W adapter or higher
iPhone 16 Pro: Up to 50% charge in 30 minutes with 20W adapter or higher iPhone 16 Pro Max: Up to 50% charge in 35 minutes with 20W adapter or higher	iPhone 17 Pro: Up to 50% charge in 20 minutes with 40W adapter or higher iPhone 17 Pro Max: Up to 50% charge in 20 minutes with 40W adapter or higher
iPhone 16 Pro: Available with 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB storage iPhone 16 Pro Max: Available with 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB storage	iPhone 17 Pro: Available with 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB storage iPhone 17 Pro Max: Available with 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB storage
Available in Desert, Natural, White, and Black	Available in Silver, Deep Blue, and Cosmic Orange

The shift from a titanium frame and glass back to a thicker aluminum unibody with Ceramic Shield 2 is one of the most striking updates in years, delivering a design that is not only more durable but also offers three times better scratch resistance and enables longer battery life. Battery life improves meaningfully, rising from 27 hours on the iPhone 16 Pro to 33 hours, and from 33 to 39 hours on the Pro Max. Charging is also considerably faster, reaching 50% in 20 minutes with a 40W adapter.

Display performance also sees a measurable boost, with peak outdoor brightness rising from 2,000 to 3,000 nits—a 50% increase that will be most noticeable for users who frequently use their device in bright environments. Similarly, the A19 Pro chip introduces efficiency improvements through its move to TSMC's N3P process and incorporates Neural Accelerators into its GPU, giving it advantages in AI-driven tasks and intense gaming.

The most significant leap comes in photography and videography. The front-facing camera now features an 18-megapixel sensor, Center Stage, and ultra-stabilized video, making the device much more appealing for video calls, selfies, and content creation. On the rear, the jump to a 48-megapixel telephoto lens with up to 8x optical zoom is a major increase in versatility. Support for ProRes RAW, Genlock, and Dual Capture further cements its credentials as a creator-focused device.

While the iPhone 17 Pro is clearly positioned toward professionals and "pro-sumers" more than ever, even casual users will appreciate its longer battery life, brighter display, and more advanced cameras. Overall, the iPhone 17 Pro seems to offer a fairly substantial upgrade over its predecessor.


Article Link: iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 17 Pro Buyer's Guide: 25 Changes Compared

 

[t0rqx]

Classic Apple Marketing Manipulations.

Advertising with 8 x optical zoom quality, in reality it got downgraded from 5 x to 4 x optical.

Advertising with maximum battery improvement while the most market share get a lower percentage because of the inclusion of simcard slot.

Apple Intelligence...say no more.

 

[abatabia]

If you have a 16 pro you’re good for quite a while.

 

[slippery-pete]

I am just here for the complaints.

 

[dannyyankou]

Interesting that the 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max both reach a 50% charge in 20 minutes, despite the 17PM having a nearly 20% larger battery. It must take in more watts. Or maybe it has better thermodynamics from having a larger aluminum footprint.

 

[Dashey]

Classic Apple Marketing Manipulations.

Advertising with 8 x optical zoom quality, in reality it got downgraded from 5 x to 4 x optical.

Advertising with maximum battery improvement while the most market share get a lower percentage because of the inclusion of simcard slot.

Apple Intelligence...say no more.

This is a horrible take. The telephoto is such a good upgrade. A 56% larger 48 megapixel sensor at a much more useable focal length, and the 8x claim is actually true. It is 12 megapixels at 8x, whereas last year it was 12 megapixels at 5x. I would much prefer this years cameras over last years.

 

[terminator-jq]

Keeping my 16 Pro Max for another year until the iPhone fold. It will be nice to have a new form factor.

 

[iMe]

Most people don´t update their phones on a year to year basis - hence a comparison to phones like iPhone 12 Pro, 13 pro and iPhone 14pro would be of bigger interest to potential buyers than this repeated this is better than last years edition. that said I understand the interest in comparing to what has changed over last years phone. however I am amazed at how often the same info can be posted in slightly different variants - whilst there is not a single article I've seen that is specifically targeting those that will actually update and cater with image comparisons, feature comparisons and a real world use case example for someone like me coming from an iPhone 13 Pro.

 

[ELman]

I bought my 16 Pro for Apple Intelligence. What a big lie that was.

 

[nsengbush]

Most people don´t update their phones on a year to year basis - hence a comparison to phones like iPhone 12 Pro, 13 pro and iPhone 14pro would be of bigger interest to potential buyers than this repeated this is better than last years edition. that said I understand the interest in comparing to what has changed over last years phone. however I am amazed at how often the same info can be posted in slightly different variants - whilst there is not a single article I've seen that is specifically targeting those that will actually update and cater with image comparisons, feature comparisons and a real world use case example for someone like me coming from an iPhone 13 Pro.

That makes sense but there are several things that have gotten worse since last year. Thicker, heavier, and switching back to aluminum which is more brittle.

 

[julesme]

New telephoto lens (48MP fusion) looks excellent, but I’m disappointed there wasn’t a sensor upgrade to the main lens.

2x or 3x photos don’t look that great on 16Pro (in my opinion)…and they get downgraded to 12MP as soon as you go past 1x zoom.

 

[Falhófnir]

I do think the focus is more on the Air this year, that seems more likely to grab headlines and it's what I've seen advertised with the extremely thin profile. The Pros get a solid but unremarkable update, almost exactly par for what you'd expect with recent models. The only thing possibly missing this year is a big tentpole feature, like AI last year, Ti (or USB C?) before that, then Dynamic island, ProMotion etc. I don't think there's really any one standout upgrade this year, unless you count the 'redesign' which tbh isn't something I can see driving people to go out and buy!

 

[VisceralRealist]

It’s good that they didn’t limit any features to the Pro Max other than the 2TB option.

 

[DogHouseDub]

Is thickness measured at the smallest or largest point?

 

[Kire-x]

This is a horrible take. The telephoto is such a good upgrade. A 56% larger 48 megapixel sensor at a much more useable focal length, and the 8x claim is actually true. It is 12 megapixels at 8x, whereas last year it was 12 megapixels at 5x. I would much prefer this years cameras over last years.

It is definitely an upgrade. Even cropping to 5x you’re still going to have a 26% larger sensor area plus increased resolution you can take advantage of with enough light (or fancy ML algorithms).

I am really disappointed they didn’t accomplish an ACTUAL 4 lens system where the telephoto zooms from 4x to 8x within the periscope build. I was thinking that was their answer to four lens competitors while keeping the 3 lens look. Everything is there, giant “plateau” for the room, folded lens for the necessary length. Thought they might pull something similar on the Air as well with some 18mm equivalent to 32mm magic.

I’m sure they’re looking into it and it might even be they built the style for it in the event they manage to accomplish it during this design’s run, even if they do never actually achieve it, like getting Face ID thin enough for the MacBook notch.

2nm for power efficiency to shrink the battery again and gain the needed space, variable aperture for the lens performance at two focal lengths. Probably need to figure out how to make it so it’s shock resistant enough is the other missing piece.

 

[dmk1974]

Is thickness measured at the smallest or largest point?

Smallest. The cameras are over 12mm thick.

 

[SFjohn]

That makes sense but there are several things that have gotten worse since last year. Thicker, heavier, and switching back to aluminum which is more brittle.

Brittle depends on the alloy, we won’t know how it performs until it’s in users hands. As to a step back, there are many advantages to aluminum:

Why Apple replaced titanium with aluminum on iPhone 17 Pro

Apple has swapped titanium for aluminum on the iPhone 17 Pro. Here’s why aluminum won out, with a comparison of durability, performance, and design.

www.ithinkdiff.com

 

[tonie walker]

I bought my 16 Pro for Apple Intelligence. What a big lie that was.

try again this time so it will be fool me twice

 

[AncTreat5358]

It's interesting that iPhone 17 Pro has Bluetooth 6, whereas Watch series 11 still has Bluetooth 5 (according to the Watch comparison page on Apple's website).

 

[pohl]

Where can I find a comprehensive comparison between the 17 pro and my 11 Pro?

 

[con2apple]

This is a horrible take. The telephoto is such a good upgrade. A 56% larger 48 megapixel sensor at a much more useable focal length, and the 8x claim is actually true. It is 12 megapixels at 8x, whereas last year it was 12 megapixels at 5x. I would much prefer this years cameras over last years.

Now let's think for a moment:
What is important in a camera? Correct, among other things, the sensor.

And what happens if you zoom in even further but the sensor doesn't get any bigger?
That's right, the cutout for the camera will be even smaller.

Ultimately, this means that the images from the 8x zoom (4x optical + 4x digital) are worse than the images from the 2010 iPhone 4 without zoom.

My tip: Ask an amateur photographer or ChatGPT, for that matter. Even a computer can explain what Apple's numbers actually mean. Don‘t believe everything what Apple is telling you.

 

[slippery-pete]

This is a horrible take. The telephoto is such a good upgrade. A 56% larger 48 megapixel sensor at a much more useable focal length, and the 8x claim is actually true. It is 12 megapixels at 8x, whereas last year it was 12 megapixels at 5x. I would much prefer this years cameras over last years.

Please don’t bring logic into the conversation

 

[AppleWes]

Where can I find a comprehensive comparison between the 17 pro and my 11 Pro?

iPhone - Compare Models

Compare features and technical specifications for iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone SE, and many more.

www.apple.com

 

[yukari]

Interesting that the 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max both reach a 50% charge in 20 minutes, despite the 17PM having a nearly 20% larger battery. It must take in more watts. Or maybe it has better thermodynamics from having a larger aluminum footprint.

You're kidding, right?

Look at the spec:

20 W charger vs. 40 W charger.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Now let's think for a moment:
What is important in a camera? Correct, among other things, the sensor.

And what happens if you zoom in even further but the sensor doesn't get any bigger?
That's right, the cutout for the camera will be even smaller.

Ultimately, this means that the images from the 8x zoom (4x optical + 4x digital) are worse than the images from the 2010 iPhone 4 without zoom.

My tip: Ask an amateur photographer or ChatGPT, for that matter. Even a computer can explain what Apple's numbers actually mean. Don‘t believe everything what Apple is telling you.

All very true, but did Apple state the physical size of the sensors?