17 Pro here. Battery life certainly did NOT hold up.
We're getting close to the launch of new iPhone 18 Pro models that will replace the iPhone 17 Pro models, so MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera decided to take a look back at the iPhone he's been using for close to 12 months.
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Ceramic Shield 2 was the best iPhone upgrade this year. Apple said it's more resistant to scratches, and that turned out to be true. Dan goes caseless, and his iPhone 17 Pro has only faint scratches, while the 16 Pro was scratched after three weeks. The iPhone has also survived facedown drops with no damage, but there are a few chips in the aluminum along the edges. There have been reports of the orange color fading over time, but Dan didn't see that with his device.
Battery life was also a standout on the iPhone 17 Pro. It's able to keep up with a full day of heavy use, which is normally only possible with the larger battery in the Pro Max iPhones. Dan swapped to the smaller iPhone 17 Pro over the 17 Pro Max because the battery lasted longer than the 16 Pro battery.
Apple added vapor chamber cooling in the 17 Pro, and that kept the iPhone cooler than normal for most of the year. Dan said his iPhone is running hotter with minor dips in performance, probably because of the iOS 27 beta. Running beta software can affect battery life and device performance.
Rumors suggest the iPhone 18 Pro isn't going to be a huge upgrade over the iPhone 17 Pro, and it's likely prices are going to go up. It's not the worst idea to buy an iPhone 17 Pro now instead of holding out for the iPhone 18 Pro, especially if you have an older iPhone.
Article Link: iPhone 17 Pro One Year Later: What Held Up and What Didn't
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iPhone 17 Pro One Year Later: What Held Up and What Didn't
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BigDO
macrumors 68000
Air is a joke, it throttles if you take 30s of video. Ultra hasn't been released yet so remains to be seen.
Mr Magoo
macrumors regular
Well, for starters, hire some designers. That phone is an absolute abomination. Steve Jobs would be rolling in his grave.
dg1974
macrumors member
upgraded from 14PM to 17PM. happy with it 99.9% of the time. I just HATE the Camera Control. I hope they'll remove that button in future iPhone.
ThailandToo
macrumors 65816
Your opinion. Used mine every day with never a problem. I would say the user of an Air is a light user who doesn’t game. Probably 90% of adults.
The image quality is good for a smartphone but you can ‘tell’ (well, I think so anyway) that it’s not a dedicated camera — however, in iOS 27 they’ve improved ProRAW, and honestly? It renders a lot better than iOS 26 — definitely more detail in images.
Definitely doesn't beat my apsc Nikon D3200. But, it is no slouch either considering what it is. The biggest issue I have with it is the lack of manual controls in the camera app. There's no way to control the shutter speed or ISO. Honestly, I suspect Apple don't want people doing that because the quality drops off fast if you push it (through my experience using Halide's manual mode). Also, shots in manual modes and RAW (not ProRaw) in apps like Halide are limited to 12mp, which I suspect is a way of Apple ensuring each pixel is the highest quality it can be as the quality really falls off a cliff in low light without the processing applied by ProRaw.
Still, a pro camera should have a manual mode in my opinion. The camera app has ruined more than a few shots of my dogs because it was using shutter speeds that were too low.
Also, why no 24mp ProRaw?
BigDO
macrumors 68000
I didn’t mention gaming, I mentioned taking photos and video, which is something 90% of adults do. And clearly not just my opinion going by the sales, and the fact that it’s the first iphone I ever owned that is basically unsellable without taking a huge loss.
drunkaviator
macrumors regular
Aluminium is softer, but no iPhone has ever been truly perfect. I’m going to put this down as my third S-tier iPhone, ranked behind my iPhone X (let down slightly by its poor intel modem) and iPhone 4S (display was a bit too small for the time). It beats out my 3GS, 6, 7 Plus, 12 Pro and 14 Pro.
It’s been completely reliable, with no obvious weaknesses (if kept in a case), and has stellar battery life and performance. The 17 Pro is an absolute win for me.
It’s been completely reliable, with no obvious weaknesses (if kept in a case), and has stellar battery life and performance. The 17 Pro is an absolute win for me.
GtrDude
macrumors 65816
Well...in either case I'm keeping mine.
Reason: the price increases.
I've been getting a new iPhone every year since the 6s.
Enough is enough.
Once they increase the prices they never come back down no matter what excuses they used at the time. And there's always a different excuse from them.
Reason: the price increases.
I've been getting a new iPhone every year since the 6s.
Enough is enough.
Once they increase the prices they never come back down no matter what excuses they used at the time. And there's always a different excuse from them.
Parowdy
Suspended
The anodized aluminium is actually very scratch resistant. The problem is the soft shimmering unterlying material. It’s actually surprisingly hard to scratch the 17 Pro (even though I got my first small but deep grove in the first week) but fairly easy to deform unfortunately.
QuarterSwede
macrumors G4
Apple has reduced device prices in the past. Not standard by any means but it has happened.
I have an iPhone 15 PM and absolutely love it. However, my company offered me a company-sponsored 17 PM, and I couldn’t resist. This thing is absolutely hideous; it’s an insult to users. I guess an Android user wouldn’t care since they’re used to ugly phones, but this is Apple. I’ve been a loyal iPhone user since the 3GS and have always adored Jony Ive’s designs. That guy knew what he was doing, so you could drool over a phone. Not anymore. I never used phone cases, but this time I put one over the phone because it’s just too ugly. And I read about how vulnerable the aluminum is, so it gets protected too. Considering that I got a flagship phone for free and still complain about how ugly it is, it should highlight how bad Apple has become lately.
Titanium is heavier and only relevant for the old design when it was just a ring holding two slabs of glass!
Aluminum unibody is superior because it’s dissipating the heat better and it’s lighter. Cheaper and more readily available too.
The only downside is that’s it is softer therefore dents more easily, which doesn’t seem to be an issue according to the article
Now I can confidently say that’s BS.
I’ve dropped my 17P a couple times both on tile and wooden floor from almost 5 ft and no scratches or dents on mine. Caseless and no screen protector either.
iPhone 17PM has been a solid phone for me, relative to my past iPhone experiences. Will see how it does with future iOS updates but I’m loving the phone so far. My 14P had a few problems and a terrible battery and speakers that gave out prematurely. Updating now before the $$$ hikes is definitely a good decision!
Edit: I’ve had a clear MagSafe case since day 1 so drops aren’t so problematic for me.
Edit: I’ve had a clear MagSafe case since day 1 so drops aren’t so problematic for me.
ghostface147
macrumors 601
Really? Interesting. Dropped my phone (17pm) at an Astros game and didn't get any dents, just a scratch on the corner that hit the concrete first.
I have a 17 Pro Max, upgraded from a 13. Phone is ok, battery life is great. Other then that it does what it does and nothing is all that noticeably better then the 13. Apps load fast, camera is certainly better but besides that YouTube loads the same, safari loads the same, the few apps I use all load the same. So what stands out to me is the battery and I like having a larger screen. Everything else is pretty meh in comparison to older iPhones. Not a bad thing, just that the marketing is strong making people think these are monumental updates. I will probably switch to a fold iPhone in a couple of years, but if I don't do that I will stick with this phone for a long time.
I’ve had my 17 Pro in its Apple case since the day I bought it. Ive dropped it a few times. I have significant nicks in the top left corner under the case. Glad to have Apple Care +.
Unami
macrumors 68000
Actually some people feel, it's worse (overprocessed) than before. Until computational photography becomes near perfect (e.g. portrait mode operating on a very high resolution lidar depth map to catch even single hairs), a tiny on camera chip & lens won't come close to a DSLR.