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iPhone 17 Pro One Year Later: What Held Up and What Didn't
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Thanks for this. I live at the beach and (of course) go almost every day. Between the bright sun and the temps I often find my 12PM is effectively useless after sometimes less than a minute and even my wife's 16PM seems to struggle with overheating and then dims the screen. I was planning to upgrade me finally to a 18PM this fall and this was the top of my wish list.
nateo200
macrumors 68040
My 17 PM had overheating issues when I first got it I suspect this was because it was still configuring everything in the background and whatnot, but now it seems to be doing a lot better, especially in the car when charging in direct sunlight, although I would be careful with that.
Yes, nice to see some corroborating evidence. I bought my 17 Pro shortly after Tim said there were going to be price increases. Coming from a 14 Pro, I am super happy with mine regardless of what the more expensive 18 Pro will be.
treyjustice
macrumors 65816
If the return window is 30 days then just wait for the Keynote and make up your mind depending on improvements, trade-offs and retail price!
MKSoft
macrumors newbie
I have to say, my 11Pro still looks nearly new after all of these years (and still mostly works well - the battery is down to only 75% health but otherwise it is fine) - I am looking forward to the 18Pro since the 11Pro will soon be not getting iOS updates.
jz0309
macrumors P6
I disagree, after almost a year it is holding up quite well
aliensporebomb
macrumors 68000
Got a 17 Pro from a 15 Pro Max. So far, so good. Just a little larger and better especially the camera and the camera was good for a phone in the 15 Pro Max.
My wife bought a 17 Pro and found it to be more slippery than her old 13 - less than 2 weeks after buying it it slipped out of her hands and she tried to grab it real quick and the screen went full on into a metal faucet which shattered the front display. She had to have it repaired because the spiderweb all over the screen was really shocking, you couldn't imagine because it didn't hit the faucet all that hard but it nuked the screen. I added a MagicJohn protector to the front after the screen was replaced which basically gives her a little insurance but it could still shatter too.
My wife bought a 17 Pro and found it to be more slippery than her old 13 - less than 2 weeks after buying it it slipped out of her hands and she tried to grab it real quick and the screen went full on into a metal faucet which shattered the front display. She had to have it repaired because the spiderweb all over the screen was really shocking, you couldn't imagine because it didn't hit the faucet all that hard but it nuked the screen. I added a MagicJohn protector to the front after the screen was replaced which basically gives her a little insurance but it could still shatter too.
MrGimper
macrumors G3
Happy with my choice of silver 17 Pro Max. Flit between the orange, blue and purple techwoven cases which have stood up well. Screen suffered an early scratch doing nothing in particular whereas my 16/15/14/13/12 were all scratch-free (except micro scratches under a direct bright light, you know the drill)
Probably keep it until the fold gen 2 hits the UK.
Probably keep it until the fold gen 2 hits the UK.
uacd
macrumors 68000
I don’t know, maybe Dan was lucky and got some rare model, but mine overheats, especially when taking photos. I mean battery life is ok but it is unpleasantly warm to touch. But it is good to point that I use it with Apple’s silicone case, so that might give it more heat that supposed.
Also this issue needs to be brought but iPhone is very big and chonky. No wonder you dropped it often - this thing literally falls out of pocket or drags your clothes down because how big it is.
Overall, the only advantage of the camera system is 8x. Every Pro user that I know swears by 4x/8x. I like it too but… other cameras just suck. As well as this HDR processing, oversharpening, tonemapping and such. However 4x/8x tends NOT to apply a lot of noise reduction, which is a big deal actually and helps making better images with more details kept. I wish ProRAW had more capabilities and was less processed though.
Also the big issue is performance. It doesn’t feel like a flagship iPhone. It might feel like flagship Android but it doesn’t feel snappy and fast. Maybe it is gonna change with iOS 27, I don’t know tbh.
Overal I think I overpaid a lot and should have gone with regular 17 instead. This 4x/8x… I am not a fan of spying on people, why would I need this one. A dedicated camera would take better images anyway at this range (100/200 mm or equivalent)
Also this issue needs to be brought but iPhone is very big and chonky. No wonder you dropped it often - this thing literally falls out of pocket or drags your clothes down because how big it is.
Overall, the only advantage of the camera system is 8x. Every Pro user that I know swears by 4x/8x. I like it too but… other cameras just suck. As well as this HDR processing, oversharpening, tonemapping and such. However 4x/8x tends NOT to apply a lot of noise reduction, which is a big deal actually and helps making better images with more details kept. I wish ProRAW had more capabilities and was less processed though.
Also the big issue is performance. It doesn’t feel like a flagship iPhone. It might feel like flagship Android but it doesn’t feel snappy and fast. Maybe it is gonna change with iOS 27, I don’t know tbh.
Overal I think I overpaid a lot and should have gone with regular 17 instead. This 4x/8x… I am not a fan of spying on people, why would I need this one. A dedicated camera would take better images anyway at this range (100/200 mm or equivalent)
Agreed. That’s my major gripe with the 16 Pro. It looks way better than the 17 Pro and the titanium is very durable but it overheats like crazy. I had to buy a cooling attachment to keep it cool while driving.
For any shot where you want a narrow depth of field, yes, a dedicated camera with a large sensor and lens will be better than a smartphone camera, even if that DSLR is two decades old.
But for something like a 24mm equivalent landscape photo in good lighting where you want a wide DOF, a smartphone can be competitive with an older DSLR, even exceeding it in some ways.
I did a landscape test comparing my Pixel 8 Pro with my Canon 6D full-frame DSLR, and the Pixel captured more detail while also having less noise in shadows (Even though the DSLR was set to ISO 100). I shot to raw on both cameras and processed with Adobe Camera Raw.
johnsawyercjs
macrumors 68000
My experience has been the same with my 17 Pro Max. In my area's hot summers, dimming outdoors from the heat is much less than with the 15PM and 16PM I had prior, the battery lasts much longer, and so far no scratches, though one reason for that is I've kept my 17PM in a case. Lately I've been using a case with a backless design too, since this allows more heat to escape from the rear of the phone. It's just an aluminum band around the phone's perimeter, and it's kind of like having a big chunky titanium band, but with less heat trapping compared to titanium. And the telephoto can zoom much further than with the prior models, with greater resolution.
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johnsawyercjs
macrumors 68000
I wonder if the all-aluminum housing bends more easily when it's especially hot, and the titanium band on the previous two generations gave the housing more rigidity to avoid this.
johnsawyercjs
macrumors 68000
I use it to spy on clouds, the horizon, and ducks. It also came in handy one day when I wanted to see the local fire department's progress on putting out a fire in the park outside my house a couple thousand feet away, given there was nothing but dry grass between there and me.
Kriss_De_Valnor
macrumors regular
Agreed, when I think about a serious photography my ancient and dusty D700 would still be my first choice.
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I had iPhones from the 4 right through to the 13Pro. I switched to Android after that. (Samsung S25 Edge). The most noticable difference is the UI of Android isnt held back like iOS performance wise. Apple deliberately slows down transitions , animations , scrolling so the experience feels smooth but never blazing fast. Like .5s delays added to stuff for no reason. But it's so noticable when I pick my wife's phone up after using mine.
Im still considering switching back to iphone at some point and will probably get used to the 'slowness' of the iOS UI again.
Fast cpu's mean nothing when the OS deliberately slows the UI down.
Also odd how many people say their iphones overheat. Thought that issue was resolved, but it appears not.
boswald
macrumors 68040
I'm still not fond of the color choices for the 17, but if the rumored downgrades come to the 18 series, I might have to just bite the bullet and grab one anyway. From what I've heard since release to now, they're amazing phones. My girlfriend has a 17 Pro in blue and loves it.
The 17 Pro Max is the best phone I've ever owned. It solved the few complaints I had with the 13 Pro Max (camera quality and getting hot sometimes) without adding any new issues. I keep mine in a case that IMO only enhances the utility (it is a ring stand case and clear and hasn't yellowed yet). I've dropped it so many times and it still looks like new so no complaints on durability.
My only complaint is I wish the color options had been better but I can live with the silver.
My only complaint is I wish the color options had been better but I can live with the silver.
Parowdy
Suspended
I actually think that’s a fair comparison. My telephoto shots do regularly look like old DSLR shots. It’s a little grainy but luckily the HDR isn’t as aggressive as it was on my 15 Pro, which was very bad at times. I like the telephoto a lot and it has surpassed my personal threshold: it „sees“ considerably more than my naked eyes. Before the 17 Pro my natural eye sight was my benchmark for a good camera. My 15 Pro‘s telephoto was ever so slightly worse, but with this camera I can make pictures of things I can’t identify myself. It’s almost magical how it can make distant objects and text recognizable.
The 1# attached image is taken from 25-30m away. Although it’s not the sharpest, it’s still very detailed. You can make out any noteworthy crack on the surface.
The 2# I took today, approximately 8 meters away and with 48MP HEIF enabled and apart from being considerably too dark compared to real life it’s almost unbelievable how much you can see.
Picture 3# shows a distant landscape, 10km plus away. The closest thing is the helicopter at between 2-4km away. It’s not a show winner, I was just curious how well the 8x zoom would be and it turns quite, it’s very darn good. If you work in the distant power plant or Harbour you’d have no problem identifying individual structures.
It’s honestly astounding what this „flat“ of a camera can do, I get less annoyed by the plateau with each good picture. Unfortunately I find much fewer things in life that can or should be captured with 4x zoom instead of 3x, which was much more versatile. And many pictures have a lot less light and less than expected detail in some cases as some things still get lost in post processing or during capturing the image. And taking video has its own serious issues but still, color me impressed none the less.
View attachment IMG_1745.jpeg
QuarterSwede
macrumors G4
Oh you’re going to love the increase in usability outside. I tested it at the pool and deliberately used it as normal and I could actually use like normal the entire hour I was sitting in the sun.
SnowCrocodile
macrumors 6502a
I switched from a 16PM to a 17PM only because another family member needed a new phone and we got a better deal (actually a few dollars off the total bill) if we replaced two phones.
I did not expect any major changes but to my surprise the camera in 17PM is better. The overall image quality is about the same but it nails the focus perfectly almost every time. All other iPhones I had produced a little higher percentage of dud shots.
I did not expect any major changes but to my surprise the camera in 17PM is better. The overall image quality is about the same but it nails the focus perfectly almost every time. All other iPhones I had produced a little higher percentage of dud shots.
Jemi9OD
macrumors 6502
I didn't - I bought it through Apple financing. Finishes paying off in 24 months, no balloon payment at the end.
I am curious about the leasing program though, especially if time comes to upgrade my MBP.