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iPhone 17 No love for the base model?

littlepud

littlepud

macrumors 6502
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Sep 16, 2012
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I’m seeing relatively little discussion (here and elsewhere online) about the base model iPhone 17.

Seems like all of the hype and interest are around the Pros and the Air, even though the iPhone 17 has the most compelling overall package among base models in recent memory.
 
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There's a lot of love as the sales figures will reflect. The Sage is currently seeing a 4 week wait in the UK for example.

It's the best iPhone ever made IMO, pretty much all the features of the Pro in a lightweight, compact and affordable package without the compromises of the Air.
 
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I rarely upgrade my phone, have done all of one upgrade in the last eight years...but the base 17 I would have gotten. It was enough to make me upgrade, an amazing phone at a good price. Would have paid for it outright. Had an opportunity to get a pro, though, at a good price, so I took it (my first pro). But the other three members on my family plan all got base 17's.
 
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I upgraded from an iPhone 14 Plus. I don't need all of the features on the Pro versions and didn't want the 17 Air. Yes the standard 17 is smaller than my 14 Plus but it's still a little bigger than my 6 and 10 models.

I went with the blue version as it was the quickest to ship and I use a protective case anyway so the color really doesn't matter.

I went to or called various AT&T stores and none of them had the 17, 17 Pro or 17 Pro Max in stock. They all had plenty of the 17 Air's in stock which tells you that it isn't all that popular.

It didn't take long for me to get use to the smaller screen on the 17 and I'm happy with it.
 
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tomtad said:
There's a lot of love as the sales figures will reflect. The Sage is currently seeing a 4 week wait in the UK for example.

It's the best iPhone ever made IMO, pretty much all the features of the Pro in a lightweight, compact and affordable package without the compromises of the Air.
Click to expand...
The 17 is a rare zero-compromises base model that doesn’t feel intentionally crippled to upsell customers to the Pro.

This year’s Pro really seems geared towards photographers / videographers and not typical prosumer enthusiasts.
 
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littlepud said:
The 17 is a rare zero-compromises base model that doesn’t feel intentionally crippled to upsell customers to the Pro.

This year’s Pro really seems geared towards photographers / videographers and not typical prosumer enthusiasts.
Click to expand...
That is why I didn't go with a Pro version. I don't take a lot of photos or videos so the Pro versions really don't do anything that the standard version will do.
 
I find both the iPhone 16 and the iPhone 17 as worthy upgrade to my iPhone 11 Pro Max although I would still prefer to have a dedicated telephoto lens. Even though I miss the Dolby Vision HDR videos only available in iPhone 12 and newer [I used to own an iPhone 14 Pro Max and iPhone 13 Pro], my iPhone 11 Pro Max is still okay for my use case.
 
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lkalliance said:
I’m going the opposite way. I’m in the 13 mini. No matter what iPhone I get at this point it’ll be an adjustment.
Click to expand...

A few years ago I switched from 12 mini to iPhone 15, a really smooth transition, very happy with it. Everything was instantly better - the screen estate, the cameras and the battery. With iPhone 17 you will also get ProMotion.
 
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tomtad said:
There's a lot of love as the sales figures will reflect. The Sage is currently seeing a 4 week wait in the UK for example.

It's the best iPhone ever made IMO, pretty much all the features of the Pro in a lightweight, compact and affordable package without the compromises of the Air.
Click to expand...
You forgot he’s also a better looking phone then the ugly pro.
 
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I was really thinking to get the 17 base model, thinking that it’s gonna have far better battery life than the air.

And having that extra 0.5 camera would’ve been great.

But now I’m leaning towards the air, because it seems like the battery is almost the same. Maybe like a 5% or something like that difference.

So if I’m not really compromising battery life, I might as well go for the air. I’d get a bigger screen too. More comfortable form factor. The only real sacrifice feels like a 0.5 camera.
 
Gregintosh said:
I was really thinking to get the 17 base model, thinking that it’s gonna have far better battery life than the air.

And having that extra 0.5 camera would’ve been great.

But now I’m leaning towards the air, because it seems like the battery is almost the same. Maybe like a 5% or something like that difference.

So if I’m not really compromising battery life, I might as well go for the air. I’d get a bigger screen too. More comfortable form factor. The only real sacrifice feels like a 0.5 camera.
Click to expand...

I'll just leave this here.

Screenshot 2025-09-23 160611.png


And to be honest I found the regular 17 more comfortable to hold. The Air for me at least is just that little bit too wide. The slightly smaller frame with a little more depth feels more comfortable. I'd recommend going to a store and trying them if you haven't yet.
 
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littlepud said:
I’m seeing relatively little discussion (here and elsewhere online) about the base model iPhone 17.

Seems like all of the hype and interest are around the Pros and the Air, even though the iPhone 17 has the most compelling overall package among base models in recent memory.
Click to expand...
This is a forum frequented by Apple enthusiasts. Nothing against the base model, but it's kinda boring compared to the shiny and sleek new Air or the top of the line powerful pros.
 
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I've just ordered a 256GB Black 17, it's the first iPhone that's compelled me to upgrade from my current 13 Mini. I would have preferred a slightly smaller size, but the always-on display, USB C, 120hz and much improved front and rear cameras were enough to convince me. My 13 Mini actually still runs just fine, no lag on iOS 26, but at 79% health the battery no longer lasts anywhere near a full day.
 
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tomtad said:
I'll just leave this here.

View attachment 2559233

And to be honest I found the regular 17 more comfortable to hold. The Air for me at least is just that little bit too wide. The slightly smaller frame with a little more depth feels more comfortable. I'd recommend going to a store and trying them if you haven't yet.
Click to expand...
There are lots of other battery tests that have more mixed results. For exemple :
  • This one :
  • This one :
  • This one :
After seen a lot of them, to be honest, the one from @Mrwhosetheboss is the only one with such bad results for the Air Against the regular 17.
 
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xenaton said:
There are lots of other battery tests that have more mixed results. For exemple :
  • This one :
  • This one :
  • This one :
After seen a lot of them, to be honest, the one from @Mrwhosetheboss is the only one with such bad results for the Air Against the regular 17.
Click to expand...

True there are always differences depending on what's been used. Still, even going on Apple's official claimed battery, you're getting a fair bit more on the 17 than the Air, 5 more hours with streamed video.

1758902094017.png
 
littlepud said:
I’m seeing relatively little discussion (here and elsewhere online) about the base model iPhone 17.

Seems like all of the hype and interest are around the Pros and the Air, even though the iPhone 17 has the most compelling overall package among base models in recent memory.
Click to expand...
This is quite typical though, however when the sales stats come in you may find the base being the best seller followed by 17 Pro Max and then Pro.

I think the typical base iPhone user isn’t as much of an enthusiast, most enthusiasts go Pro Max and Pro.
 
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