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Review: A Week With the iPhone 17 Pro

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Apple's iPhone 17 models have been out for a week now, so we thought we'd do a longer-term review of the flagship iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max now that we've been able to spend more time with them.


MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera has a Silver iPhone 17 Pro and a Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Pro Max, and despite a lot of concern over scratches and the state of iPhone 17 Pro models in Apple Stores, they remain in pristine condition with caseless home use. iPhones may be scratching in stores, but that appears to be less common in daily use at this point.

Apple used Ceramic Shield 2 for the front of the iPhone 17 Pro models, and made some big claims about its scratch resistance. So far, the iPhone 17 Pro's display is holding up. Dan's been testing the display with keys, coins, and other common pocket items, but there isn't a single scratch. With past iPhones, sticking a key in your pocket was a sure way to cause damage.

The display is supposed to have an anti-reflective layer, but it's hard to notice a difference compared to the iPhone 16 Pro. It's definitely a subtle change and not a major selling point.

Dan has already seen major improvements with the updated vapor chamber cooling system and aluminum frame for thermal management. Unlike the iPhone 16 Pro models, the iPhone 17 Pro models barely get warm.

There's been time for more substantial battery life testing a week in, and both the 17 Pro and Pro Max have impressive gains. The 17 Pro Max in particular can last for hours longer than the 16 Pro Max, but it's definitely heavier and thicker than before.

The front camera is a major improvement in terms of quality, and selfies look much better than before. The option to take a wider-angle landscape selfie is great for group shots. As for the new Telephoto lens that supports up to 8x optical zoom, as long as you have solid lighting, your 8x shots will look great. Low-light performance isn't as solid, but the 4x lens still performs well in poorer lighting.

If you're still on the fence about upgrading from an older phone to one of the iPhone 17 Pro models, it's potentially worth it. The thermal changes make a huge difference, Apple's claims about scratch resistance seem to be true, and battery life will be night and day. If you already have an iPhone 17 Pro, let us know what you think of it in the comments below.

Article Link: Review: A Week With the iPhone 17 Pro
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/09/26/iphone-17-pro-video-review/
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We need a Review of a week on the Apple Watch Ultra 3. I know my experience is that its smoother, faster, and the battery life is WOW. Been off the charger for 48 hour and still at 47% battery life. Maybe 3 nights of wearing it in a row. Way better then the Ultra 1st gen that needed charged every other night.
 
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How about cell reception reliability in marginal signal areas? The Qualcomm X80 is supposed to offer AI technology that will improve on that compared to older phones.
 
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My day one iPhone 17 Pro has held up well without a case. I did put a screen protector on to try and minimize scratches on the screen, but it sounds like that might not be as necessary as it used to be based on early indications.

I'm sure that I'll end up with some wear marks eventually, but I think from overall durability this thing feels solid.
 
For everyone who got a Pro, good for you. However, I find that since the introduction of the Pro models in 2019, the difference between the standard model and the Pro has never been smaller only second to the iPhone 12 line-up. In the iPhone 12 lineup the only difference, if I'm not mistaken, is the back camera. where you could zoom with the Pro. Same display, same battery life, same chip, the regular iPhone 12 was even lighter. In other years the Pro models always had a better display and some other stuff over the regular model. Which is why I expected that when the rumors were clear that the regular iPhone would finally get Pro Motion, the Pro model would get something else over the regular model like a much less reflective display.

The difference this compared to the iPhone 12 lineup is that the price gap between the regular model and the Pro is much larger (12 Pro was 250€ more expensive than the regular, 17 Pro is 360€ more expensive than the regular one). You do get better battery life, a better chip and better cameras, but the difference however is too small imo. I also find the regular iPhone to be much prettier.
 
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Upgraded from the 14 Pro to 17 Pro, and liking it so far, though not 100% sold on whether I’ll keep it or just replace the battery on the old phone. A lot of nice little upgrades, but nothing huge.

I’ve also gone case free as I did with the 14P. No blemishes yet, but I’m usually careful with them. But going from sharp stainless steel edges to curved aluminum is quite different.
 
While I totally respect your opinion and most people who shoot casually will absolutely love iPhone 17 Pro cameras, I feel like HDR came way too far, and Apple doing nothing about it.

Imagine if you walk into sunset and from a distance you look like a shadow, due to how light works. And then iPhone decides to use SmartHDR, Deep Fusion and Photonic Engine all at once to get you out of this shadow. And I am not even making this up at this point! It happened to me even with such an ancient device as 11 Pro, but on it at least I can disable HDR whenever I want to, I do still have that toggle in camera settings! Also the burst shutter trick works to avoid this.

But what truly makes all iPhone photos look same and “stand out” in a bad sense is this, stole that example from Reddit but I guess everyone got that:

1758919287845.jpeg


I mean, what is that? All iPhones since 12 shoot sunsets like this. I have never ever seen similar sunsets in real life, this is not how it actually looks.

I am pretty sure older iPhones had more balanced photo output.

And sunsets is the only one example, it happens everywhere: when shooting buildings, daytime landscapes, even greenery and trees. I think Apple should give way to opt out of this cheap-looking AI stuff on new phones
 
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BelgianChoklit said:
For everyone who got a Pro, good for you. However, I find that since the introduction of the Pro models in 2019, the difference between the standard model and the Pro has never been smaller only second to the iPhone 12 line-up. In the iPhone 12 lineup the only difference, if I'm not mistaken, is the back camera. where you could zoom with the Pro. Same display, same battery life, same chip, the regular iPhone 12 was even lighter. In other years the Pro models always had a better display and some other stuff over the regular model. Which is why I expected that when the rumors were clear that the regular iPhone would finally get Pro Motion, the Pro model would get something else over the regular model like a much less reflective display.

The difference this compared to the iPhone 12 lineup is that the price gap between the regular model and the Pro is much larger (12 Pro was 250€ more expensive than the regular, 17 Pro is 360€ more expensive than the regular one). You do get better battery life, a better chip and better cameras, but the difference however is too small imo. I also find the regular iPhone to be much prettier.
Click to expand...
Yea the standard 17 is a great phone, not much difference anymore. I rely on a 14PM in my small building business. When I eventually upgrade, I’ll prob just get the top model again as it’s a business expense and the pro models are epic devices, but it is definitely getting harder to justify spending more than a standard iPhone now.
 
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I don't upgrade my iPhone very often — once every five years or so. The 6S to the 12 mini was a significant upgrade; MagSafe was one of the standouts for me. I went from a 12 mini to the 17 Pro, and my main observations so far are (1) Battery life is (obviously) far superior; (2) Newer software, like AI and the UI in general, feels more responsive (comparing iOS 26 on the two models); (3) The camera is another obvious improvement, especially zoom; (4) Honestly there is no huge leap in terms of functionality: my apps run identically. The "dynamic island" is nice, but not really worth the hype from when it was introduced; and I wonder what they'll say when it goes away (will it?) with under-screen sensors. I don't miss the small form factor of the 12 mini as much as I thought I would. Overall, my opinion is that it's a very very nice iPhone (sure, "the best ever," but it would want to be), but we're in a long period of stability and incremental change that doesn't add up as much as it used to.
 
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Honestly the new vapor chamber has been game changing for me. I ride a lot of public transit, and my local system still relies on antiquated QR codes that has to be scanned. The screen dimming on my old 16 Pro was a big issue, if I just so happened to use my phone being bored sitting at a bus stop. This allows me to play on my phone, and not worry about it and I can still get on the bus! Love this feature alone.
 
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I wish I had the same enthusiasm that everyone seems to have with the 17PM. I think the aluminum doesn't feel as premium and because of it easily being scratched I put a case on which makes it feel even bulkier, especially after never having one on my 16PM. iOS 26 has also been clunky and difficult to wrap my head around, I don't find it as intuitive as previous versions. The biggest complaint isn't necessarily the phone but the connection with my Ultra 2, I've had to completely remove it from my account 3 different times before it finally started working normally.

All that to be said- I'm still hopeful it'll find its groove. It's encouraging to hear it's more durable than reported, especially on the screen where I was getting the same random scratches- and I know iOS will only become more refined over time. I do agree the heat dissipation has been incredible as well. I think I just had a few bumps getting started, but excited to see what all this phone can handle.
 
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LlamaLarry said:
Does the 17PM screen stay at full brightness (like when outdoors in full sun) longer than previous versions?
Click to expand...
I hope it does! I'm still waiting for my 17 PM but my 15 PM can be almost impossible to use even on a moderately warm day in the UK. I've often wondered how people in warm climates get on with this problem.
 
Trying to assess this... it appears Apple insists you crop the FC square sensor. Not sure why. Why not "Portrait", "Landscape", "Full Frame (SQ)". If I am wrong, let me know. This article, though, seems to make it pretty clear that Apple does not allow you access to the full sensor. WTH Apple. Why ?? From the link below it limts the effective sensor area is only 18MP. WTF ??

"Us camera geeks love the idea of a square sensor, but in the Camera you will not find a way to take images with the full square image area; it just puts the square area of the 24MP sensor to use for 18 MP crops in their landscape or portrait depending on the subject matter."

Link:
www.lux.camera

iPhone 17 Pro Camera Review: Rule of Three

iPhone 17 Pro is here, a big upgrade and makeover of the iPhone and its cameras. Is it really as big of a deal as they say?
www.lux.camera www.lux.camera
 
I'm enjoying my blue 17 Pro. I have a case, so it doesn't have a nick on it so far. Maybe I could have gone with the silver one instead and then not have to worry. I like how when I put it back-down on a flat surface, it's really stable. Coming from a 13 mini, it's quite a change. The phone is obviously much larger and heavier than I'm used to. But I'm still managing to use it one-handed. So far I haven't had any issues with fitting it in my shirt pockets. And I haven't had any thermal issues. Battery life has been really good. I'm a fairly light user, so I easily can get two days of use out of it before having to recharge.
 
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