The Regular iPhone 17 is Reportedly Proving Popular — Here's Why

[jicon]

There’s one component I suggest my wife get the pro over the standard 17….

The 50% bump in RAM.

She is upgrading from a XS… so expectation is she will hold on for six or seven years again.

That RAM will be needed for camera functions, and lidar for autofocus is a nice plus, but for the 99% of times she isn’t using the camera, that 4GB bump I’m expecting will benefit future AI features.

 

[jfeathe]

The biggest difference is that the 17 only has 8GB of RAM vs the 12GB that the Air and Pros have. Apple Intelligence has been designed to run on devices with 8GB but it will be interesting to see if there will be some future Intelligence functions restricted to devices with 12GB or more.

 

[Moreplease]

Apple Intelligence has been designed to run on devices with 8GB but it will be interesting to see if there will be some future Intelligence functions restricted to devices with 12GB or more.

Three days ago a top of the line Pro Max had 8 GB of RAM.

So Apple will not be limiting AI features to phones with 12 GB of RAM any time soon.

In four years? Certainly possible. But all the nerds who care about 8 versus 12 GB of RAM today will have upgraded twice more by then.

 

[Moreplease]

The regular 17 is a monster value this time.

I think one reason for that is that Apple plans to keep it as the current model for 18 months (to start the new staggered release schedule for regular and Pro phones).

So it has to be unusually strong to last 50% longer on the market.

 

[G3Blue]

Exactly! That’s an accurate definition. A light iPhone Pro. I don’t really miss anything from the pro now… except the PWM off-switch.

Macrumors updated the article to say all 17 models will have the PWM setting.

 

[TVreporter]

The regular 17 is a monster value this time.

I think one reason for that is that Apple plans to keep it as the current model for 18 months (to start the new staggered release schedule for regular and Pro phones).

So it has to be unusually strong to last 50% longer on the market.

That's a great point I have not seen raised anywhere else. Well done, it makes a lot of sense if the rumour of the staggered release is true.

Hey MacRumors get to writing an article around this - he is dead on with the reasoning.

 

[Populus]

Macrumors updated the article to say all 17 models will have the PWM setting.

OMG, that’s really good news!

 

[throAU]

Who knew. The mass market iPhone hits mass market.

 

[Royksöpp]

This is one of the best iPhones Apple has released in quite some time. The value-to-features ratio is simply unbeatable. It makes the recent offerings from Google and Samsung look like a joke.

 

[jpalley]

Excited for my 17 in Sage, especially coming from my 13 Mini.

 

[ronnie.d.davidson@outlook]

Because it is the best overall package with price and specs?

WHY IS APPLE CHARGING $30 EXTRA FOR THE UNLOCKED VERISON OF THE IPHONE 17?

 

[PeytonT123]

I'm trading in my 14 Pro for a 17 Pro because it's free with my AT&T plan, but if I was paying for it I'd probably go for the base 17. Definitely seems like their strongest entry level offer to date.

 

[B4U]

WHY IS APPLE CHARGING $30 EXTRA FOR THE UNLOCKED VERISON OF THE IPHONE 17?

Had been like that since what? 12?

 

[ronnie.d.davidson@outlook]

Hardly any rational reason to spend more for the Air or Pro.
Also, this year, the Pro looks.... divisive to say the least.

Why is Apple charging $30 more for the Unlocked iPhone 17? $829

 

[Le0M]

Three days ago a top of the line Pro Max had 8 GB of RAM.

So Apple will not be limiting AI features to phones with 12 GB of RAM any time soon.

In four years? Certainly possible. But all the nerds who care about 8 versus 12 GB of RAM today will have upgraded twice more by then.

This logic had already been proven wrong.
iPhone 15 became "obsolete" the following year, because according to Apple AI would run too slow on it to provide a good enough service.
This can - will - happen again soon, especially considering that recently they are shuffling every AI decision, and exploring a lot of different options.

 

[zapmymac]

I'd suggest that the new base 17 is probably Apple's best value iphone ever. Time will tell of course.

 

[Velli]

It makes sense, it’s a very compelling package. I bought the 16 Pro last year. If I had waited until this year, I would have almost certainly gone for the plain 17. I am happy I did get the Pro though, because I have been surprised by how much I use the 5x zoom, but I didn’t know that when I got it. I mainly wanted ProMotion.

 

[addamas]

All it miss is USB-C without USB-3.0 / lightning transfer speeds

 

[Velli]

$799 - iPhone 17 - 6.3" screen, 256 GB, dual camera, stereo speakers, good battery life
$999 - iPhone Air - 6.5" screen, 256 GB, single camera, mono speaker, middling battery life
$1099 - iPhone 17 Pro - 6.3" screen, 256 GB, triple camera, stereo speakers, very good battery life

The Air just seems like a bad value all around. In terms of value, IMO it's 17 > 17 Pro >> Air.

BTW, the Air is the first iPhone that has been released with just a mono speaker in a decade. Even the 16e is stereo.

You did leave out the Air’s mail selling point in your comparison…

 

[Velli]

What's all the fuss about ProMotion?

I can't see any difference when scrolling on the iPhone 13 without and the iPad 13" M1 with ProMotion.

1: I disagree. 2: Battery life.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Hardly surprising it got a lot of good updates and for most the specs of the base iPhone 17 will be more than enough.

 

[Shanghaichica]

What's all the fuss about ProMotion?

I can't see any difference when scrolling on the iPhone 13 without and the iPad 13" M1 with ProMotion.

I have to agree on this. I’ve never seen the big deal about pro motion. I’ve had it since the iPad Pro 10.5 and used various iPads alongside it which did not have it and I couldn’t tell the different. Right now I’m using it on my iPad Pro 11 inch M2 and iPhone 15 pro max. I also have an iPad Air 13 inch M3 and iPad mini 7 and I can’t tell the difference between them all to be honest. It might be the things I use my devices for.

 

[antonrg]

Price, that’s your answer. It’s the price.. not much to question there

 

[Shanghaichica]

A lot of people keep quoting this as if its gospel, and its from Apples site so fair enough (video watching hours), but in real world battery usage I am almost certain the iPhone Air will be noticeably inferior to the 16 Pro.

I am not planning on upgrading this year as I’ve only had my current phone for a year. However out of all the phones Apple announced it’s surprisingly the air that caught my attention and I had no interest in it at all prior to the keynote. I am a staunch pro max fan. I’ve had one since they started and before that I had the plus models. I do like the idea of 8x optical zoom however, whilst on paper it sounds good in real life having 5x optical zoom hasn’t really changed the way I used my camera. Having watched Samsung and Huwawei have 10x optical zoom and further crazy digital zoom for years I was anticipating it coming to the iPhone and watched the painfully slow ascent from 2x to 5X and saw that it really didn’t add any value for me so I could be willing to switch to the Air.

However, the battery life is something that I would need to see. I work from home so I don’t need crazy battery life, but it can’t be terrible either. So I will have to wait a while and see the real life battery tests come in and also see the device in person to see if the thinness and aesthetic value holds true in real life.

 

[BUDGETApple]

Guys , this might be the most popular base iPhone model since iPhone 14 . Well done Apple !!!