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I get a new iPhone as a work phone bi-yearly, and get to pick the model, with co-pay for anything above the most basic one (currently 16E). In a month or so, it'll be that time again.

Last time I went with the non-Pro option was 6 years ago with the 11. Back then I regretted it, it was a clear downgrade from my previous iPhone X (which I consider the first "Pro" iPhone) - largely because of the screen, 11's LCD really wasn'g great after the X's AMOLED. Since then, I've had the 13 Pro and 15 Pro, both have been great, even though both are a bit weak in the battery department. Now I'm again considering the base 17.

Not interested in the Air or the 17 Pro Max, and the 17 Pro doesn't really seem like it's worth the extra cost to me, since the base model seems really good this time around. At a glance, the things you get with the 17 Pro for extra 350€ (German pricing) are:

- Unibody, but same aluminum material

- Same size, same _exact_ screen (all specs match)

- A19 Pro chip vs A19 - relevant for gaming (I don't) or other highly intensive applications (video editing I guess? again, not something I do a lot of)

- Better camera system - arguably the only relevant thing for a daily driver here

- LiDAR - very limited usefulness, in my experience having it on the 15 Pro

- USB 3 with 10 Gbit speeds vs USB 2 speeds on the USB-C port - relevant if you transfer large files like ProRes video, for me it's basically only when doing local backups to the Mac to install iOS betas, so largely irrelevant

- 31 hours battery life vs 30 - marginal difference

- Same charging, connectivity, everything else really

Will likely end up visiting an Apple Store to fiddle with both options, and look at the co-pay prices that our company will offer, then decide. But so far, it's much less of a clear Pro choice than it was in the previous years.

2 days agoby olex

Surprising there’s no matte-black iPhone 17 Pro - dark, low-reflectance finishes are standard in pro video kit because they minimise specular reflections and stray highlights; keeping a shiny silver finish and skipping a subdued matte black feels like a strange choice and undercuts the “Pro” claim.

2 days agoby kingsleyopara

The lack of a black iPhone 17 Pro... has me dumbfounded. I might skip this year.

I'm really happy with the camera features, but there's less differentiation between base iPhone 17 and 17 Pro this go-round. Probably enough for me to still get the Pro, but the iPhone 17 is looking like a pretty cool option this year.

2 days agoby johncalvinyoung

Looks like “8x” zoom on the new Pro model is actually 4x optical plus extra 2x by pixel binning on the 48MP sensor, compared with 5x optical on the last year’s model.

2 days agoby shantara

I thought of upgrading my 3 year old pro, but seeing this there is no reason to. Apple Intelligence is nowhere to be found, extra camera is nice but this design... Oh my god, I know this is subjective, but this is really ugly.

2 days agoby elAhmo

Related ongoing threads:

Compare the New iPhone Models - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45186294 - Sept 2025 (95 comments)

Apple Debuts iPhone 17 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45186023 - Sept 2025 (104 comments)

iPhone Air - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45186015 - Sept 2025 (431 comments)

2 days agoby dang

Boo, hiss. No more physical SIM support in Canada. I tried to go eSim only, but moving an eSim from one phone to another is a huge PITA and something I do regularly for travel.

2 days agoby AlexandrB

With the iPhone 17 Air, which has many of the Pro features that typically accompany the Pro model to differentiate it from the base model, in addition to the base model getting the marquee features of the Pro models such as the 120Hz/Always On Display, the Pro is very poorly differentiated unless you really make use of the three cameras.

And there's no black color.

2 days agoby minimaxir

The march of incremental upgrades year over year from Apple is impressive. I do wish though that there was better competition.

2 days agoby cadamsdotcom

With the introduction of ProRes RAW and Genlock, it seems like iPhones can finally be seriously considered for professional movie capture.

2 days agoby semidror

Annoying they no longer use titanium. Dents be back.

2 days agoby sonu27

Kind of surprised by how ugly the pro looks. I can deal with wide the "plateau", but that cutout looks bad. If I were to buy one it'd be the first phone I keep in a case.

See: https://x.com/neilcybart/status/1965502456886100389

2 days agoby strongpigeon

Fine with the orange color 'flavour of the month' scheme on this page but what's with that mega PRO logo text in your face at the top? Take it easy pickup truck. Off brand.

2 days agoby ChrisArchitect

I regret “upgrading” from iPhone 12 to 16. Ended up spending over $1k on a separate camera because the iPhone 16’s is so much worse it ruined my favorite hobby of taking scenery photos while cycling.

Think I’m done with Apple phones after that one.

1 day agoby AaronAPU

They make great features for video creators. Too bad that those are being replaced by AI

2 days agoby seydor

I would die for a green Pro Max. I hate how they deal with their colors, where only the consumer ones get the good colors.

2 days agoby apple4ever

What’s with the new “hideous design” thing? Pixel is incredibly ugly too. Someone isn’t thinking straight.

2 days agoby binary132

> Worth the upgrade? 100 percent.

First time I noticed such claim in an iPhone announcement.

2 days agoby bithavoc

One more year on my 13 Mini then...

Liquid Glass design + This lineup is a middle-finger to ergonomics and accessibility.

I just want a non distractive phone with good battery life. E-Paper screen, compact format, yet still great cameras - maybe LoRa capability for Meshtastic / Meshcore, embedded swiss army knife.

2 days agoby philjw