I used the iPhone 17 Pro for a week — it is a bigger upgrade than I realized

The last four generations of iPhone Pro had a similar design — discounting the introduction of Dynamic Island — but that's changing with the iPhone 17 Pro. The phone has a new design with a wider camera plateau that immediately grabs attention, and Apple switched to aluminum after dabbling in titanium for the last two years.

But what I like the most this year is that the iPhone 17 Pro is available in orange. That's the model I'm using, and it's delightful to use an iPhone in a vibrant color. Don't get me wrong; I enjoyed the Natural Titanium iPhone 16 Pro Max quite a bit, but the orange hue this year is eye-catching on an entirely different scale.

There are plenty of other upgrades; the iPhone 17 Pro gets the all-new A19 Pro silicon, and there's a new vapor cooling system that unlocks much better sustained performance. There's a bigger battery this generation as well, and better ingress protection.

The cameras are also overhauled, with the iPhone 17 Pro now touting a trio of 48MP modules along with a new 18MP selfie lens that switches orientation automatically — which is very cool. Basically, if you're using an older iPhone, there are enough new features and upgrades on the iPhone 17 Pro to make it an enticing choice if you need the additional cameras.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro: Specs, pricing, and availability

Apple unveiled the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, iPhone Air, and 17 Pro Max on September 09, with all models going on sale starting September 19. I've been using my phone for just under a week now, switching over from the iPhone 16 Pro Max. There's a 2TB model this time, but it's limited to the Pro Max, and it comes in at $1,999.

This year's Pro models cost more than their predecessors, and here's what the pricing looks like around the world:

• iPhone 17 Pro (256GB): $1,099 / £1,099 / €1,299 / ₹1,34,900
• iPhone 17 Pro (512GB): $1,299 / £1,299 / €1,549 / ₹1,54,900
• iPhone 17 Pro (1TB): $1,499 / £1,499 / €1,799 / ₹1,74,900

Apple iPhone 17 Pro: Design

• The iPhone 17 Pro has bold styling thanks to a new orange color variant and wider camera plateau.
• The aluminum unibody design feels great to hold and use.

The design of the iPhone 17 Pro reminds me of the POCO M3, which is wild. The wide camera bar (err, plateau) distinguishes the iPhone 17 Pro from its predecessors, and the design is uncharacteristically bold. While the new design won't be to everyone's tastes, I love the styling, and the aluminum unibody gives the iPhone 17 Pro a much better presence than previous years.

The rectangular camera plateau isn't just for show; it houses a bulk of the internal components, which is an achievement in and of itself. In doing so, the iPhone 17 Pro gets a sizeable battery boost, and the difference is immediately noticeable. While I used Pro models in the past, I prefer using the Pro Max because of the bigger panel and all-day battery, but even on the Pro variant, I managed to get a day's worth of use.

I'm using the Indian variant of the iPhone 17 Pro, which has a nano-SIM slot. If you're using the eSIM-only variant, you get an even bigger battery. Alongside the new design, another change this year is the Cosmic Orange hue; the bright orange color looks fantastic, and it has to be my favorite iPhone color yet.

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The sides still have flat edges, but the bevels make it comfortable to hold and use the device. The back has a two-tone finish with the aluminum unibody merging with the Ceramic Shield glass back; the matte texture is great to hold, and on the whole, the design is refreshing.

Buttons are relatively unchanged; Camera Control is intact, and the Action button is located on the left, which is arguably more useful. There are other niceties; the antennae bands are integrated seamlessly into the camera plateau, leading to a cleaner design. Even the visible screws at the bottom and the USB-C connector inside the USB-C port are coated orange, and it's good to see that level of attention to detail.

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You still get IP68 dust and water resistance, and like last year, the iPhone 17 Pro can be easily submerged in six meters of water. The iPhone 17 Pro is 7g heavier and 0.8mm thicker than last year, but that isn't noticeable in daily use. If anything, I think I might end up using the Pro model more this year because of the better in-hand feel and decent-sized battery.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro: Screen

• The 6.3-inch OLED size is unchanged, but it gets brighter in outdoor use.
• You get the same great color vibrancy, and the panel has better protection this year.

Alongside the design, Apple introduced noticeable changes to the display this year. You get the same 6.3-inch size as well as a 2622 x 1206 resolution and 120Hz refresh made possible with ProMotion, but the iPhone 17 Pro manages to get much brighter. The Pixel 10 Pro XL has been my yardstick in this regard, and the iPhone 17 Pro got almost as bright under intense heat, with the phone able to hit 3,000 nits.

There's also a new anti-reflective coating that's standard on all models, and it makes a sizeable difference when using the phone outdoors. I haven't used screen protectors on my iPhones for over half a decade, and the Ceramic Shield 2 coating on the iPhone 17 Pro is touted to have three times better scratch resistance than last year. The toughened glass is good enough that I'm confident in using my phone without additional protection.

Dynamic Island is unchanged from last year, and it continues to provide contextual details and live notifications, with several Android brands emulating the feature on their phones as well. Similar to previous generations, the iPhone 17 Pro has excellent color vibrancy and contrast, and it's a delight to use the phone to stream HDR and Dolby Vision content or play games.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro: Performance and battery

• The A19 Pro is an absolute powerhouse, delivering decent gains across the board.
• The all-new thermal management system brings much better sustained performance.

As is the case with every new iPhone generation, the iPhone 17 Pro gets new silicon: the A19 Pro. There's the usual uptick across the board, and the silicon uses a 3nm node like previous year. The bigger difference has to do with frequencies, with the A19 Pro now going up to 4.26GHz (from 4.05GHz).

Where the iPhone 17 Pro stands out is sustained performance; Apple started using a dedicated thermal management solution in the form of a vapor chamber, and it allows effective heat dissipation. It isn't any different to what Android phones had for a while now, and it allows the iPhone 17 Pro to better manager thermals even during extended gaming sessions.

The result is less noticeable throttling. In 3DMark's demanding Steel Nomad Light stress test, the iPhone 17 Pro netted a stability score of 77.9%, higher than the 70.6% managed by its predecessor. In real-world games, I noticed better stability in general with extended use, and the phone didn't get as hot as the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Other positives include 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM as standard on all Pro models, along with 256GB of base storage. I didn't see any problems with connectivity, and my iPhone 17 Pro had a rock-solid signal over cellular.

Interestingly, the phone uses Apple's own N1 silicon to enable Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread connectivity. It isn't quite the same as the iPhone Air, which has the in-house C1X cellular modem, but it's a clear indicator that Apple is looking to move its entire silicon in-house instead of relying on an external modem. That said, the iPhone 17 Pro uses a Qualcomm modem that delivers 5G connectivity.

There are no issues with haptics, with the phone delivering exquisite feedback while using the keyboard, navigating the interface, and while gaming.

I've always been reticent to use the Pro models because of average battery, but that's thankfully not a problem this year. The iPhone 17 Pro has a bigger battery, and it manages to last a day with medium use. I still had to plug it in on days which saw heavy use, but on the whole, it's reliable enough that I don't feel limited that I'm not using the Pro Max model.

There's good news when it comes to charging tech as well; the iPhone 17 Pro uses sustained 30W charging, and while it takes nearly 90 minutes to hit a full charge, it gets to the 50% mark in under 30 minutes. There still isn't a bundled charger, but as the phone uses the standard USB PD profile, you can use any PD GaN charger — I tested it with UGREEN's Nexode 500W charging station.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro: Cameras

• The iPhone 17 Pro comes with a trio of 48MP cameras, delivering better photos and videos.
• The front 18MP camera now uses a square sensor, and it is able to switch orientation automatically.

The iPhone 17 Pro has a trio of 48MP cameras at the back, with a new imaging engine that delivers better photos and videos. The main camera and tele lenses get OIS, and the front 18MP square module is just as interesting this year, given its ability to switch orientation on the fly. While I don't take many selfies, the feature is cool enough that I want Android brands to steal it immediately.

The viewfinder is different too; just the Photo and Video modes are visible, with the others hidden unless you move your finger over the ribbon at the bottom. Other than that, you get the ability to switch between the various lenses, and a new addition this year is shooting video from the front and rear cameras at the same time — going up to 4K30 — and this is similar to what Nokia phones did ages ago.

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Predictably, the iPhone 17 Pro takes standout photos in daylight situations, delivering great dynamic range and good color saturation. On that note, you can easily adjust the look of the photos with Styles, and this year's Bright gets closest to what Android-based Chinese manufacturers manage to deliver. That's the mode I used by default, but there's extensive customizability in how your photos and videos look.

Low-light shots have plenty of detail and good color rendition, but they're not quite on par with what you get on the Vivo X200 Pro, X200 Ultra, Xiaomi 15 Ultra, or the Find X8 Pro. It's a similar story with the auxiliary sensors; the wide-angle and tele lenses are great in their own right, but they just don't measure up to what Chinese brands are offering on their phones.

That said, the Pixel 17 Pro is going up against Samsung and Google, and in that context, it holds up admirably well. I still prefer the Pixel 10 Pro XL in most scenarios, and Google did a better job with its telephoto lens this year. However, the iPhone 17 Pro isn't behind by much, and that alone is a considerable upgrade from previous years. If you're coming from an older iPhone, you'll love the cameras on the iPhone 17 Pro.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro: Software

• iOS 26 is the biggest UI overhaul in iPhone history, bringing a fresh new design to this year's phones.
• The UI is modern and fun to use, and it has much better customization options.

It isn't just the hardware design that's different this year; the iPhone 17 Pro comes with iOS 16, introducing the new Liquid Glass interface. The UI feels cleaner and modern, and as someone who used Windows 7 for nearly four years, I love the transparency effects. Sure, it's not consistent and it affects usability at times, but it is a definite step up over the earlier UI, which was starting to look bland.

Apple's custom apps have all switched to the new interface, and the design feels cohesive. There are a few errant crashes that I haven't noticed in previous years, and inevitably, the interface has bugs, but the iOS 26.1 addresses this to an extent. There's much better customization, and I like that quite a bit — it was an area where iOS lagged behind Android in previous years.

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On the whole, iOS 26 feels modern but familiar at the same time. It still doesn't address the fact that Apple's AI efforts haven't been quite as fruitful as that of Google, but as a design overhaul, it ticks the right boxes.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro: The alternatives

The upgrades to the standard iPhone 17 make it a good alternative this year. If you don't need great auxiliary cameras, it is the model to get. The regular iPhone 17 finally comes with ProMotion tech, bringing the panel to 120Hz, and it has a new 48MP camera, allowing it to take better images and videos.

Then there's the iPhone Air. The ultra-thin device is in an entirely different league, and I didn't think I'd enjoy using it as much as I have. It doesn't have the best cameras, and the battery isn't anywhere as good as the iPhone 17 Pro, but it is cool in a way that no other phone can manage in 2025.

If you're looking at an Android alternative, I'd recommend the Pixel 10 Pro. Google's latest phone is iPhone-esque to such an extent that there isn't much of a difference between the two. You get much better AI features on the Pixel 10 Pro, and the cameras are better — particularly the tele lens.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro: Should you buy it?

You should buy this if:

• You're using an older iPhone
• You want an iPhone with bold styling
• You need the best cameras on an iPhone
• You want an iPhone that's easy to hold and use
• You need reliable battery life

You shouldn't buy this if:

• You need a bigger panel
• You want the best telephoto lens

There really isn't much of a reason to upgrade phones year-on-year — we're well past that cycle. That said, the iPhone 17 Pro brings welcome changes at a time when the models were starting to get a little stale. The bold styling in and if itself is a big enough change that it will prove to be divisive, but I like what Apple did in this area.

Other than that, you get the usual upgrades: the iPhone 17 Pro is faster, lasts longer, takes better photos and videos, and feels better to hold in hand. It makes a strong case for itself if you're looking to upgrade to a new phone this year, while still feeling familiar enough that it isn't jarring.

Ultimately, the decision to buy the iPhone 17 Pro is down to your requirements; if you need the auxiliary cameras and like the new design, it is the way to go. But if you just need the basics, the iPhone 17 is a good choice this year, and the iPhone Air is outstanding in its own right. Essentially, you've got much more choice than previous years, and that's always a good thing.