Today, we have with us the new iPhone 17, the baseline, and what would undoubtedly be the most popular iPhone for Apple. This is also the most improved model for this year, which should make a lot of people happy.
Before we delve into the new features, let’s take a quick look at the packaging. Well, there’s not really much to look at here, as the iPhone 17 continues Apple’s crusade in cutting down on the packaging material, which leaves you with mostly just a cable. At this point, we are not sure why Apple even bothers with that, as anyone expected to have a charger at home would also have a cable.
Moving past that, there’s also surprisingly little to talk about on the design front as well. The new iPhone 17 is ever so slightly larger than the iPhone 16, and comes with a slightly bigger display that has thinner bezels, things most people are unlikely to notice.
What you would notice are the new colors; the iPhone 17 comes in Lavender, Mist Blue, and the Sage we have here, along with the usual black and white. Apple seems to have this running theme of doing vibrant colors one year and then more muted tones next, so we lost the sharp Ultramarine and Pink of last year for this year’s sober palette.
Inside, however, is where most of the changes lie. The aforementioned larger display now supports a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz, which is a massive step up from the 60Hz refresh rate of all previous non-Pro iPhones. This change has been a long time coming, and no longer should the base iPhone buyers feel like they are missing out on basic features found on budget Android phones these days. The display is also brighter, with a peak brightness of 3000 nits compared to 2000 nits of its predecessor. There is also now a DC dimming option available, as well as an always-on display mode.
Of course, as with all new iPhones, the iPhone 17 gets the updated chip in the form of the A19. Compared to the A16 Bionic in the iPhone 15, the new chip has up to 40% higher CPU performance and up to 80% higher GPU performance. This is, however, still a cut-down version of the A19 Pro found on the Pro models, so this is one area where the non-Pro iPhone is still a bit behind. The iPhone 17 also does not get the new Apple C1X cellular modem that the iPhone Air has but it does get the N1 wireless networking chip.
The camera is where the new iPhone 17 sees more meaningful improvements. On the back, there is a new Dual Fusion camera system with a 48MP main camera and a new 48MP ultra-wide camera. This should see the new iPhone take much higher quality ultra-wide as well as macro shots compared to its predecessor.
The front camera has also been updated with the new 18MP Center Stage camera that graces all new 2025 iPhone models. This square sensor can capture portrait as well as landscape shots in full resolution without having to turn the phone around, and can also automatically expand its field of view as more people enter the frame. The new Dual Capture feature also lets you record videos from the rear and front cameras simultaneously.
The iPhone 17 also has a slightly larger battery than before, which, along with the efficiency improvements, has resulted in longer claimed battery life figures. It also charges faster thanks to faster wired as well as wireless charging.
Finally, Apple has dropped the 128GB storage model, and the iPhone 17 now starts at 256GB as standard. The 512GB model is still around but there is no higher variant available.
We are currently working on our full review for the iPhone 17, which should be out in due course.
