In my function as TechRadar’s Telephones Editor, I’m fortunate sufficient to have entry to most of the best phones as they hit the market, and the iPhone 17 Pro is the most recent piece of top-end smartphone {hardware} to come back throughout my desk.
I’ve been utilizing Apple’s new best iPhone for simply over a month now, and I can confidently say that the hype is justified: the iPhone 17 Professional is a superb all-rounder with an attention grabbing design, stellar digicam efficiency, and spectacular battery life, whereas iOS 26 is steadily maturing into probably the most intuitive software program package deal Apple has ever launched.
But my short time with the iPhone 17 Pro has also made me realize an uncomfortable truth: I no longer need to go Pro – and I’d urge you to ask yourself whether you do either.
As I wrote after Apple’s September launch, the standard iPhone 17 might just be the best-value iPhone ever, and our iPhone 17 review confirmed that assertion to be true. So, when the time comes for me handy this iPhone 17 Professional mortgage pattern again and purchase my very own iPhone with my very own, precise cash, I’ll be ‘downgrading’ to the common iPhone 17. Permit me to elucidate why.
Closing the gap
The headline reason is the long-awaited (and quite frankly long-overdue) display upgrade for the iPhone 17. Not only does the latest base model boast a 120Hz refresh rate, but it also gets Apple’s full-blown ProMotion display technology, which dynamically adjusts that refresh rate between 1-120Hz, depending on what’s happening on-screen. This helps to preserve the phone’s battery life and allows for an always-on display, while the full 120Hz rate delivers a much smoother scrolling experience versus the iPhone 16.
Apple additionally slimmed down the show bezels on the iPhone 17, which facilitates an iPhone 16-beating 6.3-inch Tremendous Retina XDR OLED panel. Show-wise, then, the iPhone 17 is similar to the iPhone 17 Professional – and what characteristic can we use on our telephones greater than every other?
Alright, alright – that final remark was just a little facetious, however let’s flip our consideration to the iPhone 17’s chipset, the place Apple’s base mannequin fares equally properly.
Sure, the telephone’s A19 chipset is much less highly effective than the iPhone 17 Professional’s A19 Professional chipset on paper, and the latter is made extra environment friendly by the Professional-exclusive vapor chamber cooling system. However in actuality, solely hardcore cell avid gamers and 4K video editors will discover the distinction. Heck, the A19 is extra highly effective than final yr’s A18 Professional, and we described that chipset as “a velocity demon” in our iPhone 16 Pro review.
The tangible differences
I’ll concede defeat on battery life. As you can read in our recent battery life comparison, the A19 Professional chipset – coupled with the bigger 4,252mAh or 5,088mAh battery within the iPhone 17 Professional and Professional Max, respectively – nets Apple’s Professional and Professional Max telephones over 15 and 17 hours of battery life, respectively, whereas the iPhone 17 manages between 12 and 13.
The opposite apparent iPhone 17 Professional advantages are its 48MP telephoto digicam and help for skilled video codecs like ProRes RAW. The iPhone 17 – with its Professional-equaling 48MP predominant and ultra-wide cameras – is a formidable on a regular basis shooter, however it isn’t one of many best camera phones, whereas the iPhone 17 Professional completely is.
All that is to say that the iPhone 17 Professional feels extra ‘professional’ than any iPhone earlier than it – and I imply that within the literal sense. It’s a telephone designed for energy customers and severe cell photographers who regularly switch massive information (the Professional can switch at as much as 10Gbps), or who desperately want the additional battery life afforded by that extra environment friendly chipset. I’m not one in all these customers, and I’d wager that 90% of the iPhone-buying inhabitants aren’t, both.
Admittedly, I like taking photos with the Professional’s telephoto lens, and I’ll be unhappy to see it go after I change to the iPhone 17. However that characteristic alone is, for me, not definitely worth the $300 / £300 / AU$600 premium that Apple’s new greatest iPhone calls for.
And if that appears like a much bigger worth gulf than normal, that is as a result of it’s. A lesser-mentioned advantage of the iPhone 17 is that Apple removed the 128GB storage capability for all iPhone 17 fashions this yr, but it surely saved the beginning worth of its base mannequin the identical ($799 / £799 / AU$1,399). The beginning worth of the iPhone 17 Professional, in the meantime, elevated by $100 / £100 / AU$200 to $1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,999.
In different phrases, there’s an additional $100 / £100 / AU$200 between this yr’s iPhones that didn’t exist between the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Professional, which makes the iPhone 17 Professional an excellent more durable promote to informal patrons.
I’ll depart you with this roundup: along with its aforementioned show and two rear cameras, the iPhone 17 additionally will get the identical 18MP selfie digicam, the identical customizable Motion button, the identical Digital camera Management button, the identical scratch-resistant Ceramic Defend 2 show cowl, and all the identical iOS 26 software program options (together with the brand new Liquid Glass interface) because the iPhone 17 Professional.
The latter telephone will provide you with a 48MP telephoto digicam, higher battery life, a vapor cooling chamber, quicker file switch speeds, the flexibility to shoot at 4K 120 fps and in ProRes RAW, and as much as 1TB of inside storage (or 2TB on the iPhone 17 Professional Max). These upgrades will price you, at a minimal, $300 / £300 / AU$600, and, at a most, $700 / £700 / AU$1,400.
Are they value that a lot to you? If that’s the case, go forward and take a look at the roundup of the best iPhone 17 Pro deals. But when, like me, you may dwell with no telephoto lens and people different flagship trimmings, I’d urge you to contemplate the cheaper iPhone 17 this yr.
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