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If you happen to’ve been holding off on getting a brand new iPhone, now’s the right time to dimension up your choices. Apple’s 2025 iPhone lineup is now out there, which incorporates the iPhone 17, 17 Professional, 17 Professional Max, and a brand-new mannequin, the ultra-thin iPhone Air. These new telephones supply quite a few new options over their predecessors, comparable to upgraded cameras, quicker chips, higher battery life, and even higher screens — Apple Intelligence, nonetheless, is still a work in progress.
Alongside the brand new {hardware}, Apple additionally launched iOS 26 (sure, the numbering system has modified and we’re leaping from iOS 18), which features a new Liquid Glass user interface, dwell translation, wallpapers in messages, and extra. The software program marks Apple’s biggest visual redesign since iOS 7, and regardless of some very polarizing reactions, we predict it looks fine.
In case your present iPhone is buzzing alongside, there’s no have to rush out and get a brand new one. However should you’re questioning whether or not it’s the yr to interchange your iPhone that’s a couple of generations previous, then I feel the reply is a simple sure. There are actual positive factors available this time round, particularly within the primary iPhone 17, which incorporates a higher-refresh-rate show than final yr’s mannequin for smoother-looking animations, plus double the bottom storage to 256GB — all with out elevating the value, regardless of the current tariff situation.
What we’re in search of
There’s no shortcut to correctly testing a cellphone; I put my private SIM card (bodily or in any other case) in every cellphone I assessment and dwell with it for at least one full week. I arrange every cellphone from scratch, load it up with my apps, and go about dwelling my life — stress testing the battery, utilizing GPS navigation on my bike whereas streaming radio, taking rapid-fire portrait mode pictures of my child — all the things I can throw at it. Beginning over with a brand new cellphone each week both feels like a dream or your private hell, relying on how Into Telephones you might be. For me, switching has turn into so routine that it’s principally painless.
The costliest, souped-up iPhone isn’t robotically the very best one for everybody. What I search for is a contented medium — options that can fulfill most individuals at the very best worth. Typically, that’s final yr’s mannequin.
Battery efficiency can range considerably between present iPhone fashions, primarily because of the dimension of the cellphone. Everybody needs a cellphone that may final a full day, and these suggestions replicate that.
One dimension doesn’t match all. Some individuals like a small cellphone, others need the most important display cash can purchase. This record consists of iPhones for individuals in each camps.
The perfect iPhone for most individuals
$799
The Good
- All the time-on show makes it vastly extra helpful
- Excessive refresh price makes utilizing the cellphone smoother
- The cameras are strong
- Battery lasts properly by means of the day
- The worth isn’t going up
- No redesign, however the inexperienced is sweet
The Dangerous
- Zoom capabilities are weak in comparison with the Professional
- Will get sizzling throughout heavy gaming classes
- Apple Intelligence remains to be someplace between ineffective and MIA
Display: 6.3-inch 2622 x 1206 OLED, 120Hz refresh price / Processor: A19 / Cameras: 48-megapixel f/1.6 most important with sensor-shift IS; 48-megapixel ultrawide; 18-megapixel selfie / Battery: Not marketed / Charging: 40W wired, 25W wi-fi MagSafe / Qi2 / Climate-resistance score: IP68
The iPhone 17 marks a turning level for the usual mannequin. After years with a lower-quality display, the most affordable mannequin lastly received two main upgrades for 2025: an always-on show and a high-refresh-rate panel. These options make it really feel meaningfully higher than the iPhone 16 and prior fashions in on a regular basis use, bringing it nearer than ever to the Professional fashions. And on the identical $799 beginning worth because the earlier era, this yr’s replace is a no brainer.
Whereas the iPhone 17’s 48-megapixel most important digital camera is carried over from final yr, the ultrawide digital camera has been modified from a 12-megapixel sensor to a 48-megapixel sensor, and it delivers sharper and extra vibrant pictures. The system options an 18-megapixel Middle Stage selfie digital camera, which can also be within the Air and 17 Professional. Your selfies could not look materially higher, however the entrance digital camera’s sq. sensor elevates the consumer expertise, making it doable to take horizontal selfies whereas holding the system vertically (no have to rotate the cellphone).
Apple additionally provides you double the storage — 256GB versus 128GB within the base iPhone 16 — and improved battery life. The usual 17 nonetheless lacks a correct telephoto digital camera, and the A19 chip is slower than the A19 Professional discovered within the Professional fashions. Nonetheless, it’s an enormous step up in nearly each method, even when it appears principally the identical as each iPhone from the previous six years.
$1099
The Good
- Strong battery life
- Brighter display open air
- Middle Stage digital camera
- Quicker charging
- Doesn’t get blazing sizzling
- Orange
The Dangerous
- What’s up with Siri?
- Heavier than final yr
Display: 6.3-inch 2622 x 1206 OLED, 120Hz refresh price / Processor: A19 Professional / Cameras: 48-megapixel f/1.78 with sensor-shift IS; 48-megapixel 8x telephoto with OIS; 48-megapixel ultrawide; 18-megapixel selfie / Battery: Not marketed / Charging: 40W wired, 25W MagSafe / Qi2 / Climate-resistance score: IP68
The iPhone 17 Professional introduces a daring redesign and quite a few notable upgrades, together with the lineup’s most superior digital camera setup but. It additionally options rounded edges, and much like final yr, it’s on equal footing with the 17 Professional Max by way of efficiency. The largest variations are that the Professional Max provides a bigger show, a bigger battery, and as much as 2TB of storage.
Whereas the iPhone 17 is for most individuals, the 17 Professional is geared extra towards creators. The system has three 48-megapixel cameras, together with a 48-megapixel telephoto, and it provides a number of professional options geared toward those that need to take the absolute best pictures and movies. A few of these options embrace Genlock assist, which lets videographers sync up timecodes throughout a number of cameras, and assist for ProRes RAW recording. It additionally sports activities the upgraded Middle Stage selfie digital camera present in different 2025 iPhone fashions.
Regardless of the additions and enhancements, there’s little right here that makes the 17 Professional an absolute must-upgrade. Nevertheless, it is available in an irresistible orange, which is seemingly the new “it” color.
The iPhone with the very best battery life
$1199
The Good
- Strong battery life
- Brighter display open air
- Middle Stage digital camera
- Quicker charging
- Doesn’t get blazing sizzling
- Orange
The Dangerous
- What’s up with Siri?
- Heavier than final yr
Display: 6.9-inch 2868 x 1320 OLED, 120Hz refresh price / Processor: A19 Professional / Cameras: 48-megapixel f/1.78 with sensor-shift IS; 48-megapixel 8x telephoto with OIS; 48-megapixel ultrawide; 18-megapixel selfie / Battery: Not marketed / Charging: 40W wired, 25W MagSafe / Qi2 / Climate-resistance score: IP68
The iPhone 17 Professional Max’s redesign isn’t nearly appears. Apple hollowed out the system’s aluminum body to slot in the most important battery but in an iPhone. Apple says the system provides up 39 hours of video playback, which is 12 extra hours than final yr’s iPhone 16 Plus, our earlier battery champ. The system can simply push by means of a full day after which some, although your mileage will range relying on how usually you play cellular video games, watch movies, and doomscroll on social media.
There are different advantages to going with the 17 Professional Max. It has the biggest show among the many newest iPhone lineup — 6.9 inches — and provides as much as 2TB of storage, giving creators extra room than ever for storing their media. In order for you essentially the most iPhone you may probably get, together with the longest battery life, then the 17 Professional Max is the way in which to go.
The perfect iPhone for individuals who hate cumbersome telephones
$999
The Good
- Simpler to hold due to its slim profile
- Remarkably gentle and extra nice to make use of for lengthy durations of time
The Dangerous
- Battery drains faster than an ordinary cellphone
- No ultrawide digital camera
Display: 6.5-inch 2736 x 1260 OLED, 120Hz refresh price / Processor: A19 Professional / Cameras: 48-megapixel f/1.6 most important with sensor-shift IS; 18-megapixel selfie / Battery: Not marketed / Charging: 30W wired, 20W MagSafe / Qi2 / Climate-resistance score: IP68
The iPhone Air is Apple’s largest redesign for the reason that iPhone X was launched in 2017. It’s shockingly skinny and light-weight, at 5.6mm and 165 grams, respectively. Because of its titanium body and Ceramic Protect 2 show, it’s more durable than you would possibly anticipate, too. The system feels deceptively small, regardless of having a 6.5-inch show. You actually must see and really feel the cellphone your self to get the attraction.
However the thinner design comes with a couple of substantial compromises in comparison with the opposite fashions out there this yr. One of many largest is that the Air incorporates a single 48-megapixel digital camera on the again. That’s to not say the system’s digital camera is dangerous. But it surely’s a far much less versatile system than even the much more inexpensive iPhone 17, which has a dual-camera setup. The second compromise is on battery life, which is simply okay. It’s not horrible, nevertheless it’s not nice, both.
At $999, you’re paying so much for middling battery life and digital camera efficiency. Those that primarily care about design, although, could also be extra forgiving about these shortcomings.
The perfect inexpensive-ish iPhone
$599
The Good
- Dependable efficiency
- Good, if restricted, digital camera system
- It’s the most affordable new iPhone you should purchase
The Dangerous
- No MagSafe
- $599 seems like $100 an excessive amount of
- No ultrawide
Display: 6.1-inch Tremendous Retina XDR / Processor: A18 Cameras: 48MP Fusion with 1x and 2x optical zoom, 12-megapixel selfie / Battery: Not marketed / Charging: 20-watt wired, 7.5W Qi, no MagSafe/ Climate-resistance score: IP68
This advice comes with a heavy sigh. Sure, the 16E is the most affordable new iPhone Apple sells. Sure, it’s cellphone. It has a succesful digital camera, dependable efficiency, full water resistance, wi-fi charging, and shall be supported with software program updates for years to return. However its $599 price ticket begins to really feel like an excessive amount of when you think about what it’s lacking.
There’s no MagSafe, which you’ll form of add by the use of a MagSafe case, nevertheless it’s a bummer to not have it inbuilt when it has principally turn into an ordinary iPhone function. There’s no ultrawide digital camera, no Dynamic Island housing well timed data, no digital camera management button (not an enormous loss, truthfully), and no Extremely Wideband for exact object monitoring. It does assist Apple Intelligence, however that doesn’t really feel like a lot of a comfort, on condition that it’s very a lot nonetheless a work-in-progress.
The 16E will probably obtain extra years of software program assist than a previous-gen mannequin just like the iPhone 14 or 15. And certain, Apple Intelligence would possibly flip into one thing helpful sometime. The 16E is an effective alternative if you’d like the trail of least resistance to blue bubbles and FaceTime at your fingertips. However should you’d like MagSafe, a extra superior digital camera, and among the different bells and whistles that received misplaced on the way in which to the 16E, then it’s not a nasty thought to have a look at one of many older iPhones.
Apple’s newest iPhone lineup is on the market now, however there are already experiences about what’s subsequent. One report suggests Apple is readying a book-style foldable iPhone for 2026, which allegedly appears like two iPhone Air models put side by side. Apple is reportedly nonetheless working to flatten the crease that seems when the cellphone is unfolded, however has in any other case settled on a design. Looking forward to 2027, a report claims Apple is planning a redesigned “all-screen” iPhone to have a good time the system’s twentieth anniversary. These upcoming releases are allegedly a part of Apple’s three-year plan — beginning with the brand new iPhone Air — that’s geared toward refreshing its smartphone lineup.
Replace, November nineteenth: Up to date to replicate present pricing / availability. Brandon Russell contributed to this text.
