iPhone 17

Introduced in September 2025, the iPhone 17 is Apple's most affordable flagship iPhone, sold alongside the higher-end iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. The iPhone 17 was released in September 2025, which means now is a good time to buy. A new model is not expected until early 2027, because Apple is changing its entry-level iPhone timing. There will be no new iPhone 18 in 2026, but there will be more expensive iPhone 18 Pro and foldable iPhone models. The iPhone 18 will launch in spring 2027 alongside the iPhone 18e.

The iPhone 17 has an A19 chip that supports Apple Intelligence, an excellent OLED display with a 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate and Always-On functionality, a dual-lens camera system with two 48-megapixel lenses, an Apple-designed networking chip, more scratch-resistant front glass, a Camera Control for quick camera access, and a customizable Action button.

Pricing starts at $799, and the iPhone 17 offers a good balance between functionality and price. If you're looking for a step up, Apple has the iPhone 17 Pro models with upgraded A19 Pro chip, an improved thermal design, and a triple-lens camera system.

For those who want a more affordable device, Apple also offers the $599 iPhone 17e, and the prior-generation iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus with prices starting at $699.

• iPhone 16 vs. iPhone 17 Buyer's Guide: 20 Upgrades Compared
• iPhone 17 vs. iPhone Air Buyer's Guide: 25+ Differences Compared
• iPhone 17e vs. iPhone 17 Buyer's Guide: 35+ Differences Compared

Choosing an iPhone is a major decision, so we have some buyer's guides that walk you through choosing the best device for you, and you'll also want to check out our iPhone deals post to get the best prices.

The iPhone 17 is Apple's most affordable flagship iPhone at $799, and it is being sold alongside the thin and light iPhone Air that's priced at $999, and the higher-end iPhone 17 Pro and 6.9-inch iPhone 17 Pro Max models that are priced starting at $1,099

This year's lineup eliminates the "Plus" iPhone and replaces it with the iPhone Air. The iPhone 17 family includes the 6.3-inch iPhone 17, the 6.5-inch iPhone Air, the 6.3-inch iPhone 17 Pro, and the 6.9-inch iPhone 17 Pro Max.

With its lower price point, high-end camera, upgraded display technology, and A19 chip, the iPhone 17 is the ideal phone for most people. Apple's premium features are reserved for the iPhone 17 Pro models to make the extra cost worth it to consumers, and the iPhone 17 isn't as thin as the iPhone Air, but it is still a powerful smartphone that will last for many years to come.

Apple upgraded the display size of the iPhone 17, and it now has a 6.3-inch display, up from 6.1 inches, making it the same size as the iPhone 17 Pro. The larger display size means the iPhone 17 is a little bit taller, thicker, and heavier than the iPhone 16, but some of the improvement is from a reduction in bezels.

Aside from the slight size increase, the iPhone 17 is identical in design to the iPhone 16, featuring an aluminum frame, a glass back, a vertical dual-lens camera bump, and the Dynamic Island. The Dynamic Island houses the front-facing TrueDepth camera and other sensors for Face ID biometric authentication.

The iPhone 17's Super Retina XDR OLED display is protected by Ceramic Shield 2, which Apple says offers 3× better scratch resistance. This year, Apple brought the ProMotion display to the base-model iPhone, and it now supports adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz. 120Hz refresh rates offer smoother scrolling and other benefits, with the upgraded display also enabling Always-On display technology. Apple improved the display's peak outdoor brightness, and it now reaches 3,000 nits, up from 2,000 nits. Typical brightness is still 1,000 nits, and HDR brightness peaks at 1,600 nits.

The iPhone 17 has the same Action button and Camera Control that were available on the iPhone 16, and there continues to be a dual-lens rear camera with a 48-megapixel "Fusion" Wide-Angle lens and a 48-megapixel Ultra Wide-angle lens that's an upgrade over the prior 12-megapixel Ultra Wide lens. The Fusion lens supports 2× optical zoom, so there are 0.5×, 1×, and 2× zoom options available. The Ultra-Wide lens offers improved low-light performance and it supports macro images.

An upgraded 18-megapixel front-facing camera improves selfies and video calls. A square sensor allows for capturing portrait and landscape photos without rotating your iPhone, and it supports Center Stage for wider views when capturing images and taking video calls. Updated stabilization ensures your front-facing videos are shake free. Apple added Dual Capture, a feature that lets you record up to 4K Dolby Vision video with the front and back cameras at the same time, so you can film reaction-style videos that show you along with what you're filming.

You can get the iPhone 17 in five colors, including Lavender, Mist Blue, Sage, Black, and White. The bottom of the iPhone features a USB-C port for charging, and it supports USB2 transfer speeds (480 Mb/s).

The iPhone 17 is equipped with an A19 chip built on Apple's third-generation 3-nanometer node. It includes a 6-core CPU and 5-core GPU, but each GPU core has a Neural Accelerator that Apple says improves on-device generative AI and other system-intensive tasks. There's an upgraded 16-core Neural Engine, 8GB RAM, an updated display engine, and a new image signal processor. Apple didn't change the thermal design of the iPhone 17 like it did with the iPhone 17 Pro models, but it still benefits from thermal improvements made last year to improve heat dissipation.

With the new A19 chip and an Apple-designed N1 networking chip, the iPhone 17 is more efficient, bringing improved battery life. The iPhone 17 battery lasts for up to 30 hours when watching videos, or up to 27 hours when streaming videos.

Charging speeds are faster, and the iPhone 17 can fast charge to 50 percent in 20 minutes with a 40W or better power adapter. It can charge to 50 percent in 30 minutes with a MagSafe charger, and it supports both MagSafe and Qi2.2 charging at 25W. An Adaptive Power mode in iOS 26 intelligently manages battery consumption to extend the iPhone 17's battery even further.

A Qualcomm modem chip brings improved 5G connectivity, and the N1 includes Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread networking technology. There's still a second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, plus NFC support, dual-frequency GPS, and safety features like Emergency SOS via satellite, Messages via satellite, and Crash Detection.

In the U.S. and several other countries, the iPhone 17 is available without a physical SIM card, with Apple instead using eSIM technology.

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The iPhone 17 can be purchased from Apple and other retailers. Pricing on the iPhone 17 starts at $799 for the base model with 256GB of storage, but there is also a 512GB option for $999.

Reviewers seem to be in agreement that the iPhone 17 offers the best value at its price point. It has an upgraded A19 chip with many of the same benefits as the A19 Pro, and it features an upgraded display with Always-On and ProMotion technology with a 120Hz refresh rate. ProMotion and Always-On have previously been limited to the "Pro" iPhone models, so there are now fewer features that set the iPhone 17 apart from the iPhone 17 Pro.

The iPhone 17 design hasn't changed compared to the iPhone 16, but it has a larger 6.3-inch display with slimmer bezels, plus it uses Ceramic Shield 2 so it is more resistant to scratches. Reviewers liked the dual-lens camera system, which features an upgraded 48-megapixel Ultra Wide lens alongside the 48-megapixel Wide lens.

The 18-megapixel front-facing camera has also received praise, thanks to the higher-quality images it produces and the new feature that allows users to take landscape images without having to rotate their phones.

Compared to the iPhone Air, the iPhone 17 is thicker, but there are few other downsides. Compared to the iPhone 17 Pro, it lacks the Telephoto lens, the A19 Pro chip, and the vapor chamber cooling system, plus it has 8GB RAM instead of 12GB. At the same time, it is $300 less expensive than the entry-level $1,099 iPhone 17 Pro, which is going to make it worth it for most people.

You can read iPhone 17 reviews in our review roundup.

The iPhone 17 is identical in design to the iPhone 16, but it is slightly larger. Instead of a 6.1-inch display, the iPhone 17 has a 6.3-inch display, making it the same size as the iPhone 17 Pro.

Aside from the size upgrade, there are no other design changes. The iPhone 17 measures in at 5.89 inches tall (149.6 mm), 2.81 inches wide (71.5 mm), and 0.31 inches deep (7.95mm). It weighs 177 grams. Compared to the iPhone 16, the iPhone 17 is a little thicker and it is seven grams heavier.

The iPhone 17 models have an all-glass front and a color-infused glass back framed by a color-matched aluminum frame. Colors this year include Black, White, Mist Blue, Sage, and Lavender.

The Dynamic Island near the top of the display houses a front-facing camera and TrueDepth camera system for Face ID. Antenna bands are located on the top, left, and right sides of the phone, with a power button and Camera Control on the right side and volume buttons and the Action button on the left side.

Speaker holes, a microphone, and a USB-C charging port are located at the bottom of the iPhone 17 models. In some countries, there is a SIM slot on the left side, but the physical SIM has not been included in U.S. iPhones for several years now.

There is a camera bump at the back of the iPhone 17, and it uses the same pill-shaped vertical design as the iPhone 16. Apple did not change the camera design even though the other iPhone 17 models have an updated camera plateau.

Water and Dust Resistance

The iPhone 17 has an IP68 rating for resistance to water and dust intrusion. The smartphones are able to withstand a depth of up to six meters (19.7 feet) for up to 30 minutes.

In the IP68 number, the 6 refers to dust resistance (and means the iPhone 17 can hold up to dirt, dust, and other particulates), while the 8 pertains to water resistance. IP6X is the highest dust resistance rating that exists. With the IP68 rating, the iPhone 17 can withstand splashes, rain, and accidental water exposure, but intentional water exposure should be avoided.

Water and dust resistance are not permanent conditions, according to Apple, and can deteriorate over time as a result of normal wear. Apple's standard warranty does not cover liquid damage, which means it's best to use caution when it comes to liquid exposure.

Action Button

The Action button on the left side of the iPhone is customizable, and it can be set to perform one of several different actions in the Settings app.

• Focus: Activate or deactivate a Focus mode (Do Not Disturb is the default).
• Camera: Take a photo (the default), a selfie, video, portrait, or portrait selfie.
• Flashlight: Turn the flashlight on or off.
• Voice Memos: Start or stop recording a voice memo with the Voice Memos app.
• Magnifier: Activate the Magnifier app to use the iPhone's camera as a magnifying glass to zoom in on small text or objects.
• Shortcuts: Open your favorite app, or run a shortcut created in or downloaded from the Shortcuts app, such as sending a message, playing a playlist, or controlling smart home devices.
• Control Center: Several Control Center controls can be assigned to the Action button.
• Accessibility: Access to various Vision settings (Classic Invert, Color Filters, Detection Mode, Increase Contrast, Reduce Motion, Reduce Transparency, Reduce White Point, Smart Invert, VoiceOver, Zoom) Motor settings (Switch Control, Voice Control, Full Keyboard Access, AssistiveTouch, Apple Watch Mirroring, Control Nearby Devices) Hearing settings (Background Sounds, Left/Right Balance, Live Captions) and General settings (Guided Access, Live Speech).
• Silent Mode: Like the Ring/Silent switch on existing iPhone models, toggle silent mode on or off, which mutes or unmutes the ringer and alerts.
• Visual Intelligence: Activates the Visual Intelligence feature.
• Translate: The Translate action launches the Translate app and start a text or conversation translation.
• No Action.

Activating the Action button is done with a long press, which limits it from being hit accidentally.

Camera Control

The iPhone 17 has a Camera Control on the right side that's designed for capturing images. The multi-function button has a force sensor and a touch sensor for gesture support, and Apple designed it to work in either portrait or landscape mode.

There's a sapphire crystal covering with a smooth texture covering the Camera Control, and it is surrounded by stainless steel trim. It is inset into the iPhone's frame just a bit, and the force sensor has haptic feedback to make it feel like a DSLR camera shutter.

Camera Control can be used to take a photo with two quick clicks, but there are many more capabilities.

• Single click - Open up the Camera app (or a third-party app).
• Single click, Camera open - Take a photo.
• Click and hold - Open Camera app, start a video recording.
• Light press - Open up controls like zoom or lock focus and exposure for reframing shots without losing focus.
• Double light press - Bring up the camera preview menu to choose different controls like exposure or depth of field.
• Swipe - Swap through available adjustment options, and also change parameters like zoom, exposure, or depth of field when a control is selected.

The button has software support, so you can also swap between Camera Control functions without having to adjust settings in the Camera app.

• Adjust zoom
• Adjust exposure
• Adjust depth of field
• Swipe through different stylistic options

Third-party developers can take advantage of the Camera Control for their apps for adjusting settings, and it works in social media apps like Snapchat.

Camera Control can be used to activate Visual Intelligence when long pressing on the button.

The iPhone 17 has an upgraded Super Retina XDR OLED display that's 6.3 inches, up from 6.1 inches. It features a resolution of 2622 × 1206 with 460 pixels per inch. Apple made major improvements to the iPhone 17's display, introducing ProMotion display technology with up to a 120Hz refresh rate. 120Hz maximum refresh rates allow for smoother scrolling when viewing webpages and improvements for video.

Apple also added support for Always-On display, which leaves the time, notifications, and widgets visible even when the iPhone is inactive.

Peak brightness is now 3,000 nits outdoors (up from 2,000 nits), with typical maximum brightness of 1,000 nits and peak HDR brightness of 1,600 nits. The display has a 1-nit minimum brightness for the Always-On display.

Apple added a seven-layer anti-reflective coating that is designed to cut down on reflections by 33 percent to improve outdoor visibility. Other features include a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, wide color support for vivid colors, and True Tone. True Tone matches the white balance of the display to the ambient lighting for a paper-like viewing experience that's easier on the eyes.

The display is protected by Ceramic Shield 2, an upgraded cover material that offers 3× better scratch resistance.

Dynamic Island

The Dynamic Island includes the TrueDepth camera sensor for Face ID and the front-facing camera. The display has a small circular cutout on the right side that's for the camera, and a pill-shaped cutout on the left side for the TrueDepth system for Face ID. Apple uses software to combine the two cutouts into one pill-shaped feature that makes up the Dynamic Island.

Apple turned the Dynamic Island into part of the iPhone's interface, and it is used as a front-and-center information hub for notifications and other at-a-glance information from apps and services. When you make an Apple Pay payment, for example, Dynamic Island expands into a square shape to show confirmation of your Face ID scan, and when on a phone call, it expands so you have phone controls at your fingertips.

The Dynamic Island can display everything from Maps directions to Apple Music, and it integrates with Live Activities. There are no changes to the Dynamic Island with the iPhone 17.

TrueDepth Camera and Face ID

The iPhone 17 models use Face ID, Apple's facial recognition system that is baked into the Dynamic Island.

Face ID is used across iOS for unlocking the iPhone, allowing access to passcode-protected apps, confirming app purchases, authenticating Apple Pay payments, and more.

Face ID works through a set of sensors and cameras. A Dot Projector projects tens of thousands of invisible infrared dots onto the surface of the skin to create a 3D facial scan that maps the curves and planes of each face, with the scan read by an infrared camera.

The facial depth map is relayed to the A19 chip where it is transformed into a mathematical model that the iPhone uses to authenticate identity. Face ID works in low light and in the dark, and with hats, beards, glasses, sunglasses, scarves, masks, and other accessories that partially obscure the face.

Front-Facing Camera

The Dynamic Island also houses the new 18-megapixel front-facing camera, which has been upgraded this year. Apple is calling the new selfie camera the "Center Stage" front camera, and it has the first square camera sensor on an iPhone.

The square sensor provides a wider field of view that can capture more detail, so you can now take a portrait or landscape selfie while holding your phone vertically. Center Stage uses machine learning to expand the field of view and can rotate from portrait to landscape to fit everyone in the shot.

The camera supports ultra-stabilized video in 4K HDR, and there is an option to record with the front and rear cameras simultaneously using Dual Capture. During video calls, Center Stage works to keep you stable and in the frame.

The front-facing camera also supports Night mode, Smart HDR 5 integration, Dolby Vision HDR recording, Deep Fusion to bring out fine details, a Photonic Engine that improves low-light performance, and a portrait feature that lets you take images and turn them into portrait shots later.

Along with 4K video recording, the camera supports QuickTake video, slo-mo video, Portrait mode, and Portrait Lighting, and the Photographic Styles feature for selectively applying edits are also supported on the front-facing camera.

The iPhone 17 uses Apple's A19 chip, which is built on an upgraded 3-nanometer process. It features a 6-core CPU with two performance cores and four efficiency cores. There's a 5-core GPU, offering performance and efficiency improvements over the A18.

There's an updated display engine, image signal processor, and 16-core Apple Neural Engine. Each GPU core includes a Neural Accelerator that boosts daily workflows and the performance of local AI models, like on-device Siri.

Hardware-accelerated ray tracing enables console-quality gaming with improved frame rates and visual effects. The A19's efficiency improvements bring a battery life boost.

Memory

The iPhone 17 includes 8GB of RAM, which is the minimum for Apple Intelligence and the same amount of RAM in the iPhone 16. The other iPhone 17 models feature 12GB RAM.

Storage Space

The iPhone 17 starts with 256GB of storage, double the starting storage of the iPhone 16. There is also a 512GB upgrade option for $200 more.

There is a dual-lens rear camera system in the iPhone 17 with a Wide lens and an Ultra Wide lens. The main wide-angle lens is essentially the same as the wide-angle lens in the iPhone 16, but the Ultra Wide lens has been upgraded from 12 megapixels to 48 megapixels.