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<\/a><\/p>\n$799<\/p>\n
The Good<\/p>\n
- \n
- Always-on-display makes it vastly more useful<\/li>\n
- High-refresh rate makes using the phone smoother<\/li>\n
- The cameras are solid<\/li>\n
- Battery life lasts well through the day<\/li>\n
- The price isn\u2019t going up<\/li>\n
- No redesign, but the green is nice<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The Bad<\/p>\n
- \n
- Zoom capabilities are weak compared to the Pro<\/li>\n
- Gets hot during heavy gaming sessions<\/li>\n
- Apple Intelligence is still somewhere between useless and MIA<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
In size, resolution, and specs, the iPhone 17\u2019s display is the same as what you\u2019ll find on this year\u2019s Pro. And the most notable thing about the change is that the iPhone 17 finally has an always-on display. The feature works exactly the same as it does on the Pro phones, too. When you set the iPhone 17 down, the screen dims, showing a faint version of your wallpaper, widgets, clock, and notifications. The whole setup is customizable: you can turn it off, change the blur settings, or hide the wallpaper entirely for a cleaner black-and-white look.<\/p>\n
Being able to quickly glance at your phone for information is extremely handy and instantly makes the device a whole lot more useful. It was far easier to understand what notifications I had, and manage them on an ongoing basis, because I was able to regularly look over at the phone on my desk and see what had rolled in. I added a calendar widget to keep an eye on upcoming meetings. Even just being able to peek at the current time is a perpetual help.<\/p>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nThe sage green iPhone 17 looks great, even if it doesn\u2019t get a new design like the iPhone 17 Pro.<\/p>\n
Leaving the always-on display enabled does use marginally more battery, and Apple allows you to turn it off entirely if you\u2019re worried about that or find it distracting. By default, the wallpaper both blurs and dims enough that I never found the screen unduly drawing my attention. Its battery usage was in the low single-digit percentages throughout my time testing the phone. Not enough for me to care about when a single charge got me through one day of heavy usage and into the next afternoon.<\/p>\n
What enabled Apple to add this feature was the switch to a variable-refresh-rate display, which Apple brands as ProMotion. When idle, it dips down to as low as 1Hz to conserve battery, then ramps up to 120Hz \u2014 twice the maximum refresh rate of the prior model \u2014 to present smoother animations when things start moving. If you\u2019ve never used a high refresh rate display before, the difference may not be immediately apparent. But give it a few days, and you\u2019ll get used to how much more fluid fundamental parts of the phone seem to feel, from opening apps to scrolling through a news story. Once you\u2019re used to it, you\u2019ll never want to go back.<\/p>\n
That these screen upgrades dramatically improve the iPhone shouldn\u2019t be a big surprise: they\u2019ve both been present on Pro-series iPhones since 2022 and standard in the Android world \u2014 including on much cheaper phones \u2014 for just as long. They\u2019re the kind of features that a premium device like the iPhone ought to have, and the iPhone 17 is significantly better for their arrival.<\/p>\n
There are a few other less noticeable changes to the screen this year. It\u2019s ever-so-slightly bigger (6.3 inches instead of 6.1 inches), owing partly to slimmed-down bezels and partly to the phone being imperceptibly taller. Apple says the screen is more scratch resistant; I didn\u2019t deliberately try to ding up my review unit, so I can\u2019t say how effective it is in practice. The screen also gets brighter, and it now has an anti-glare coating that cuts back reflections. The coating alone isn\u2019t a game changer in terms of visibility, but combined with the screen\u2019s increased brightness, it was easier to read in harsh lighting conditions.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/257946_iPhone_17_AKrales_0096.jpg\"\/)
<\/a><\/p>\nThe iPhone 17\u2019s brighter display and anti-glare coating makes it easier to read outdoors.<\/p>\n
The other big changes to this year\u2019s phone are to the cameras. The ultrawide camera has been changed from a 12-megapixel sensor to a 48-megapixel sensor that\u2019s supposed to provide more detail, and the selfie camera has a brand new sensor that allows for an assortment of automatic framing tricks to help get you and your friends all in the same photo.<\/p>\n
The photos I took with the iPhone 17\u2019s selfie camera weren\u2019t materially better than ones I took with the iPhone 16\u2019s. But the tech inside the camera has seen a major overhaul that changes how you take those photos.<\/p>\n
Apple has given the iPhone 17 the same \u201cCenter Stage\u201d front camera that it\u2019s put in the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro. The phones all use a square image sensor instead of a rectangular one, and they all have a higher resolution than Apple\u2019s prior selfie cameras, 18MP instead of 12MP. These changes allow for two things: they give Apple more flexibility when cropping the frame, and they make the camera more suitable for use in portrait orientation \u2014 the way most people are going to take selfies.<\/p>\n
When you go to take a photo with the front camera on the iPhone 17, it\u2019ll start punched in and ready to frame up a single person. Have a friend join you, and it\u2019ll automatically expand outward. Add even more people than the portrait shot can fit, and it\u2019ll swap to an even-wider landscape framing, all while the phone remains upright. You can control this manually or let the phone automatically take it away. I found that letting the phone do its thing worked just fine. I wouldn\u2019t say this hugely improved my experience taking selfies \u2014 turning the phone sideways isn\u2019t that hard \u2014 but on a device made for tens of millions of people, many of whom just want to hold their phone out and see everyone around them, this change makes a whole lot of sense.<\/p>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nKeeping up with notifications is much easier when you can always glance at the display.<\/p>\n
The quality story is similar on the ultrawide camera, which is also the same as the Pro\u2019s. Despite the resolution bump, this year\u2019s improvements are modest at best. In side-by-side shots with its predecessor, the iPhone 17\u2019s ultrawide appeared slightly sharper and delivered slightly bolder colors. I was able to get some great photos with it. But in most cases, I had to look closely to see the improvements.<\/p>\n
Apple didn\u2019t make any hardware changes to the iPhone 17\u2019s main camera, which has a smaller sensor than the main camera on the iPhone 17 Pro but the same 48MP resolution. It takes nice photos, even if they look slightly less rich to me than what you\u2019d get out of the Pro camera. I occasionally got blown-out highlights in bright daylight and blurry motion in low light. But honestly, in a world of over-processed smartphone photos, I didn\u2019t necessarily mind the imperfections.<\/p>\n
1\/13<\/strong>Taken in 2x on the main camera.<\/p>\n
The biggest distinction between the iPhone 17 and 17 Pro\u2019s camera systems \u2014 and perhaps the biggest distinction between the phones overall \u2014 is their zoom capabilities. The 17 Pro has a dedicated telephoto lens with a 4x optical zoom. But the 17 only has what Apple bills as 2x \u201coptical quality\u201d zoom, which is just a fancy way of cropping a photo. Pictures still look good at 2x, but they start to look flat and noisy in lower light. And photos at its 10x maximum digital zoom lack the kind of detail you\u2019d get from a proper lens and start to get a bit of that blurry watercolor look. If you don\u2019t take a lot of zoomed-in photos, this omission won\u2019t be a huge deal. But if you struggle to get pics of your cat from across the room, that\u2019s still one reason you may need to go pro.<\/p>\n
Beyond the cameras, the iPhone 17 has a number of other small improvements. It has the new A19 processor, starts with double the storage \u2014 256 GB \u2014 compared to last year, supports faster wired and wireless charging, and has longer quoted battery life. And in a year where prices seem to be going up everywhere, it still starts at the same $829 unlocked price as its predecessor did.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the most obvious thing the iPhone 17 doesn\u2019t get is the flashy new camera bar design seen on the iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone Air. Those higher-end models look nice, but so does the sage green iPhone that I\u2019ve been testing, even if it looks basically the same as every iPhone for the past six years. If you\u2019re worried about your phone not looking brand new, then maybe that\u2019s a reason to consider the other models, but I don\u2019t think you\u2019re missing out anything significant here.<\/p>\n
![\"Sage](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/257946_iPhone_17_AKrales_0265.jpg\"\/)
<\/a><\/p>\nSage green is one of Apple\u2019s best colors in a while.<\/p>\n
This is one of the best years in a long time to be looking at the standard iPhone. For the same price as last year, you get twice as much storage, slightly better cameras, and an immensely better screen that makes the phone immediately more useful. Sure, there are still some features reserved for the Pro: a new design, a faster chip, a telephoto lens and larger main camera sensor. But I think there\u2019s an argument to be made that those are features for power users, meant for those who really want more out of their phone.<\/p>\n
If you just want a great iPhone, and you don\u2019t want to miss out on anything major, the iPhone 17 is finally that phone.<\/p>\n
Photography by Amelia Holowaty Krales \/ The Verge<\/p>\n
Agree to continue: Apple iPhone 17, 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air<\/p>\n
Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it \u2014 contracts that no one actually reads. It\u2019s impossible for us to read and analyze every single one of these agreements. But we\u2019re going to start counting exactly how many times you have to hit \u201cagree\u201d to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people don\u2019t read and definitely can\u2019t negotiate.<\/p>\n
To use any of the iPhone 17 (and iPhone Air) models, you have to agree to:<\/p>\n
- \n
- The iOS terms and conditions, which you can have sent to you by email<\/li>\n
- Apple\u2019s warranty agreement, which you can have sent to you by email<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
These agreements are nonnegotiable, and you can\u2019t use the phone at all if you don\u2019t agree to them.<\/p>\n
The iPhone also prompts you to set up Apple Cash and Apple Pay at setup, which further means you have to agree to:<\/p>\n
- \n
- The Apple Cash agreement, which specifies that services are actually provided by Green Dot Bank and Apple Payments Inc. and further consists of the following agreements:<\/li>\n
- The Apple Cash terms and conditions<\/li>\n
- The electronic communications agreement<\/li>\n
- The Green Dot Bank privacy policy<\/li>\n
- Direct payments terms and conditions<\/li>\n
- Direct payments privacy notice<\/li>\n
- Apple Payments Inc. license<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
If you add a credit card to Apple Pay, you have to agree to:<\/p>\n
- \n
- The terms from your credit card provider, which do not have an option to be emailed<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Final tally: two mandatory agreements, seven optional agreements for Apple Cash, and one optional agreement for Apple Pay.<\/p>\n
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- The terms from your credit card provider, which do not have an option to be emailed<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n