Apple has just unveiled the iPhone 17, its latest series of smartphones that’ll no doubt be among the most popular devices on the market. But is it a big upgrade compared to the already excellent iPhone 16?
Which iPhone to go for is a big question many people ask themselves every year. Whether you’re wondering if plumping for the iPhone 17 is a smarter choice than the iPhone 16, or if the upgrade is worth it.
Finally, Apple has added this much-requested feature to the base iPhone. Previously, ProMotion tech – which raises the refresh rate from a maximum 60Hz to a maximum 120Hz – was restricted solely for the Pro iPhones, leaving the standard model lagging behind. Heck, it’s been a long time since we’ve seen one of the best Android phones ship with a 60Hz display.
Not only does ProMotion make the screen look smoother, but as it can lower the refresh rate to as low as 1Hz, it enables the Always-on Display feature that has also been exclusive to the Pro phones.
You now get a bigger screen
With the addition of the iPhone Air, Apple has canned the Plus version of the iPhone. However, the iPhone 17 now has a larger screen than he iPhone 16, thanks to some slimmer bezels. The OLED panel now measures 6.3 inches, which is up from 6.1 inches.
New colours
The iPhone 17 comes in five colours. These include black, lavender, mist blue, sage, and white
The colour options are different from those available with the iPhone 16, which include: black, white, pink, teal and ultramarine. Our biggest disappointment is that the orange hue is only for the Pro phones.
A completely new selfie camera
One of the biggest upgrades for the iPhone 17 is its completely new selfie camera. Now called the Center Stage camera, this features a square 18MP sensor for a wider field of view. You’ll no longer have to rotate your phone to take a landscape selfie as the square sensor can capture this in portrait.
There’s also AI, which is used for group shots to automatically expand the field of view and cram more faces into your shot. Finally, there’s Dual Capture – which takes video from the front and back camera at once.
This is all quite a big step forward from the fairly standard 12MP sensor on the front of the iPhone 16.
Ceramic Shield 2 for added durability
Ceramic Shield has been protecting iPhones for a few generations now, but with the iPhone 17 we now get Ceramic Shield 2.
Apple claims this has 3x better scratch resistance and a new anti-reflective coating to combat glare. The screen is brighter too, now able to hit 3000 nitsl.
Faster A19 chip
The iPhone 16 was powered by the A18 chip, which we found to be very capable. However, a new iPhone means a new chip, and predictably, the iPhone 17 is powered by the A19.
This chip, which is built on 3nm tech, has an updated display ISP for the faster screen and the 6-core CPU is said to be 1.5x faster than the A15 chip inside the iPhone 13. Considering isn’t really comparing it to the A18 chip, it would seem like the speeds, while higher, aren’t dramatically so.
What is welcome is that the new N1 Apple-designed wireless networking chip enables Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread.
This is a breaking story and we’ll update when we learn more…
