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iPhone 17 Series Shakes up Formula

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Sep 9, 2025, 2:44 PM by Rich Brome @rbrome.bsky.social

Apple has announced this year's iPhone lineup, the iPhone 17 series. Instead of a "Plus" model, Apple has introduced a new iPhone Air (covered in a separate article) that's extra-thin and more premium than a Plus model. New in the standard and Pro models are: a new 18-megapixel Center Stage front camera with a larger, square sensor that can capture portrait or landscape orientation without turning the phone, and has automatic framing (cropping). Also new is that all rear cameras are 48-megapixel "Fusion" cameras that perform different functions in 12-megapixel (pixel binning) or 48-megapixel mode (which defaults to 24 megapixel output). In the standard iPhone 17, this means a main camera that can double as a (12MP) 2x telephoto camera, plus a wide-angle camera that can double as a (12MP) macro camera. The Pro models add a 4x telephoto camera that can double as a (12MP) 8x telephoto camera. Apple has also introduced Ceramic Shield 2 display glass across the lineup, which it claims offers 3x better scratch resistance. The iPhone 17 gains a new display that's larger (6.3 inches vs. 6.1), has ProMotion dynamic refresh (1–120 Hz), and has an always-on feature. It also gains faster wired charging. A new A19 chip in the iPhone 17 offers 20% faster graphics performance and puts neural accelerators in the GPU cores for the first time. The Pro models come with an even-more-powerful A19 Pro chip assisted by a new vapor-chamber thermal management system. The Pro models come with the largest battery ever in an iPhone, which is even slightly larger in regional versions without a physical SIM card slot. The Pro models also gain ProRes RAW video capture and Genlock (with optional hardware accessory.) The Pro models have an all-new look with an aluminum (instead of titanium) unibody design and larger "plateau" camera hump. All models now come with a minimum 256 GB of storage. In the standard iPhone 17, this means double the memory for the same $799 starting price. However the iPhone 17 Pro sees the starting price hike from $999 to $1099. The iPhone 17 Pro Max (with its larger 6.9-inch display) starts as $1199, just like last year's model. Pre-orders start today, with all models shipping Sept. 19.

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