Which iPhone 17 Mannequin Ought to You Purchase?

Apple’s 2025 iPhones are right here, and issues are fairly completely different for the primary time shortly. The bottom iPhone 17 will nonetheless really feel acquainted, however the iPhone 17 Professional fashions have a totally new look, and there is a brand-new mannequin referred to as the iPhone Air. The “Air” branding has been considerably diluted of late—the current-gen iPad Professional fashions are lighter than the iPad Air—however the iPhone Air brings which means again to the unique thought: a super-thin and ultra-lightweight machine.

Preorders kick off September 12 and official gross sales begin September 19. Should you’re contemplating an improve, what mannequin must you get? I am going to break down the important thing variations between the iPhone 17 lineup, together with their similarities, so you’ll be able to hopefully make a extra knowledgeable selection in your subsequent iPhone.

You Do not Have to Improve

When you’ve got an iPhone from just some years in the past, you in all probability need not improve to Apple’s newest, until your machine has points. Even then, there are issues you are able to do to repair your iPhone, like getting a battery substitute, or you’ll be able to attempt a few of these troubleshooting steps. The purpose is, you should not really feel the necessity to improve simply because Apple has a brand new mannequin.

Should you’re set on shopping for an iPhone 17 mannequin, we’ve got a information on promote your iPhone in order that it would not simply accumulate mud in a drawer. When your new machine arrives, again up your previous iPhone earlier than switching to the brand new one, then observe our information on manufacturing facility resetting your machine earlier than promoting or giving it away. We even have recommendations on arrange your new iPhone and what settings to vary to get probably the most out of it.

Which iPhone 17 Is Proper for You?

Let’s shortly discuss in regards to the similarities throughout all of the iPhone 17 fashions this yr, and sure, that features the iPhone Air, even when it would not have “17” within the title.

The Show

Though iPhones differ in display screen measurement, all of them characteristic an OLED display screen (Apple refers to it as a Tremendous Retina XDR show) and make use of ProMotion expertise. That is the primary time the non-Professional fashions have ProMotion, which is basically a 120-Hz refresh price.

This has been a standard characteristic on Android telephones for some time, however it means your show refreshes 120 occasions per second somewhat than 60, like on the iPhone 16, so every little thing you do will really feel smoother. (We have now a broader explainer right here.) These are adaptive refresh charges that may drop as little as 1 Hz when there’s little exercise on the display screen, which is why the brand new iPhone 17 and iPhone Air now assist the always-on show.

Apple additionally says there is a new Ceramic Defend 2 entrance glass that is 3x extra scratch-resistant than earlier than, and a brand new anti-reflective coating to scale back glare. All of those screens also can hit as much as 3,000 nits of peak brightness, which means it’s going to be simpler to learn your iPhone display screen on sunny days.

The Digicam

The front-facing selfie digicam is an identical on all of the iPhone 17 fashions. It is a new square-shaped 18-megapixel sensor, and which means you’ll be able to anticipate extra element out of your selfies. Nevertheless, the sq. sensor additionally introduces a wiser technique to seize group selfies. You may preserve holding your cellphone in portrait orientation for the very best grip, and it’ll robotically zoom out to ensure everybody matches within the body, whereas additionally switching to a panorama orientation for the widest view. All of those fashions additionally assist Twin Seize, which helps you to shoot with each the entrance and rear cameras on the similar time. You may learn extra about these options right here.

The Traditional Specs

The entire iPhones are IP68 water- and dust-resistant, have Face ID, the Digicam Management button, Motion Button, USB-C, and Qi2 magnetic wi-fi charging (MagSafe). All gadgets begin at 256 GB of storage. There’s Apple Intelligence on these gadgets, the identical Emergency SOS by way of Satellite tv for pc and Crash Detection capabilities, they usually make the most of Apple’s new N1 wi-fi networking chip for Bluetooth 6, Wi-Fi 7, and Thread assist.

The Variations

{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu

Now, here is the place they diverge, which can show you how to higher perceive what mannequin to purchase.