I have reviewed every iPhone 17 model, and my advice is different this year

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The idea of ​​”Atrocities of choice“It is said that being a set of good options is believed to reveal that everyone makes them happy, but the reality is that so many good options can often cause anxiety, indecency and dissatisfaction. If we apply this concept to the iPhone 17 lineup, Apple is quite tyrannical this year.

Finally, base model iPhone 17 Is more supportive than ever and provides the best value-K-wealth in 2025. iPhone 17 Pro And Pro Max Last year’s Pro model has addressed two of the largest weak places. And this iPhone Air Gives you the opportunity to use today’s technology.

Also: Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max Review: I have received a big reason to recommend an upgrade from year to year.

I have upgraded my iPhone every year since the first iPhone in 2007, and I have spent time with all four of this year’s iPhone model. And yet, this year my purchase advice is different from any other year in the past. And there are many reasons.

Let’s unpack it by looking at each product lines, as well as whom I would consult as an ideal upgrade for each.

$ 799 iPhone 17 suits more people than ever

Do not sleep on the base model iPhone 17 This year.

In recent years, I mostly base model iPhone’s recommendations to children, adolescents, iPhone users for the first time, and those who needed only one phone would work because their old phone had a torn screen or battery that did not have a charge and how much they spent on a phone.

This is not the case this year.

The fact is that Apple made so many upgrade in the iPhone 17, wondering the 2025 Apple event for me. First, Apple finally made a major facelift for the screen technology of the iPhone 17, cuisted with Thiner Bezel, 120Hz promotion display, 3000 NITS of Peak Brightness, an anti-reactive coating and always-on display.

Also: Want Meta Ray-Bain display glasses? You must book a demo first – and they are going fast

Apple also upgraded the cameras on the iPhone 17, which went into the dual fusion camera of 48MP with 48MP main cameras and 48MP ultravide. In addition, the iPhone 17 gets the same upgraded selfie camera technology, as professionals and air get this year. It is a 24MP square sensor that effectively shoots 18MP images either in portrait or landscape mode and now you can automatically switch between the two without forcing your phone to flip.

Even better, you can give machine learning to use camera to find all faces in the shot and automatically use portrait or landscape mode to get the best photos. This year, Apple Kudos not only to keep this new camera technology in Pro phones.

Apple increased the base storage from 128GB to 256GB at $ 799, the iPhone 17. Last year, 256GB storage on iPhone 16 would have priced the phone at $ 899. From that point of view, Apple effectively cut the price of $ 100 to the iPhone 17. Similarly, the two largest Android contestants of iPhone 17, Pixel 10 and Samsung Galaxy S25 still start with 128GB storage on their base model and both cost $ 799.

Too: I compared iPhone 17, iPhone Air, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max: Who is here

From another point of view, this year’s iPhone 17 is similar to the previous year’s iPhone 16 Pro, except that it does not have a telephoto zoom, but it adds the next-jewelery selfie camera and dual-contact camera. And last year’s iPhone 16 Pro started $ 999 for 128GB storage and $ 1,099 for 256GB.

As a result, there are people who would recommend to choose the option of iPhone Pro Line first, who are very happy to advise me. iPhone 17 The base model instead of this year, save them a few hundred dollars. If you are someone who does not use the telephoto zoom too much and you are coming from the iPhone 14 Pro or iPhone 13 Pro (or earlier), then I would advise to consider the iPhone 17 this year. This is now a very powerful and serious phone.

IPhone Air provides future taste

iPhone Air Step in a bit of a cursed place in the iPhone lineup between base models and professionals where the iPhone 12–13 mini and iPhone 14-16 plus models all struggled to generate too much interest in the last half decade.

Like Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge, the iPhone Air is considered a technology performance of how thin its engineers can be, which can make a phone as a pioneer for a jump in foldables – fold 7 in the case of Samsung 7.

Therefore, the wind of the iPhone is not only haunted by the past, it also stands in the shadow of the long -awaited foldable iPhone, which is widely expected to be launched in the collapse of 2026.

Also: I replaced my iPhone 16 Pro Max with iPhone Air – here now my purchase advice is

Nevertheless, the iPhone Air is undoubtedly the one who created the biggest wow factor holding it in my hands. It is super impressive of how thin, light and future it is. I encourage you to go to Apple Store or a wireless career store from one of the wireless career stores starting on 19 September whether you get the same emotional response to keep a phone that is basically the width of the USB-C port.

There is no doubt that it is one of the most influential technical achievements of 2025. But should you buy it?

For most parts of the iPhone upgrade, I am still not going to say – no – when the base model iPhone 17 has better cameras and costs the cost. And if you are a true power user, you are not going to be satisfied with cameras on battery life or iPhone air.

But if you are someone who likes to live on the state -of -the -art edge of the tech and runs beyond the pack, then you probably get very huge when you put your hands on the iPhone air. You are probably someone who likes to wear Google Glass or Apple Vision Pro and you are one of the major candidates receiving iPhone folds in 2026. iPhone Air You will let you live in that future. Just make sure you order if you regularly use your phone for more than four hours a day.

IPhone 17 Pro Max solves big problems

The iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 15 Pro Max are two phones that I used during the last two years. I preferred to use the main camera on these phones, especially in the last two years to take more photos than any other smartphone camera or even my professional Sony Mirrorless camera.

But I was struggling with the same two problems on both those phones.

Too: I announced 2 Big II features of Apple at the iPhone 17 event – and both are game changer

First of all, the zoom camera was not only the same standard of quality similar to the main camera – as much as I wanted I love zoom photography. The shots taken on 5x telephoto (first introduced on the iPhone 15 Pro model) were fine for social media, but the quality would usually separate when I started editing them. So I had to arrive regularly for my Sony Mirrorless whenever I wanted high quality zoom shots. Meanwhile, I have been printing high quality photos from the main camera of iPhone for more than a decade.

In the last two years, the second major problem with me with two Titanium iPhone 15 and 16 Pro Max phones was regular overheating. Whenever I was shooting a lot of photos or videos, when I was in crowded urban areas with a weak wireless signal, or when I called in the sun for an extended period, these two Pro Max phones used to get incredibly warm. And when they are hot, the battery will start the drain very quickly.

This is definitely not dynamic that you want to see by an expensive, high -end phone.

I was thrilled that Apple addressed both problems iPhone 17 Pro Max Similarly, the iPhone 17 Pro, which is the same accurate phone, except that it has a 6.9 -inch screen and a 6.3 -inch screen instead of a small battery.

Too: Should you upgrade the iPhone 17 Pro from last year’s model? I am – why is here

Let’s talk about the thermal first. Apple has changed the titanium and has gone back into aluminum for the iPhone 17 Pro Max cover. Aluminum can be 5–10 times more effective in operating and spreading heat than titanium. But Apple also added Vapor chamber cooling system This uses degenerated water to cool the A19 Pro chip of the phone and allows it to run on maximum strength by not overheating.

I need to test a lot in weeks and months, but I am very encouraged that the iPhone 17 Pro Max addresses overheating issue head-on in its design.

When it comes to this telephoto zoom camera, I am also encouraged that Apple has addressed it in the iPhone 17 Pro Max. First, Apple upgraded its tetrapism zoom from a 12MP sensor to a 48MP sensor, which matched the 48MP sensor on the main camera. Then, Apple made it 4X sensor (instead of 5X), which first appeared as a curious downgrade.

However, with more pixels, the 8X zoom was cropped up to 12MP, which the apple boldly called an optical quality 8X. Fortunately, I got to try it, and I am impressed by what I have seen so far. Below is an example of what the 8x zoom lens is capable, and it is higher quality than any zoom shot I have taken with an iPhone first.

Of course, I will need to test too much with a zoom camera, before I can say if it is ready to take more of my everyday zoom photography. I am also going to compare it with Pixel 10 Pro XL Zoom, which I am also testing. Like last year, I plan to review a dedicated review of the new iPhone 17 Pro camera system. So keep an eye on it in early October.

Too: iPhone Air vs Samsung S25 Edge: I compared both ultra-split phone to decide a winner

Nevertheless, I am now going to make a recommendation that I have never made before – with a starving. If you were like me and ran into too much overheating and zoom problems with the iPhone 15 Pro Max or even iPhone 16 Pro Max, I think you want to consider the possibility of more-ropped-to-normal upgrade. iPhone 17 Pro Max This year.

Then, I am definitely going to test more before making that recommendation, but I want to put it on your radar. I am doing more rigorous tests in the coming weeks and I will report back. I will also keep an eye on some good trade-in deals that can reduce the shock of the upgrade rapidly.