Iphone 17: A Powerful Alternative to the Pro Model

For the vast majority, there's no reason to buy the Iphone 17 Pro now that its smaller sibling has become so powerful. Additionally, it's significantly cheaper.

The Iphone 17 has grown slightly since its last iteration. It's not immediately noticeable, but it now features a 6.3-inch screen instead of the 6.1-inch display on the Iphone 16. This means the Iphone 17 has the same screen size as the Iphone 17 Pro.

However, the screen has been upgraded in more ways, notably by being of the ProMotion type, something previously reserved for Pro versions. It features a dynamic refresh rate that maxes out at 120 Hz, ensuring the interface always feels smooth and responsive. This also means the phone now has an always-on display, allowing you to see basic information.

An added bonus is that the screen has become brighter, which is welcome when you want to use the phone outdoors while the sun is shining.

Just like its Pro siblings, this phone is equipped with Ceramic Shield 2 all around, making it far more scratch-resistant than its predecessors.

Powerhouse Under the Hood

Inside the phone, we find Apple's standard A19 chip, which is better suited to handle various AI-based functions than the A18 chip was. The A19 isn't as fast as the A19 Pro chip found in the series' larger siblings, but it's still an incredibly powerful mobile system chip.

In this area, too, the Iphone 17 feels like a Pro model. It's almost hard to find a use case where this phone's performance wouldn't suffice, although there are certainly some.

A nice feature is that Apple has managed to reduce energy consumption despite this performance. This should result in significantly better battery life than the Iphone 16 can offer. In our tests, we found nothing to suggest this claim is false, but since we've only had the phone for just over five days, it's hard to say how this holds up in the longer term.

Cameras Are Brutally Good

Now to the all-important camera. This is the first standard Iphone 17 model to come with an ultra-wide-angle lens with a sensor of 48 megapixels, just like the main lens.

This is clearly noticeable when comparing photos with those taken with the Iphone 16 or older models. The Iphone 17 delivers more realistic colors and higher detail. We miss the sharp telephoto lens from the Pro models, but the poorer zoom is also the only major shortcoming in that comparison.

No, we can't film in 4K at 120 frames per second and have to settle for 60, but the image stabilization is just as good. Additionally, the Center Stage and Dual Capture features are also available on this phone model. The former can keep your face in focus and help adjust selfies based on how many people are in the picture, while the latter allows you to film both yourself and your surroundings simultaneously.

Yes, even when it comes to cameras, the Iphone 17 feels almost like a Pro model.

A Smarter Choice

The Iphone 17 is clearly the smartest choice among all the new Iphone models. It costs only 10,995 SEK in its entry-level version (which is four thousand less than the Iphone 17 Pro) but offers almost equally fine specifications. It's hard to believe that the average person would notice any significant difference in performance, and for most mobile photographers (essentially everyone who isn't a professional), the simpler camera doesn't represent a major downgrade, as it's still excellent.

This phone might also attract some Android fans, as it's hard to find this much phone for the money elsewhere. The most apparent Achilles' heel for Apple in this context is that the AI functions are still relatively few and hardly groundbreaking.

For those already loyal to Apple, it's primarily about prestige. It's not so obvious with the Iphone 17 that it's a completely new phone, even though it comes in a range of new colors. But unlike the Pro models, it is available in black. And that's a color many want.