teaThe 17 Pro is Apple’s biggest redesign of the iPhone in years, ditching the old titanium sides and all-glass back for a new aluminum unibody design, a huge edge-to-edge camera chunk on the back, and some bolder colors.
That alone will make the iPhone 17 Pro a hit with those looking to upgrade and show off to the latest model. However, the changes will see the price rise to £1,099 (€1,299/$1,099/A$1,999), breaking the £1,000 barrier for the first time for Apple’s smallest Pro phone, which now comes with double the starting storage.
From the front, it looks like the latest Pro iPhone with a very bright and smooth screen with Dynamic Island at the top, which includes a selfie camera. It’s one of the best screens on a phone, but it’s the same as the regular iPhone 17 that got upgraded this year.
The aluminum sides are smooth with slightly rounded edges, which makes the phone feel nice and comfortable in the hand without being too slippery. The weight of the phone increased by 5g to over 200g, making it heavier than a small phone.
A glass panel slightly larger than a credit card is embedded in the aluminum body and holds a MagSafe or Qi2.2 charger and accessories. A large metal ‘plateau’ at the top houses the camera, which is much larger than the Pixel’s camera bar. Aluminum won’t break like glass if dropped, but the case still requires careful handling as it is prone to scratches, especially around the edges of the plateau.
The handset runs iOS 26, the same as the rest of the iPhone lineup, which introduces Apple’s new “Liquid Glass” interface design. It generally works well, but it’s a bit disruptive for the transparency effects used on buttons and other elements, sometimes blending too much with the background.
specification
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screen: 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR (120Hz OLED) (460ppi)
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Processor: Apple A19 Pro
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ram: 12GB
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save: 256, 512GB or 1TB
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Operating System: iOS 26
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camera: 48MP main, 48MP UW and 48MP 4x zoom, 18MP front
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Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi 7, NFC, Bluetooth 6, Thread, USB-C, satellite, UWB and GNSS
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Waterproof: IP68 (6 meters for 30 minutes)
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size: 150×71.9×8.75mm
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weight: 204g
Faster, cooler A19 Pro chip
At the core of the 17 Pro is the new Apple A19 Pro chip, which combines the vapor chamber cooling system for the first time in an iPhone. This is a common technology used in many high-performance Android phones, extracting heat from the chip and dispersing it to the rest of the phone’s body, keeping temperatures down and maintaining peak performance for longer.
It performs well, producing better frame rates and sweating less while keeping the back cooler than previous iPhones when gaming for long periods of time.
Battery life is solid for a phone this size, lasting about 42 hours between charges, including about 6 hours of active screen use using a mix of 5G and Wi-Fi. That’s about two hours longer than last year’s model. Even on days with heavy usage or heavy gaming, the 17 Pro still ended the day with about 25% left in the tank. Most people need to charge their phones every other day for regular use.
sustainability
The battery will last over 1,000 full charge cycles with at least 80% of its original capacity and can be replaced for £109. An out-of-warranty screen repair costs £349. Experts iFixit rated the repairability of this phone at 7 out of 10.
Contains at least 30% recycled materials including aluminum, cobalt, copper, gold, lithium, rare earth elements, steel, tin and tungsten. In its report, the company details the impact of mobile phones on the environment. Apple offers trade-in and free recycling, including for third-party products.
camera
There are three 48MP cameras on the back and a new 18MP selfie camera on the front with a few new features.
The main and ultra-wide cameras are very similar to last year’s and take great photos in a variety of lighting conditions, especially suited to detailed street photography. The main camera offers a 2x crop zoom, which looks similar in detail and color to a 1x shot in good lighting, but gets a little grainier in dim lighting.
New this year is the upgraded telephoto camera, which goes from 5x at 12MP to now 4x at 48MP, producing very good, well-balanced photos full of detail. It can manage a similar 8x crop zoom as the main camera, which is equally good in bright light with only a slight loss of detail. Both zoom levels work pretty well even in dim indoor lighting.
All three cameras take the best video on a phone, and have many other features, including an excellent macro photo mode and the ability to shoot video from the front and back cameras simultaneously, putting the operator in a small window. Apple’s automatic portrait mode is solid and works on objects as well as people and pets.
Finally, the selfie camera has been upgraded for the first time on an iPhone in years, boosted to an 18MP sensor with Apple Center Stage technology on the iPad and Mac. It has the ability to automatically pan and zoom to maintain the frame for video calls, but you can also take horizontal selfies by expanding the frame when holding the phone in portrait orientation. This is a new solution to the problem of trying to fit everyone in for a group selfie without having to turn the phone around.
price
The iPhone 17 Pro costs £1,099 (€1,299/$1,099/A$1,999) and has 256GB of storage.
For comparison, the iPhone 16e costs £599, the iPhone 17 costs £799, the iPhone Air costs £999, the iPhone 17 Pro Max costs £1,199, the Google Pixel 10 Pro costs £999, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra costs £1,099 and the Fairphone 6 costs £499.
verdict
The 17 Pro is the first iPhone to have a different look in years, and it stands out immediately despite not being much different functionally from the latest model.
The new aluminum unibody design scratches more easily than glass, but feels great. The screen and performance are top-notch, and battery life is solid for a fairly compact handset. It’s a really cool iPhone and one of the best phones that isn’t huge.
This year, however, it lacks the limelight-stealing ultra-thin iPhone Air and its zoom camera, but for the first time it competes with the standard iPhone 17, which has a cheaper but upgraded screen quality to match the Pro.
The camera will be the biggest differentiating factor. The 17 Pro is equipped with top-notch cameras, including a new and improved telephoto camera that is one of the best in the industry.
So for iPhone buyers who want a telephoto camera that can zoom in on subjects, the 17 Pro is the model for them. You have to pay quite a lot for it.
merit: Looks different from other models. It’s relatively small and has great cameras, including 4x/8x telephoto, an upgraded selfie camera, a great screen, USB-C, good battery life, top performance, long software support, Face ID, and more.
disadvantage: It’s expensive, heavier than previous models, lacks cutting-edge AI features compared to competitors, and you can find the same screen and size in cheaper models.