I have tested each iPhone 17 model and this time I recommend something different

The idea of ​​”Tyranny of your choice“Says that having a series of good choices should show what makes them the most happy, but the reality is that having so many good choices can often lead to fear, indecision and dissatisfaction. If we apply this concept on the line -up of the iPhone 17, then Apple will be the tyrant this year.

After all, the basic model iPhone 17 is more pro than ever and offers the best value-for-money in 2025. The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max have tackled the two biggest weak spots of last year’s pro models. And the iPhone Air Give you the opportunity to use tomorrow’s technology today.

Also: I tested the iPhone 17 hours and I am already wondering if I need a pro

I have upgraded my iPhone every year since the first iPhone in 2007 and I spent hands-on time with all four of this year’s iPhone models. And yet my buying advice is extremely different this year than any other year in the past. And there are several reasons why.

Let’s unpack it by looking at each of the product lines, as well as who I would recommend as the ideal upgrader for each.

The iPhone 17 of $ 799 17 fits more people than ever

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

In recent years I have usually relegated my recommendations from the Base Model iPhone to children, teenagers, first iPhone users and people who just needed a telephone that would work because their old phone had a cracked screen or a battery that would have no costs-and they wanted to limit how much they had spent on a phone.

Not this year.

The fact that Apple has deposited so many upgrades in the iPhone 17 was the surprise of the 2025 Apple event for me. First of all, Apple finally did a large facelift to the screen technology of the iPhone 17, making it up to 6.3-inch (from 6.1 last year) with thinner bezels, 120Hz promotional display, 3000 nits peak clearance, an anti-reflective coating and an always-on-display.

Also: Do ​​you want Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses? You first have to book a demo – and they go fast

Apple also upgraded the cameras on the iPhone 17 and went to a 48MP double merger camera with a 48MP main camera and 48MP Ultrawrawide. In addition, the iPhone 17 gets the same improved selfie camera technology as the front and air that will receive this year. That is a 24MP square sensor that effectively makes 18MP images in portrait or landscape mode and can now automatically switch between the two without force you to turn your phone.

Even better, you can have the camera machine learning used to find all faces in the recording and automatically use portrait or landscape mode to get the best photo. A compliment for Apple for not only this year in the Pro telephones of these new cameraphones.

Apple also held the price of the iPhone 17 for $ 799 while the basic storage storage was increased to 256 GB. Last year, 256 GB storage on the iPhone 16 would have set the price of the phone at $ 899. From that perspective, Apple effectively gave the iPhone 17 a price reduction of $ 100. The two largest Android competitors of the iPhone 17, the Pixel 10 and the Samsung Galaxy S25 still start with 128 GBs still with 128 GB Stocks and both.

Also: I compared the iPhone 17, iPhone Air, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max: here is who has to upgrade

From a different perspective, this year’s iPhone 17 is almost identical to last year’s iPhone 16 Pro, except that it does not have the telephone zoom, but it adds the next Gen-Selfie camera and the camera with double capture. And last year’s iPhone 16 Pro started at $ 999 for 128 GB storage and $ 1,099 for 256 GB.

As a result, there are people I had previously recommended to choose the iPhone Pro line that I am very happy to the iPhone 17 Basic model instead this year and saves them a few hundred dollars. If you are someone who does not really use the Televelzoom and you come from an iPhone 14 Pro or an iPhone 13 Pro (or earlier), I would recommend considering the iPhone 17 this year. It is now a much more powerful and serious phone.

The iPhone Air offers a taste of the future

The iPhone Air Steps in a bit of a cursed place in the iPhone-Line-up between the basic model and professional a place where the iPhone 12-13 Mini and the iPhone 14-16 Plus models were all struggling to generate a lot of interest in the past mid-decade.

Just like Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge, the iPhone Air is considered a technology demonstration of how thin his engineers can make a phone as a precursor of a jump forward in folding bars – the fold 7 in the Samsung case.

So the iPhone-air is not only chased by the past, it is also in the shadow of the long-awaited foldable iPhone that is generally expected to launch in the fall of 2026.

Also: I have replaced my iPhone 16 Pro Max with the iPhone Air – Here is my buying advice now

Yet the iPhone air is undoubtedly the one who generated the greatest WOW factor when he kept it in my hands. It is super impressive how thin, light and futuristic it feels. I would encourage you to go to an Apple store or one of the wireless carrier shops that can be seen from September 19 from September 19 to see if you get the same emotional response to holding a telephone that is actually the width of a USB-C port.

There is no doubt that it is one of the most impressive technological performance of 2025. But do you have to buy it?

For the vast majority of the iPhone -upgraders I will still say no – not when the basic model iPhone 17 has better cameras and costs less. And if you are a real power user, you will not be satisfied with the lifespan of the battery or the cameras on the iPhone Air.

But if you are someone who likes to live on advanced technology and runs for the peloton, you will probably be quite dizzy if you put the iPhone Air in your hands. You are probably someone who would have liked Google Glass or the Apple Vision Pro and you are one of the leading candidates to get the iPhone fold in 2026. iPhone Air Let yourself live in that future. Make sure you order the phone if you regularly use your phone for more than four hours a day.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max solves major problems

The iPhone 16 Pro Max and the iPhone 15 Pro Max are two phones that I have used for the past two years. I especially enjoyed using the main camera on these phones to take more photos than any other smartphone camera or even my professional Sony Mirrorless camera in the past two years.

But I also struggled with the same two problems on both phones.

Also: I have tried Apple’s 2 Big AI functions announced at the iPhone 17 event -and both are game Changers

First of all, the zoom camera was simply not in the same quality quality as the main camera – as much as I wanted it would be because I love zoom photography. Schoten made on the 5x Telefoto (first introduced on the iPhone 15 Pro models) were ok for social media, but the quality would usually fall apart when I started to edit. So I regularly had to reach my Sony Mirrorless when I wanted high quality zoom shots. In the meantime I have printed photos of high -quality photos of the main camera of the iPhone for more than ten years.

The other major problem I had with the two titanium iPhone 15 and 16 Pro Max phones in the past two years was regularly overheating. If I did a lot of photo or video -when I was in busy urban areas with weak wireless signals, or when I had the phone in the sun for a longer period of time, these two Pro Max telephones would get incredibly hot. And when they overheat, the battery would start very quickly.

That is definitely not the dynamics you want to see from an expensive, high-end phone.

I was very happy that Apple both problems in the iPhone 17 Pro Max -Even the iPhone 17 Pro, which is exactly the same, except that it has a 6.3-inch screen instead of a 6.9-inch screen and a smaller battery.

Also: Do you have to upgrade to an iPhone 17 Pro of last year’s model? I am – here is why

Let’s talk about the thermal first. Apple has replaced Titanium and went back to aluminum for the housing of the iPhone 17 Pro Max. Aluminum can be a maximum of 5-10 times more effective in performing and distributing heat than titanium. But Apple also has one Cooling system for vapor room This uses Deeionized Water to cool the pro chip of the phone and let it run at maximum strength while it does not overheat.

I have to test a lot of weeks and months, but I am very encouraged that the iPhone 17 Pro Max tackles the overheating problem frontally in its design.

When it comes to the telephoto -zoom camera, I am also encouraged by the way Apple has tackled this in the iPhone 17 Pro Max. First upgraded Apple his tetraprism -zoom from a 12MP sensor to a 48MP sensor, which corresponds to the 48MP sensor on the main camera. Then Apple made this a 4x sensor (instead of 5x), which first seemed to be a curious downgrade.

By having more pixels, an 8x hem could be cut to 12MP, which Apple called an optical quality 8x. Fortunately I have to try it out, and I am impressed by what I have seen so far. Below is an example of what the 8x zoom lens is capable of, and it is a higher quality than any zoom shot that I have previously made with an iPhone.

Of course I have to test much more with the zoom camera before I can say if it is ready to accept more of my daily zoom photography. I will also compare it to the Pixel 10 Pro XL Zoom, which I also test. Just like last year, I plan to do a special assessment of the new iPhone 17 Pro camera system. So keep an eye on that at the beginning of October.

Also: iPhone Air vs. Samsung S25 Edge: I compared both ultra -thin phones to decide a winner

Nevertheless, I will now make a recommendation that I have never done before – with an asterisk. If you were like me and a lot of overheating and hindering problems with the iPhone 15 Pro Max or even the iPhone 16 Pro Max, I think you might want to consider the possibility of a more-rapid-dan-usual upgrade to the iPhone 17 Pro Max This year.

Again, I will test more before I make that recommendation final, but I want to put it on your radar. I will do rigorous tests in the coming weeks and I will report it again. I will also keep an eye on some good trade -out deals that can illuminate the stroke of a fast upgrade.