Is It Time to Upgrade to the iPhone 17? How It Compares With the iPhone 16, 15 and 14

Everybody’s drooling over the flowery new orange iPhone 17 Pro, however the actual story is the bottom mannequin. The common iPhone 17 is quietly crushing it, with preorders blowing previous final 12 months’s telephone. So, in case your present iPhone is beginning to really feel just a little gradual and crusty, that is in all probability the improve you have been ready for.

However is it truly well worth the $829? Here is the element that issues: Apple lastly killed the laughably small 128GB base storage. The brand new entry-level iPhone 17 begins at 256GB, a long-overdue improve that makes this 12 months’s telephone a critically compelling deal.

Do not miss any of our unbiased tech content material and lab-based evaluations. Add CNET as a most well-liked Google supply.

A number of noteworthy updates to the iPhone 17 make it really feel like a tempting selection, even over the pricier iPhone 17 Professional fashions. In the end, Apple has prolonged a 1-120Hz show throughout its whole lineup, so you may have smoother scrolling and an always-on display with out spending upward of $1,100 on a Professional mannequin. An anti-reflective coating and better 3,000-nit peak brightness make the display barely simpler to see outside. And digicam upgrades assist to stage up pictures and selfies. 

Here is how the iPhone 17 compares to older iPhones, starting from final 12 months’s iPhone 16 to 2020’s iPhone 12.

iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 16

Look-wise, the iPhone 17 has so much in frequent with the iPhone 16. However beneath the floor, there are some key variations. 

The show goes from a meager 60Hz on the iPhone 16 to 120Hz on the iPhone 17 (in the end). Meaning the iPhone 17 lastly helps an always-on show, so you may look on the time and your notifications with out waking the display and luxuriate in smoother scrolling. A brand new anti-reflective coating helps scale back glare, particularly within the shiny out of doors situations. 

The iPhone 17 has a bigger 6.3-inch show, versus the iPhone 16’s 6.1-inch display, due to slimmer bezels. That may make viewing content material barely extra immersive, although it will not be a massively noticeable distinction. And a brand new Ceramic Protect 2 cowl on the iPhone 17 presents 3 times higher scratch resistance, based on Apple, so you may fear rather less about etching into your telephone’s display (however possibly nonetheless get a display protector to be secure).

The iPhone 16 and 17 have a 48-megapixel wide-angle digicam, however the iPhone 17 bumps the ultrawide digicam from 12 megapixels to 48 megapixels. The front-facing digicam additionally will get upgraded from 12 megapixels (on the iPhone 16) to 18 megapixels on the iPhone 17. Each telephones have a Camera Control button for shortly launching the digicam and snapping pictures.

A brand new Center Stage characteristic can routinely regulate selfie pictures from portrait orientation to panorama to make sure everyone seems to be within the shot, so you do not have to manually rotate your telephone to its aspect anymore. Dual Capture enables you to concurrently document in your back and front cameras. These upgrades are particularly catered to the newest iPhone lineup, in order that they will not be coming to older fashions just like the iPhone 16, even with an iOS 26 replace.

Battery life is just a little longer on the iPhone 17. Apple says the iPhone 17 helps as much as 8 hours extra of video playback than the iPhone 16. This alteration aligns with enhancements CNET seen in our battery exams. In a 3-hour streaming check, for instance, the iPhone 17’s battery dropped from 100% to 89%, whereas the iPhone 16 hit 86%. It is an incremental replace, however even just a little extra battery life is a welcome change. The iPhone 17 additionally helps as much as 40-watt charging, which is a lift over the 25 watts you get with the iPhone 16, serving to you high off your battery just a little sooner.

The underside line: Whereas the updates to the iPhone 17 assist it stand out as an all-around stable system, the modifications over final 12 months’s iPhone 16 are incremental sufficient that there is not a lot cause to improve — except you are actually enthusiastic about that smoother show and sooner charging. However for most individuals, refined variations imply it’s best to in all probability simply maintain onto your iPhone 16. 

iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 15

The iPhone 15 has so much in frequent with the iPhone 16, together with a 48-megapixel wide-angle digicam, a 12-megapixel ultrawide digicam and a 6.1-inch show. The 6.3-inch show on the iPhone 17 has slimmer bezels to develop that actual property a bit, and the 48-megapixel ultrawide digicam can result in barely sharper photographs.

The baseline iPhone 15 does not have an Action button which you can customise to launch numerous apps and capabilities, and as a substitute has the extra conventional ring/silent change. The iPhone 17 has an Motion button and a Digicam Management button.

Each telephones have a Dynamic Island cutout on the high of the show for displaying alerts and Stay Actions, such because the time your DoorDash order is arriving, flight updates and what tune is at present taking part in.

With every technology, Apple touts longer battery life, so you may anticipate to get a pair extra hours of video playback with the iPhone 17 than you’ll with the 15.

Maybe essentially the most vital distinction between the iPhone 15 and 17 is that the iPhone 15 does not have Apple Intelligence; these AI options solely arrived on that 12 months’s Professional fashions. If you happen to improve to the iPhone 17, you will have entry to writing and picture enhancing instruments, in addition to newer options like Stay Translation for calls and messages. 

The underside line: Just like the iPhone 16, there aren’t many drastic variations between the iPhone 15 and 17, although upgrading will notably grant you entry to Apple Intelligence. However the different {hardware} and software-related updates are comparatively minimal, so that you’re in all probability good retaining your iPhone 15 for a minimum of one other 12 months.

iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 14

The iPhone 14 was the final Apple telephone with a Lightning port and that is one among most important variations between it and the iPhone 17, which has a USB-C port. Upgrading to the iPhone 17 means you will not must depend on an outdated and limited-use charging cable anymore, and may as a substitute use one which works with most of your different units. 

The baseline iPhone 14 additionally does not have a Dynamic Island cutout within the show, as that characteristic launched with simply the Professional fashions that 12 months. Upgrading to the iPhone 17 will allow you to shortly faucet into actions like your rideshare journey or flight data.

The iPhone 14 has a 12-megapixel broad and ultrawide-angle digicam on the again, whereas the iPhone 17 bumps that to 48 megapixels throughout the board. The iPhone 17 additionally will increase the front-facing digicam’s decision from 12 megapixels to 18 megapixels, whereas including a brand new Heart Stage selfie characteristic to routinely regulate between portrait and panorama pictures with out you having to rotate your telephone. 

However the two telephones additionally some key similarities, like having eSIM and satellite tv for pc connectivity on board.

The underside line: The iPhone 14 has essentially the most noticeable variations with the iPhone 17. Upgrading might provide some contemporary options like an Motion button and, eventually, a USB-C port, in addition to Dynamic Island and an upgraded digicam. However if you wish to avoid wasting cash and preserve your present telephone, you will not be lacking out on something too drastic.

iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 13

The iPhone 13 has an identical A15 Bionic chip because the iPhone 14, and shares the identical twin 12-megapixel digicam system. However not like the iPhone 14, the iPhone 13 does not have crash detection or satellite tv for pc connectivity, or digicam options like Motion mode for extra steady movies. 

At this level, your iPhone 13 could also be displaying its age. Upgrading to the iPhone 17 provides you with entry to newer options like Apple Intelligence, Dynamic Island, USB-C charging and the Digicam Management and Motion buttons. You may additionally discover sooner speeds by switching to the iPhone 17, now that it has been a number of years for the reason that iPhone 13 got here out.

The underside line: It might be time to improve to the iPhone 17 if in case you have an iPhone 13. It is potential your telephone is beginning to present its age, and switching to Apple’s newest baseline will get you a longer-lasting battery, an upgraded digicam, AI options and a handful of recent {hardware} and software program capabilities. 

iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 12

Like the subsequent couple of iPhones after it, the iPhone 12 has a twin 12-megapixel digicam system, in addition to a 6.1-inch show. Upgrading to the iPhone 17 will get you a barely extra immersive 6.3-inch show with thinner bezels, together with a 48-megapixel twin digicam system. 

The iPhone 12 lacks options like crash detection, satellite tv for pc connectivity, Dynamic Island and USB-C charging. It additionally does not assist the Apple Intelligence suite of AI options for writing, picture enhancing, language translation and extra. 

It is potential your iPhone 12 has grow to be sluggish and your battery is not holding up prefer it used to. Taking age out of the equation, at launch, the iPhone 12 boasted as much as 17 hours of video playback, whereas Apple says the iPhone 17 helps as much as 30 hours. So there’s prone to be a noticeable distinction between how lengthy every telephone can maintain up.

The underside line: Swapping your iPhone 12 for the iPhone 17 could possibly be a sensible transfer. There have been noticeable modifications over the past a number of years, from the addition of the Motion and Digicam Management buttons to the introduction of Apple Intelligence. The swap to USB-C and expanded battery capability also can make the most recent iPhone extra tempting; you will not must cling to your now-outdated Lightning cable. And you may seemingly discover sooner speeds and better efficiency throughout the board when switching from a 5-year-old system to the newest technology.