iPhone 17 Pro review: the cool-headed Pro

The iPhone 17 Pro looks different, and the changes are not just cosmetic. The aluminum unibody replaces titanium, and Apple uses the space for a bigger battery and a vapor chamber that spreads heat. In practice that means the phone stays cooler and faster during long camera sessions and games.

Cameras

All three rear cameras are now 48 megapixels. The new 4x telephoto is the highlight: portraits and street photos look as detailed as shots from the main camera, and the 8x crop is genuinely usable in daylight. The 18MP front camera with Center Stage makes group selfies much easier, because you no longer need to rotate the phone.

Battery

On our standard day — navigation, messaging, an hour of video and a lot of photos — we regularly ended with more than 40% left. That is a clear improvement over the 16 Pro.

What we would change

The camera plateau now spans the full width of the back, which makes the phone wobble less on a table but catches pocket lint. And the bold orange finish is, well, bold.