iPhone 17 Pro I tried to pull the trigger on 17 Pro and couldn't

[Thisismattwade]

My normal replacement cycle is when Apple stops supporting new software versions to lower my annual cost of ownership.

Apple was only going to offer me $200 for my 13 Pro, which likely would get rescinded since it has a few faint scratches on the screen from beach sand.

I was completely happy with my 13 Pro when yesterday I received an email offer from ATT (confirmed not SPAM) to upgrade to a 17 Pro for free with a trade in of a 13 or greater regardless of condition, which implies next year the 13 would be dropped from the list of eligible trade in.

The offer was a bit misleading as it required a one time charge for $77, which I was happy to pay. The only downside is I have to wait until October 5th to pick it up from the ATT store since they don’t have any in stock.

Not often you find $1000 lying on the ground. I wasn’t going to simply step over it.

I get what OP is saying and appreciate their situation as very close to my own. However, the quote above is essentially my rationale for upgrading. I'm coming from a 13 Pro, and it has been an enjoyable daily driver for 4 years. Unfortunately, the charging port is going out, the battery is at 82%, and I'm not under AppleCare anymore. Our AT&T plan is offering $0/mo for 36 months for either a 256GB 17 Pro or regular 17 with trade-in of my 13 Pro. This is a no-brainer!

I spent a while in the Apple Store yesterday messing around with both the regular 17 and the 17 Pro. I really like the regular 17. It felt great in my hands and the ProMotion screen is by far my biggest consideration now for a phone. (I'm squarely in the camp of people who can tell a difference between 60Hz and 120 Hz.) The colors are also much more palatable to my tastes. However, I really liked the way the 17 Pro felt in my hands, too. I didn't mind at all the aluminum feel versus the glass/steel of the 13 Pro. Plus, I'm gonna put either phone in a protective case on day 1! I also think the 12GB vs 8GB RAM will prove useful in the future. Therefore, I'm essentially looking at spending $0 for either the regular or the Pro. (We're not getting off of AT&T anytime soon!) At that point, I can't rationally choose the regular.

Plus, due to the generosity of a family member, I'm going with the 1TB model this time around. I'm gonna spend the next 3+ years with all our iCloud photos/videos always downloaded to my phone in full resolution glory! (I'm keeping AppleCare annual for as long as I have the phone this time around.)

 

[drugdoubles]

From 13 Pro to 17 Pro? LMAOOOO!

Processor & Performance
• From A15 Bionic → A19 Pro (3 nm architecture)
• Better sustained performance via vapor-chamber cooling + improved thermal design
• Increased memory: 6 GB (13 Pro) → ~12 GB (17 Pro)
Display & Design
• Slightly larger and higher resolution display: 6.1-inch → 6.3-inch (with refined bezels)
• Better brightness / anti-reflection coatings etc. (ProMotion and improved display tech)
• Structural redesign: now a heat-forged aluminum unibody to aid thermal dissipation
• Upgraded Ceramic Shield 2 (front scratch resistance, back)
Camera & Imaging
• All three rear cameras now 48 MP Fusion sensors (vs lower MP previously)
• Telephoto lens: new tetraprism design, 4× optical + up to 8× “optical-quality” zoom (via sensor cropping)
• Front camera upgraded (Center Stage, higher MP)
• Dual Capture / ability to use multiple cameras for video more flexibly
Battery & Charging / Power Efficiency
• Much larger battery: 3,095 mAh (13 Pro) → ~4,252 mAh (17 Pro)
• Better energy efficiency (new chip + architecture) → longer real-world battery life
• Change to USB-C (from Lightning) for charging/data interface
• Wireless charging upgraded (MagSafe / Qi improvements)
Software & Security
• Ships with iOS 26
• Introduction of Memory Integrity Enforcement (hardware + OS security feature) in 17 Pro line
Other hardware / features
• IP68 dust / water resistance maintained/equal or better
• Action Button
• Camera Control
• More modular / repair-friendly design: some improvements to battery replacement and components layout

..but yeah bro. Just can't justify. Troll harder Samsung.

All are nice to have but not critical. Just like 17 Pro has Apple Intelligence but 13 pro would never have it, but I don’t care and I use Grok , ChatGPT.

 

[neuropsychguy]

"I tried to pull the trigger on 17 Pro and couldn't"

I also avoid shooting iPhones. 🙃

 

[ThailandToo]

Aluminum for interior heat dissipation would be acceptable but the whole exterior being aluminum is a nonstarter for me. It’s like a cheap iPhone.

 

[nelle douville]

So I wanted to get my hands on the new 17 Pro with the intention of buying one in the Silver color. I picked one up in the Apple Store and honestly it felt pretty much the same as my 13 Pro (size & weight). If it weighed a little less that would have been a plus. Better camera?... sure but then again I don't take 48 megapixel photos on a day to day basis and probably wouldn't anyway and I don't care about 8X optical zoom vs my 4X which is plenty for me.
All in all I was very under impressed with the new 17 offering, especially now with the scratchgate issues.
My 13 Pro, which by the way looks almost brand new with not a single scratch still has 84% battery life.....
I will look forward to the 18 series next year.....

It seems you talked yourself out of it - and that's quite all right - not because of the phone being underwhelming but because you don't need what it offers.

 

[A1423]

I get what OP is saying and appreciate their situation as very close to my own. However, the quote above is essentially my rationale for upgrading. I'm coming from a 13 Pro, and it has been an enjoyable daily driver for 4 years. Unfortunately, the charging port is going out, the battery is at 82%, and I'm not under AppleCare anymore. Our AT&T plan is offering $0/mo for 36 months for either a 256GB 17 Pro or regular 17 with trade-in of my 13 Pro. This is a no-brainer!

I spent a while in the Apple Store yesterday messing around with both the regular 17 and the 17 Pro. I really like the regular 17. It felt great in my hands and the ProMotion screen is by far my biggest consideration now for a phone. (I'm squarely in the camp of people who can tell a difference between 60Hz and 120 Hz.) The colors are also much more palatable to my tastes. However, I really liked the way the 17 Pro felt in my hands, too. I didn't mind at all the aluminum feel versus the glass/steel of the 13 Pro. Plus, I'm gonna put either phone in a protective case on day 1! I also think the 12GB vs 8GB RAM will prove useful in the future. Therefore, I'm essentially looking at spending $0 for either the regular or the Pro. (We're not getting off of AT&T anytime soon!) At that point, I can't rationally choose the regular.

Plus, due to the generosity of a family member, I'm going with the 1TB model this time around. I'm gonna spend the next 3+ years with all our iCloud photos/videos always downloaded to my phone in full resolution glory! (I'm keeping AppleCare annual for as long as I have the phone this time around.)

Since you like both. Go with the pro. If you get the regular 17, you’re gonna wonder “what if” about the pro.

 

[becomingwater]

So I wanted to get my hands on the new 17 Pro with the intention of buying one in the Silver color. I picked one up in the Apple Store and honestly it felt pretty much the same as my 13 Pro (size & weight). If it weighed a little less that would have been a plus. Better camera?... sure but then again I don't take 48 megapixel photos on a day to day basis and probably wouldn't anyway and I don't care about 8X optical zoom vs my 4X which is plenty for me.
All in all I was very under impressed with the new 17 offering, especially now with the scratchgate issues.
My 13 Pro, which by the way looks almost brand new with not a single scratch still has 84% battery life.....
I will look forward to the 18 series next year.....

The reason I am not upgrading is I can't afford it this year. I am sure it's a great phone. I have an iPhone 16 PM

 

[jimsong]

So I wanted to get my hands on the new 17 Pro with the intention of buying one in the Silver color.

All in all I was very under impressed with the new 17 offering, especially now with the scratchgate issues.

I don't think you have to worry about scratchgate if you get the silver one. There is no color to scratch off.

 

[julesme]

I don’t understand these posts.

13 pro to 17 pro

Better cellular modem, better camera’s, better WiFi modem, better screen, better battery, USB-C, satellite connectivity, better processor, seemingly stronger screen, Dynamic Island, ray tracing.

If you don’t like the phone. Fine. But the 17 pro is definitely a better phone than the 13 pro.

lol that you listed “Dynamic Island” as a reason to upgrade.

 

[Moukee]

Aluminum for interior heat dissipation would be acceptable but the whole exterior being aluminum is a nonstarter for me. It’s like a cheap iPhone.

Okay but where would it dissipate the heat to then?

 

[Danorak81]

Aluminum for interior heat dissipation would be acceptable but the whole exterior being aluminum is a nonstarter for me. It’s like a cheap iPhone.

I get everyone is different, but I can honestly say that caseless, which is how my 15PM spent most of its time in the home, the 17PM feels no different in hand. And, IMO of course, I genuinely don’t get cheap phone vibes at all.

It’s know that makes no difference to your opinion though 😂

 

[sleeptodream]

I had a look at the Pro and Pro Max phones in Apple Sydney yesterday. None of them had any scratches and I was looking very carefully. The phones had all been used by quite a lot of people. A few of them had the usual fingerprints/ similar marks, but no scratches.

Maybe people are much more rough in how they treat the display phones elsewhere in the world.

Do people there also not purchase multiple phones on launch day to “try out” with the intention of returning them?

Maybe ya’ll live in a real society, ha

 

[riptilian]

I too have held onto the iPhone Pro 13 (88% battery remaining), planning to go another 1-2 years before "upgrading."
I am hard of hearing and have music and TV streamed directly to my hearing aids by the Oticon Companion app. I thought that difficulties with phone and TV audio were tolerable and unavoidable. I am over 80 years old and have familial hearing loss on both sides of the family.

About a month ago, Verizon solicited me with a $1000 trade-in toward a new iPhone 16 Pro, with a net cost to me of $5 after various allowances. Okay, cheaper than a new battery I might have needed while holding onto the 13.

The difference in phone calls, actually hearing voices at a normal level (for me, in my diminished hearing state), was almost joyful. TV and music sounded notably better, as well.

Only two weeks later came another offer from Verizon, this time for $ 1,100 to trade in my new 16 for a 17. I consulted ChatGPT to determine whether this exchange might be overdoing it. Chat agreed that there was no direct report or review on audio improvement from the 16 Pro to the 17, but mentioned that the new CPU and neural cores could improve sound processing.

I felt a bit foolish, but did the exchange.

Whamo! There was another leap in audio for calls, music, and streaming (all this for $5). I am so glad I played the role of a dedicated consumer and bit, not once, but twice. I had held on to an iPhone 6S Plus for six years and liked the 13 Pro for my previous upgrade (Apple had given me the $29 battery upgrade on the 6S Plus). From now on, I'll be paying closer attention to the yearly arrival of new iPhones. If audio improvements continue, I may spend the money more freely.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

The reason I am not upgrading is I can't afford it this year. I am sure it's a great phone. I have an iPhone 16 PM

The 16 Pros remain superb iPhones, better than the 17 Pros in some ways. That said even though personally I did buy a 17PM.

 

[zkap]

I use my phone to scan documents a lot when on the go, had the 15pm, and didn’t have that issue. Are you sure it wasn’t an issue with your device?

Yeah. I can take a photo with the camera app and crop, but that takes longer. I always used to use Microsoft Lens, just make sure there's enough light and I'm good. Point and shoot, the app automatically crops the document, I choose to save as PDF, share, AirDrop to Mac, done.
Now if I do the same thing as always, the top and bottom 10% of the page is slightly blurry. Not by much, it's perfectly legible, but it's this odd blur that makes it uncomfortable to look at the text. Very annoying.
I can get a perfect scan, but to do that I need to mind which lens I'm using and at what distance I'm holding the phone (far enough for the bokeh not to distort any text, but not far enough for the scan to lose sharpness). Before it was just point and shoot, now I either have to take a photo with the camera app and crop or I have to tinker with lenses and distances before I get a scan that doesn't have any blur at the top and bottom. Or option number 3, just use my iPad for scanning documents.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

Did you even look at the Air?

Most folks who care at all about overall iPhone competence will not downgrade from Pro to Air. Personally I looked at the Air, but only as a curiosity. Just one of many things: one camera versus three makes the Air a total non-starter.

 

[Unami]

I don’t understand these posts.

13 pro to 17 pro

Better cellular modem, better camera’s, better WiFi modem, better screen, better battery, USB-C, satellite connectivity, better processor, seemingly stronger screen, Dynamic Island, ray tracing.

If you don’t like the phone. Fine. But the 17 pro is definitely a better phone than the 13 pro.

Sure it's a better phone but not by much. He sounds like a friend of mine last year who updated from the 13 mini to the 16 pro: unimpressed and a little disappointed because he expected more. Sure there is a better camera but he doesn't care (and tbh, it's an upgrade from a tiny phone camera with loads of visible processing to a slightly worse tiny phone camera with even more visible processing), better screen, but not really noticeable unless you put them side by side, better wifi, so it's now triple as fast than you need, ray tracing - really? I like games, but I struggle to find any raytracing games in the app store unless they are expensive ports for games I already got on other, faster consoles for a third of the price, satellite connection you hopefully won't ever need, better cpu (still more than fast enough, and you wouldn't need it if Apple wouldn't do something ressource hungry like liquid glass every few years), usb-c, wow, a different charging cable, ... etc.

The only real difference any average user will maybe notice is the slightly better battery and that the camera hump has grown again. Maybe he'll cry over losing the silencer switch to a button that's probably cheaper to manufacture for apple, and maybe, maybe, he'll use the camera control button once.

So that's the point of this kind of posts. Surprise about how underwhelming those phone updates are for most people who are expecting changes.

Apple is probably at a point now where they have sold so many phones that they won't take big risks that could alienate their customers. And it shows. Even the name reflects that. We now got a model 26 like with cars. Personally, I'd like to see new features like a FLIR camera, a metal detector or a better LIDAR/longer distance measuring, different materials than steel and glass that makes them really robust for a change, video in, significantly better repairability or a different form factor (e.g., not the air that's the same "slab with a hump" design but this time with even less battery). Make the pro more of a tool for pros. That's probably not going to happen as long as phones still sell, and next year's (probably) Apple joining the foldable crowd and maybe giving it a tiny twist with a wider screen and some new animations will probably be the peak of apple innovation nowadays. Otoh, it might free up the pro from being the "premium" phone. M I don't fault them for playing it safe, but phones really have become surprisingly boring.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

Yeah. I can take a photo with the camera app and crop, but that takes longer. I always used to use Microsoft Lens, just make sure there's enough light and I'm good. Point and shoot, the app automatically crops the document, I choose to save as PDF, share, AirDrop to Mac, done.
Now if I do the same thing as always, the top and bottom 10% of the page is slightly blurry. Not by much, it's perfectly legible, but it's this odd blur that makes it uncomfortable to look at the text. Very annoying.
I can get a perfect scan, but to do that I need to mind which lens I'm using and at what distance I'm holding the phone (far enough for the bokeh not to distort any text, but not far enough for the scan to lose sharpness). Before it was just point and shoot, now I either have to take a photo with the camera app and crop or I have to tinker with lenses and distances before I get a scan that doesn't have any blur at the top and bottom. Or option number 3, just use my iPad for scanning documents.

I am fairly confident that such issues are software and PEKAC related, and that we will figure them out as we get used to the newer phones.

E.g. my personal peeve is that under the new iOS I can no longer easily use voice control for shutter release, a huge issue for me. The kids at various Apple Stores have been as clueless as I am, but one way or another either a new voice controlled shutter release method will present or I will write one.

 

[Unami]

Huh? My 17 Pro feels much nicer in hand than my 14 Pro did. You can’t say ‘it hasn’t changed much’ because it absolutely has.

But don't forget that the 14pro was a really heavy beast and felt significsntly worse in hand than the 13 pro - so maybe it has evened out again?

 

[ThailandToo]

I get everyone is different, but I can honestly say that caseless, which is how my 15PM spent most of its time in the home, the 17PM feels no different in hand. And, IMO of course, I genuinely don’t get cheap phone vibes at all.

It’s know that makes no difference to your opinion though 😂

Wait until you drop it once. I go without a case, and I went from 15 PM to Air. Couldn’t stand the cheap aluminum build which shouldn’t be for a phone. It doesn’t make sense. Apple can say it’s due to thermal dissipation all they want but the bottom line is it’a a fraction of the price to use aluminum as titanium. Aluminum is cheaper than plastic right now!!!

 

[Allen_Wentz]

Sure it's a better phone but not by much.[13P versus 17P]

Wrong. 17P is a better phone than 13P by very much.

 

[sarcasticgamer]

Sounds like you should stick with your 13 Pro

 

[jntdroid]

Phones are like cars now - a commoditized "necessary" part of our every day life (for most people). Therefore, year to year upgrades are going to be modest, and how important those upgrades are will really depend on each individual and what they care about. But at the end of the day, with a new battery one can really make these phones last a long time.

 

[Danorak81]

Wait until you drop it once. I go without a case, and I went from 15 PM to Air. Couldn’t stand the cheap aluminum build which shouldn’t be for a phone. It doesn’t make sense. Apple can say it’s due to thermal dissipation all they want but the bottom line is it’a a fraction of the price to use aluminum as titanium. Aluminum is cheaper than plastic right now!!!

Maybe it is a combination of the two. I’m ok with it. And, If I drop it and something breaks, that’s what my AC+ is for. If, when we get to the next iteration of the iPhone, the 17 has underperformed, then I’ll sell up and move on to the next.

 

[oneMadRssn]

17P is a better phone than 13P by very much.

I don't think anyone disputes that the 17P is better than the 13P. The question is whether the 17P is $1.1k better than the 13P. For that, I think there can be serious doubts. $1.1k will buy a lot of chicken nuggets.