Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I’m seeing relatively little discussion (here and elsewhere online) about the base model iPhone 17.

Seems like all of the hype and interest are around the Pros and the Air, even though the iPhone 17 has the most compelling overall package among base models in recent memory.
To be honest if I had an older phone like a 14 pro max I would have upgraded to iPhone 17 it’s just if you have a recent pro max like 15 or 16 the 17 is a downgrade . The 17 is amazing value and I do think it’s the best all rounder
 
Just picked up a Black 17 256GB and traded in a 15 Pro. Very happy, not missing the "Pro" features at all.
 
You already answered your own question. On these forums and online in general, the people discussing iPhones are mostly enthusiasts who buy something other than the base model. However, I’m quite sure the base model will end up being the best-selling one in the whole lineup, the only one that might outsell it is the Air.

I personally think that base model is easily best value for regular user, especially this year.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lkalliance
You already answered your own question. On these forums and online in general, the people discussing iPhones are mostly enthusiasts who buy something other than the base model. However, I’m quite sure the base model will end up being the best-selling one in the whole lineup, the only one that might outsell it is the Air.

I personally think that base model is easily best value for regular user, especially this year.

Out of them all the air will be the poorest seller!

I may be wrong but we will see!
 
I recently made a thread here about going from a 15 Pro to a 13 Mini to a 16e.

I missed the 13 Mini (had one when it first came out) and I absolutely love the size, but the unfortunate reality is that it is a 4-year-old phone at this point. Battery life is awful (though I could always install a new one, but that only goes so far), the phone gets hot very easily, the screen can be hard to see in daylight, it’s annoying to bring an extra Lightning cable when everything else uses USB-C, and 4GB of RAM means apps constantly reload, at least on iOS 18.

The switch to the 16e wasn’t bad at all but I am missing a couple of features I had taken for granted– I had no idea how much I relied on the U1 chip to precisely find my AirTags (mainly for my keys and wallet; I didn’t even know that the 16e lacked the chip). The lack of MagSafe can be ameliorated with a case that has a magnet ring but it also means that my OG MagSafe battery pack isn’t compatible with the 16e, so I can’t check the remaining battery for the battery pack on iOS and for some reason the phone gets really hot when using it. I’ve also missed the Dynamic Island from the 15 Pro, it’s one of those things that is really handy once you use it and the apps designed for it.

I’m trading in the 15 Pro for a base 17. The ProMotion display in the base 17 means the only thing I’d be missing from the Pro is the telephoto camera and slightly better battery life; I’ve never used the pro video features and LiDAR is one of those things I used once, said “huh, neat”, and never used again. I’m also excited for the square selfie sensor and checking out the 1 nit display at night. I hesitated for a bit before buying it so the 17 should arrive during the second week of October.

I’ll keep the 16e as a backup phone, and the 13 mini to tinker with. I’m starting to run longer distances so the 13 mini might become my “running phone” since my cellular AW9’s battery gets drained from using cellular and I don’t really want an Ultra (or an Apple Watch anymore, tbh).
 
Base models are base models. The lowest spec's and lowest price. Perhaps the base model is of little interest to the majority of people looking at iPhone's?
Lowest specs and lowest price is the 16e, quite a difference in both from the 17. The 17 is also competitive with the 16 Pro, which I don’t think happened before in that way.
 
Lowest specs and lowest price is the 16e, quite a difference in both from the 17. The 17 is also competitive with the 16 Pro, which I don’t think happened before in that way.

For me I feel that Apple treats the SE series and now the 16e as the ugly stepchild while the regular 16 and 17 are the actual base models. :p
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.