iPhone 17 Pro Please help me decide - 16 Pro vs 17 Pro

[dj95]

I can’t decide between getting an iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 17 Pro, as an upgrade from a 13 Pro.

Both 256gb, all things equal.

The 16 Pro is used but has 100% battery health still. It’s for sale for £659.99. Whereas the iPhone 17 Pro is new for £1099. I can afford both but I don’t know if it makes sense to buy the 17 Pro when the 16 Pro is much cheaper and the overall differences between them are fairly minimal. As you can see I don’t hold much stock in having the absolute latest model. It’s a substantial difference in price which I could put towards another tech purchase.

I always use a case so the titanium vs aluminium doesn’t concern me too much. I’d get a silver 17 Pro too.

Questions:
Is the battery runtime really that substantial in practice? Battery tests on YouTube say yes, but do I need that extra time when the 16 Pro would last all day?

Is the telephoto update from 12mp to 48mp noticeable in use? I do use the telephoto fairly often, when walking to take nature shots or on holiday exploring a city. If you zoom in far on both lenses, is it a night and day difference? I notice images on the 13 pro lose detail quickly when zooming but these lenses are all 12mp which makes me think the 16 Pro won’t be any better for telephoto images.


Any help/similar upgrades appreciated!

 

[mathiasinthe314]

My opinion is if battery life and telephoto quality are your priorties, the 17 Pro is the better device. I came from a 16 Pro Max to a 17 Pro (I downsized). The battery life on my 17 Pro is the same or better as the 16 Pro Max (Same video playback according to Apple). Therefore, it will be noticeably better than a 16 Pro. I notice a difference with the telephoto for sure. I have zoomed in 40x on some photos when I first got it and was thoroughly impressed and my 16PM never came close to that.

 

[snipr125]

Genuinely a tough one to call because the £450 difference is a lot. 17 Pro is the better phone in all aspects apart from aesthetics as the 15/16 Pro with brushed titanium is honestly almost flawless.

 

[User #07242024]

17 has best telephoto so far. Plus it’s new you get warranty.

 

[svish]

Have the 17 Pro Max. I cannot directly compare with the 16 Pro Max. Also have the 15 Pro Max. The telephoto on the 17 Pro Max is much better. Overall I would recommend going for the 17 Pro Max.

 

[jntdroid]

That's a pretty big price difference...

How long do you keep your phones? If you plan to keep it as long as you've kept the 13 Pro, then it might be worth it to go with the 17 Pro, as long as that extra cost is ok for you right now (which is completely up to you to decide).

The camera has some improvements, but isn't all sunshine and rainbows (check out this thread, which I think is overly negative, but has some good info). The telephoto improvements are pretty solid, but not in every scenario. But generally speaking it's an improvement.

The battery bump is pretty good. I had solid battery life on the 16 Pro, so I didn't need much better. But for my usage, the 17 Pro has been a nice improvement - some nights I don't even worry about plugging it in (I don't game, though).

But also, the battery is physically larger, so all else being equal, you'll wear it down slower than the 16 Pro. There's 50% more RAM, so it will be more future proof than the 16 Pro. Vapor cooling might not be as impactful as Apple wants to advertise it, but it can't hurt either, and might also help with longevity.

At the end of the day you could easily make a 16 Pro with 100% battery health last a few years as well, and in some scenarios I believe the 16 Pro's camera is better than the 17 Pro's due to different focal length. But you’ll be more future proofed with the 17 Pro and generally speaking, if battery and camera are important to you, it’s better.

 

[max2]

iPhone 17 Pro it is a lot easier now.

Guess it depends on location too.

 

[Tsepz]

I can’t decide between getting an iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 17 Pro, as an upgrade from a 13 Pro.

Both 256gb, all things equal.

The 16 Pro is used but has 100% battery health still. It’s for sale for £659.99. Whereas the iPhone 17 Pro is new for £1099. I can afford both but I don’t know if it makes sense to buy the 17 Pro when the 16 Pro is much cheaper and the overall differences between them are fairly minimal. As you can see I don’t hold much stock in having the absolute latest model. It’s a substantial difference in price which I could put towards another tech purchase.

I always use a case so the titanium vs aluminium doesn’t concern me too much. I’d get a silver 17 Pro too.

Questions:
Is the battery runtime really that substantial in practice? Battery tests on YouTube say yes, but do I need that extra time when the 16 Pro would last all day?

Is the telephoto update from 12mp to 48mp noticeable in use? I do use the telephoto fairly often, when walking to take nature shots or on holiday exploring a city. If you zoom in far on both lenses, is it a night and day difference? I notice images on the 13 pro lose detail quickly when zooming but these lenses are all 12mp which makes me think the 16 Pro won’t be any better for telephoto images.


Any help/similar upgrades appreciated!

The 17 Pro is a significant upgrade internally but if you don’t really care about things like the thermal management (thanks to Vapour Chamber and Aluminium build) it brings, the upgrade to 12GB RAM or benefits of the A19 Pro, then the 16 Pro should be perfectly fine.

Anything from 15 Pro up should be good for many years to come. The Camera improvements in the 17 Pro are not huge as it mostly still uses the same Cameras (Main and Ultra Wide) as 16 Pro, main difference being the Telephoto which is now a new 48MP with larger sensor but the results are not that different to 16 Pro.

What I have enjoyed with the 17 PM is how it doesn’t throttle when taking a lot of pictures and videos the way my 15 PM would sometimes. It feels as though Apple have prepared the 17 Pro range for a lot, possibly for Apple Intelligence…again if AI doesn’t matter much to you then go 16.

If you do go with 17 Pro I would say get the 512GB at least, it comes with a significantly faster memory chip than the 256GB.

 

[techspin]

Get the 17 Pro or Pro maximus. After using the Air for a while, the regular pros are noticeably smaller. You have a 13 pro, which seems to indicate you’re fairly responsible with purchases, unlike me. Treat yourself. Get yourself a nice charger too since it doesn’t come with one. F it. Get that sock hammock thing too.

 

[dj95]

Thank you everyone, I appreciate you taking the time to reply and I've read them all.
It seems either are a good upgrade from my 13 Pro, especially in the battery and camera department. I've decided to treat myself to the 17 Pro, as I tend to keep my device for a while and do also pass them down to family if needed so the extra longevity will help.
I'm slowly building up a collection of my old iPhones, trying to collect one from every generation in some form. I back fill the collection years after the initial release when they're much cheaper on eBay. That's a bit harder now the Pros are so expensive I will need to plug the 14,15 and 16 series in the distant future...