Related ongoing threads:
Compare the New iPhone Models - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45186294 - Sept 2025 (95 comments)
iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45186044 - Sept 2025 (42 comments)
iPhone Air - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45186015 - Sept 2025 (431 comments)
I always have a hard time swallowing the price of modern smart phones. Having something so ridiculously expensive and fragile as an everyday carry seems absurd to me. For reference, you can buy two Steam Deck LCDs for the price of one iPhone 17.
No Mini. Not surprised. I guess I'm gonna replace the battery in my 13 mini finally.
Wonder if we'll ever see folding phones. I'm not concerned with the thickness but the overall foot print that's pocketable would be amazing.
Apple shipping their in-house network silicon (5G cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth, etc) to their wider product line is certainly a long time coming.
I would assume this means Apple laptops with integrated cellular modems are on the near horizon.
Sigh, the only upgrade for my 12 mini is still the 13 mini?
I'd be curious to understand their rationale for not making a small, reasonably priced phone like the iPhone SE used to be. I probably will be leaving the iPhone ecosystem the next time I have to buy a smartphone (even though I use a Mac, iPad, and Airpods, which all work together really well) because I'm uninterested in using a large phone.
Thinking through my own use case, I just use my phone for messaging, maps, and the occasional app, so I'm not going to need a big screen for consuming content. I also don't want to spend a lot of money on a phone, since I don't need any fancy features. So perhaps that intersection of use cases doesn't make much sense to target?
Looking at it from my 2020 iPhone SE I bought used for 120€.
Still good, still works.
I’m still using iPhone 12 mini running iOS 26 beta and it’s good enough. OS is definitely not polished, some of the design choices don’t even make sense but in general I believe it’s the right direction - spatial + maxing out visual looks.
Being able to turn Liquid Glass off to sth like flat design would be nice but this probably won’t happen.
Now when it comes to the event itself, it felt so cartoonish.
> iPhone 17 introduces N1, a new Apple-designed wireless networking chip that enables Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread.
What is Thread?
Camera lens angles of the 17 Pro seem strange to me.
Either too wide (1x) or too narrow (4x), as seen in the live stream video, which was recorded with the iPhone 17 Pro.
I am currently on the 13 Pro, I find the 3x mode ideal for portrait photos and videos.
Is it only me with this impression? Could someone help me to jump back into Apple's reality distortion field?
I would really like stainless as a material, not AL/TI alloy. It'd be a few grams difference, but infinitely more scratch and bend resistant.
Maybe if the Larrin Thomas came up with some catchy new stainless formulation and called it AppleCut or something...
Each new model has an asymptotically smaller feature bump. In 10 years we may have converged on the complete cell phone.
Maybe the recent introduction of foldable phones indicates the opposite. Is it the final blip, or will something similarly disruptive happen every 5-7 years?
Discuss.
I recently started studying metal, so I was watching their metal choices with a bit of curiosity.
Apple switched iPhone 17 Pro from Titanium (used in earlier versions) to aerospace-grade Aluminium for Superior Heat Dissipation.
But for the iPhone Air, they are using Titanium because it's lightweight, strong, and durable.
Aluminum is definitely a softer metal, so using aerospace-grade aluminum makes sense. So, is Titanium not a good thermal conductor? If it is not, then why is it used in the iPhone Air?
Sorry! Their choice is not clear to me. Can someone throw light on it?
I have a 12 Pro, I am definitely going to be upgrading, I've had my phone for 5 years now (since 2020) that's actually longer than I've owned any other cell phone without upgrading.
I think I could probably squeeze more life out of my phone, but the 17 has a nicer camera, me and my wife are noticing our relatives with newer iPhones have photographs that look slightly (I meant to write NOTICEABLY here) better. As we raise our first child, having a quality camera is definitely important to us.
I was really tempted by the iPhone Air, but the Pro has better camera features. I am actually really excited to see what they will do for the iPads. If they release a thin iPac Mini similar to the iPhone Air, I would immediately buy it. I am not usually a fan of thin, but something in me has always wanted a thin iPad Mini, not sure why, but I'm waiting for it still.
Great demo, the most impressive demo had to have been the Airpod Pros translation piece.
Edit: Needed to annotate that I wrote 'slightly better' but its not just slightly, we both visually noticed a different in quality.
One last note, the 12 Pro was my first iPhone ever. I was on Android since 2009, every Android I had lasted about 2 years. My last one probably would have lasted me 5 years but I was tired and wanted a change at my 2 year mark. I have not regretted my decision to date.
I am looking to upgrade my phone, and at the same time leave my carrier (Verizon). The price I pay for 2 people compared to the price I see out there for other carriers is just too large.
Any suggestions for me while I shop around for "tier 2" carriers? I am primarily concerned with price, and then network coverage second (I am OK with sometimes being throttled, but would prefer to avoid large gaps in any coverage).
I've got a Pixel, this new iPhone hasnt got anything that convinces me to move to Apple. There's nothing compelling there, not technologically or aesthetically. Yes its more powerful, but what do they do with that power but play games? Until some new application emerges where that much power is needed I'll stick to the cheaper phones.
Surprising there’s no matte-black iPhone 17 Pro - dark, low-reflectance finishes are standard in pro video kit because they minimise specular reflections and stray highlights; keeping a shiny silver finish and skipping a subdued matte black feels like a strange choice and undercuts the “Pro” claim.
I really like the new unibody design on the 17 Pro, as well as the orange. That seems like the first iPhone might feel like bypassing the case. However, seeing as I just got a 16 Pro last year, I don't think I can justify an upgrade just yet.
Overall this year seemed much better than last year.
I'm typing this on a 6S Plus, and so far it seems like this'll do until iOS 15 patching stops.
At the rate of camera image size upgrades, we are going to need a 5TB icloud storage plan.
Through the last iterations I only ever upgrade my iPhone whenever there is a "meaningful" RAM upgrade in it for me. So this one here is not too bad going from 8GB to 12GB (Air, Pro, Pro Max).
It seems strange no one is giving any credit to 17, when it is one of the best value iPhone Apple has to offer for quite some time.
It is either equal to or better than iPhone 16 Pro. A year ago iPhone 16 Pro 256Gb would be $1099, iPhone 17 256GB today is $799, with a better SoC, better WiFi, same display and ProMotion, better screen protective layer. The only thing worst is the lack of Telephoto camera.
Still no reason to upgrade. My shift from iPhone 8 to iPhone 13 was qualitative. Now much of the barrier to improvement is software, and they’re all gated by Apple.
256 GB base storage without a price increase is good to see.
Makes the Mac Mini look weird now with 256 GB base storage.
Pretty shameful of Google to stick to 128 GB on the Pixel 10.
So there is no more 'Plus' version? That was the sweet spot for many - non-pro pricing, yet the same large screen as the pro max. RIP
I'm still on an iPhone 11 and this might finally be the one to get me to upgrade. I don't need the "Pro" stuff, but the ProMotion was always frustratingly only associated with the Pro phones.
That said, I'm sort of frustrated with iOS overall, and sorely tempted to go back to Pixels, so I can't decide.
I'm surprised that Apple is giving every single iPhone model 256 GB starting capacity. My prediction would've been 256 GB for the Pro and 128 GB for the base iPhone 17. Guess those AI models need space?
It's odd that the Air has 4 GB more RAM than the regular 17 even though it's meant to replace the Plus models from previous years (same specs, same difference in price point, etc.)
Every single new iPhone costs more than $1000 in Canada. Even the older/cheaper models cost more than $1000 after tax and environment fees. I knew this day was coming but damn.
I’ve been keen on having something that can do decent on-device inference. Otherwise my 14 Pro is still fantastic and probably will be for some time.
All models are so uninteresting to me. Maybe its finally time I try the Nothing Phon
I've been waiting for this for a year, but I'm a bit disappointed. It's larger than the 17 and 17 pro, and it weighs more than my SE 3rd gen. The price is also insane. It costs the same as an entire computer.
I just want a lightweight device that makes calls, send texts, can snap a quick photo, has maps, mobile payments, and can order a cab. These phones are clearly aimed at consuming content, and I've been pushed out of the market. What to do?
I just browse the web on my phone. In fact, my phone is already too expensive just for that one thing. I’m not upgrading until the new phones can run a 5B model with adequate context size and adequate inferencing speeds.
I will upgrade when I see actual 10x optical zoom
Once again disappointed that we’re getting screwed over by “bill credit” carrier offers for 36 months and wish that US carriers would stop that crap.
I'm actually considering buying myself an iPhone for the first time. I have basically two priorities when buying an phone:
1. Freedom. I should be able to build and run apps on it without the platform holder having a barrier on it.
2. Privacy. The phone shouldn't be an object to track me for better ad sales or any other purpose.
Of course, priority 1 has until recently always led to Android while priority 2 has always led to Apple.
But with the upcoming announced changes where google is going to require registration and signing for even third party sideloaded apps, while at the same time the EU is forcing Apple to open up and allow sideloading, it seems pretty clear that in the near future both Apple and Google's policies regarding point 1 are going to converge. On a position less free than Android has hitherto been, and less free than I would like, but unfortunately they are the two options on the market.
So with priority 1 no longer a differentiating factor, it comes down to priority 2.
I've used both Android and iOS over the years, as while my personal phones have always been Android, my employer provided phones have always been iOS. I think I do prefer the Android user experience and have used enough of both that that's not just a factor of which I'm accustomed to, but it's also not the huge difference it once was for a lot of apps.
Right now I'm using a Pixel 7 Pro and I might weigh sitting it out another year, but my USB-C port is failing and I'm also watching the pixel battery issues creep up the model range to newer and newer models...