iPhone 17 Pro vs iPhone 16 Pro: Is it well worth the improve?

iPhone 17 Pro vs iPhone 16 Pro

iPhone 17 Pro

The latest iPhone 17 Pro has an improved camera, longer battery life and a new vapour cooling chamber. Apple’s also skipped a 128GB model, meaning it now starts at £1,099 for the 256GB model.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro

Now discontinued, the iPhone 16 Pro is made from titanium, so on paper, it might actually be more durable than the newer iPhone 17 Pro. It also started at a cheaper price and comes in a 128GB storage size. While it lacks three 48MP cameras on the rear, you have two, and a 12MP telephoto lens.

iPhone 17 Pro vs iPhone 16 Pro: Design

Apple’s Pro-grade iPhone has looked largely the same since the introduction of the iPhone 12 in 2020, but the iPhone 17 Pro looks like an actual redesign and departure from that recognisable tri-camera rear.

The biggest design change is the “plateau” on the back of the phone, which looks a bit like a thicker, wider version of the Google Pixel’s camera bar. It stretches across the top of the phone, which Apple says creates space inside for a larger battery and a vapour cooling chamber to help manage heat.

In 2023, Apple launched the iPhone 15 Pro with a titanium chassis, a change it carried across to the iPhone 16 Pro last year. Titanium made those phones tougher and lighter than the stainless steel used on the iPhone 14 Pro and earlier.

The materials have changed again for the iPhone 17 Pro. Instead of titanium, the new model has a brushed aluminium unibody, which gives the phone a softer, matte finish compared with the shinier titanium of the 16 Pro.

The trade-off? Aluminium isn’t as scratch or dent-resistant as titanium, so it might not be as durable as previous models. We’ll have to see if that rings true when we get our hands on the phone.

To compensate for this, Apple has rolled out something it calls Ceramic Shield 2, a tougher version of the glass-ceramic material used on the iPhone 16 Pro. Apple claims it’s three times more scratch-resistant than before, less reflective in bright light, and for the first time, is on both the front and the back of the phone.

One benefit of the material swap to aluminium is that bright colours are finally back on the menu. I was always a bit disappointed by the dull, almost lifeless colours of the iPhone 16 Pro and 15 Pro, so it’s a nice change.

The iPhone 17 Pro comes in just three colours – deep blue, cosmic orange and silver. Interestingly, there’s no black option this year, but they all seem more vibrant than the natural titanium, desert titanium, white titanium and black titanium on the 16 Pro.

iPhone 17 Pro vs iPhone 16 Pro: Display

The iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max already have some of the best screens on a smartphone. It features a 6.3in or 6.9in always-on display and thinner bezels. There’s a Super Retina XDR OLED panel with ProMotion up to 120Hz, and a peak outdoor brightness of 2,000 nits.

The iPhone 17 Pro’s display isn’t a radical departure from what we’ve seen on the iPhone 16 Pro. It features the same 6.3in and 6.9in OLED displays, with the same 2622px × 1206px resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. Apple has improved the peak brightness, however. It now peaks at 3,000 nits, and Apple claims outdoor contrast is twice as good as before. That should make the 17 Pro clearer to see in direct sunlight.

As mentioned earlier, there’s also Apple’s new Ceramic Shield 2 on the front, which Apple says is three times more scratch-resistant. It also features a new anti-reflective coating that is designed to reduce glare. You should notice a difference outdoors, but it’ll work and look pretty much the same indoors.

iPhone 17 Pro vs iPhone 16 Pro: Cameras

This is where the biggest shifts happen. The iPhone 16 Pro features an impressive camera setup, but the iPhone 17 takes this to another level. While the iPhone 16 Pro has a 48MP wide and a 48MP ultrawide camera, it only has a 12MP telephoto lens that can zoom up to 5x.

The new iPhone 17 Pro boasts three 48MP sensors on the rear, and the telephoto has been redesigned. Instead of a single 5x optical zoom, Apple has added two dedicated focal lengths. There’s a 4x optical zoom at 100mm, which Apple says is ideal for portrait pictures, and a new 8x zoom at 200mm, which is the longest optical zoom Apple’s ever released. In practice, you essentially get more flexibility when taking pictures. While you lose the old 5x optical zoom at 120mm, you now get two shorter and longer zoom options.

Apple also says that it’s improved image processing too, which should result in less noisy low-light photos and better colour accuracy. There’s also a new Bright photographic style that boosts skin tones and photo vibrancy.

On the front, the iPhone 16 Pro’s old 12MP TrueDepth camera has been removed. The iPhone 17 Pro now features an 18MP Centre Stage front-facing camera with a square sensor. While Apple’s called it Centre Stage, it’s nothing like the Centre Stage on the Mac, which is, frankly, a little annoying to use. The new Centre Stage on the iPhone 17 Pro automatically adjusts between portrait and landscape orientation, so you don’t need to rotate your phone. It can also expand the frame for group selfies.

Alongside Dolby Vision HDR and ProRes, the iPhone 17 Pro also supports ProRes RAW, Apple Log 2 and genlock, which are features usually reserved for professional cinema gear. It’s not exactly a feature most consumers will use, but it’s nice to have an expansion for pro-level users. One new video feature I really like is that you can now record footage from the front and rear simultaneously.

iPhone 17 Pro vs iPhone 16 Pro: Performance

The iPhone 16 Pro is no slouch in the performance department. The older A18 Pro chip is extremely efficient and handles everything from demanding games to Apple’s new AI features. It’s also significantly faster and runs cooler than the iPhone 15 Pro, but the iPhone 17 Pro pushes the performance even further.

The iPhone 17 Pro runs on the new A19 Pro chip, which Apple claims can run up to 40 per cent better than the 16 Pro without overheating. That’s thanks to a new vapour chamber, which is essentially a mini cooling system built into the phone that disperses heat more evenly. That should mean it overheats less and is more able to handle intense video editing or gaming.

There’s also a new N1 wireless chip, meaning the iPhone 17 Pro can now support Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread for smart home accessories.

Apple was noticeably quiet when it came to Apple Intelligence, so don’t upgrade thinking you’ll get more AI smarts. Both the 16 Pro and 17 Pro support the Apple Intelligence features. What changes with the 17 Pro is that Apple says more of these tools can now run entirely on-device. It means Apple’s AI tools should be faster, work when you’re offline, and have better privacy features.

iPhone 17 Pro vs iPhone 16 Pro: Battery life

Apple’s always a bit vague when it comes to battery life. While it doesn’t share the milliamp-hour capacities of its iPhones, it quotes usage in hours. The iPhone 16 Pro was rated to last up to 29 hours on a single charge when watching video, while the larger 16 Pro Max was quoted to last up to 33 hours.

The iPhone 17 Pro lasts even longer than that. The new model lasts up to 31 hours on a single charge when watching video, and the Pro Max can last a huge 37 hours on a single charge, which is the longest battery life we’ve seen on an iPhone.

As ever, I’ll need to run the phones through our own battery drain tests to see if those numbers live up to real-world use, but it looks promising.

iPhone 17 Pro vs iPhone 16 Pro: Price

At first glance, it looks like the iPhone 17 Pro has gone up in price. The base model starts at £1,099, compared with £999 for the iPhone 16 Pro. However, that’s probably because Apple has scrapped the 128GB entry option. The cheapest iPhone 17 Pro now comes with 256GB of storage.

Essentially, you’re paying the same for the 256GB 17 Pro as last year’s 256GB iPhone 16 Pro, but the minimum spend has gone up. If you don’t care about the extra storage, it might feel like you’re having to cough up an extra £100 to get an iPhone Pro.

The iPhone 16 Pro launched at £999 for the 128GB model, £1,099 for the 256GB model, £1,299 for the 512GB model and £1,499 for the 1TB model. The iPhone 17 Pro costs the same, but there’s no more 128GB model.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max starts at the same price as the iPhone 16 Pro Max. The iPhone 17 Pro Max costs £1,199 for the 256GB model, with the 512GB and 1TB tiers costing £1,399 and £1,599 respectively. The only addition is an impressive new 2TB option at a whopping £1,999.

The best iPhone 17 Pro contract deals

I go into more detail in my guide to the best iPhone 17 preorder deals, but for now, here are the best iPhone 17 Pro preorder deals, listed by price and value for money.