iPhone 17 Pro vs iPhone 16 Pro: A new age dawns for the iPhone Pro

The iPhone 17 series is now a good couple of weeks in, and things start to settle down. After the hype around the iPhone Air, people seem to be drifting toward the Pro models, and probably for good reason.

This year's iPhone 17 Pro comes with a lot of upgrades, a striking new design (going back to aluminum), new telephoto and front cameras, a bigger battery, and also slightly faster charging. 

These sound like decent upgrades, but there's another upgrade that's not that pleasing, and we're talking about the price. For the first time in history, the iPhone Pro crosses the $1000 mark. This makes the comparison with the older iPhone 16 Pro even more interesting.

To find out the real differences between the two, we run both through our own lab tests for battery endurance, display accuracy, performance benchmarks, and camera evaluations. And of course, beyond just the numbers, we have used both in daily life. Is the new iPhone 17 Pro worth the extra money, and should you upgrade if you already own the iPhone 16 Pro? Read on to find out!

iPhone 17 Pro: $0.00/mo. at Verizon

$0 /mo

$30 ⁵⁵

$31 off (100%)

The powerful iPhone 17 Pro is finally here! You can now get the new Pro with an upgraded design and a brilliant display for as low as $0.00/mo. at Verizon. You must set up a new line on an Unlimited Ultimate plan and trade in a device to take advantage.

Buy at Verizon

iPhone 17 Pro Max: $2.77/mo. at Verizon

$2 ⁷⁷ /mo

$33 ³³

$31 off (92%)

The impressive iPhone 17 Pro Max is available at Verizon. Right now, you can save up to $1,100 on the premium device when you activate a new line and trade in an eligible device. The promo is only available with an Unlimited Ultimate plan.

Buy at Verizon

Apple iPhone 16 Pro

6.3-inch

Triple camera

3582 mAh

8GB

$687 at Amazon

Design-wise, we've got some big changes, actually the biggest ones since the iPhone X. The iPhone 17 Pro now features a different aluminum unibody and different camera bump on its back. It's a big rectangle, spreading almost side-to-side, similar to what the Pixel 9 Pro has but even more prominent. Apple calls it "extended plateau."

The iPhone 16 Pro uses the old, tried-and-tested square camera housing that we've seen in the past couple of generations. It's fair to say that the positions of the lenses themselves on the new model aren't that different; it's just the whole bump stretching from side to side.

There are differences when it comes to size and weight as well. The new iPhone 17 Pro is ever so slightly larger, thicker and heavier. We're talking about fractions of the millimeter here, and a couple of grams, so don't be to scared of the change.

In terms of building materials, there's another change. Apple has reverted to aluminum for the iPhone 17 Pro frame, which is kind of a downgrade, as the iPhone 16 Pro comes with Grade 5 titanium.

Let's quickly list the color variants for the iPhone 17 Pro versus what we have available on the iPhone 16 Pro. 

Fans of bright and catchy colors will be happy with the new Cosmic Orange hue (reminds us of the iPhone XR), but the other interesting thing is that there's no black version of the iPhone 17 Pro.

Another interesting thing about the switch to aluminum for the iPhone 17 Pro has something to do with durability. There were reports about the Pro models being easy to damage, scratch, and dent, and we had to investigate. 

As you can see from the images above, it turns out to be true—the new aluminum, used on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, is quite soft and easy to dent. It's something to bear in mind when pondering whether to use a case with the new models or not.

There are no huge changes to the iPhone 17 Pro when it comes to the display. We have the same 6.3-inch ProMotion screen as the one on the iPhone 16 Pro, with a dynamic refresh rate between 1 and 120 Hz, and the same 1206 x 2622 pixels resolution, resulting in around 460 PPI.

There's information pointing toward a new technology called LDTEE (Low-dielectric TEE) which improves efficiency and durability. The peak brightness figures cited by Apple suggest that the iPhone 17 Pro might be using the new M14 display panels from Samsung.

Display Measurements:

Our display tests show that indeed the new iPhone 17 Pro can go much brighter (around 600 nits brighter to be precise) but all other metrics, such as color accuracy, minimum brightness, and color temperature, are very similar between these two.

There's a new anti-reflective coating on the iPhone 17 Pro, and you can see the difference in the samples above. It's not as powerful as the one on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but it works.

The iPhone 17 Pro features the next-gen A19 Pro chip. It's the best silicon you'll find in a smartphone and according to Apple, it is 40% faster than the A18 Pro inside the iPhone 16 Pro. We have to run our benchmarks to prove or disprove this statement so stay tuned. One thing is certain, these two phones are plenty fast and in real life scenarios you probably won't feel any difference.

The RAM situation has changed as well; the iPhone 17 Pro features 12GB of RAM, as opposed to the 8GB available on the iPhone 16 Pro. It's still unclear what necessitated this change, but one potential candidate might be Apple Intelligence and more hardware resources needed for on-device AI calculations.

In terms of storage, Apple has dropped the 128GB base variant of the iPhone 17 Pro and the phone now starts at 256GB and goes to 1TB of storage. 

The performance leap you see above is absolutely expected. The new vapor chamber helps a bit with sustained performance but the iPhone 17 Pro does get quite hot under load. In normal day-to-day tasks both phones work smoothly and you probably won't be able to tell the difference.

Update:iOS 26 is now official, but what are the new features? Well, the headline feature is a major visual redesign dubbed "Liquid Glass." For those who enjoy such things, an optional "Clear Look" will render the interface transparent, a stylistic nod to Windows Vista that is, if nothing else, a conversation starter. One imagines it will have its fans (but don't include me in that list).

On the more practical side of things, the Camera app is being decluttered to prioritize its main functions, a sensible move for lovers of simple design. There is also a pledge to fix the organizational woes of the Photos app with new buttons and an easier to reach search key.

But it seems the real substance is in making your iPhone a more peaceful device to own. A new Call Screening feature, a welcome (if overdue) addition seen on other platforms, aims to finally silence the endless barrage of telemarketing calls. This alone might be the most compelling part of the entire update. It’s being paired with Live Translate for calls, a feature that feels perched on the fine line between remarkable convenience and the potential for spectacular misunderstanding.

Of course, Messages will get its share of new trinkets, including polls to add a veneer of democracy to group dinner plans and custom backgrounds for a splash of personality, plus typing indicators for those group chats. They’re fine additions. It’s a classic mix, really: a few major quality-of-life improvements bundled with a host of minor tweaks and a bold new look.

PhoneArena Camera Score:

Last generation, Apple upgraded the ultrawide camera on the Pro models with a 48MP sensor and also slapped a faster 48MP main camera inside for good measure. So, the iPhone 16 Pro already features quite a potent camera setup. However, there's one camera that could benefit from a better sensor—the telephoto.

Rejoice, Apple has indeed upgraded the iPhone 17 Pro's camera setup with a new telephoto lens with a 48MP sensor underneath. Another change, compared to the 12MP periscope zoom on the 16 Pro, is that the new camera on the 17 Pro has native optical zoom of 3.5x.

The front camera gets an upgrade in pixel count as well. The iPhone 16 Pro has a 12MP selfie camera, while the iPhone 17 Pro features a brand new 18MP center stage selfie camera. It has a square sensor and can take both vertical and horizontal photos without the need to turn your phone horizontally. 

The scores of both phones in our Camera Rating widget are almost identical with the iPhone 17 Pro ever so slightly better, so it will be down to personal preference and real-life samples. Here they come.

You can check out our quick video comparison above. We used the Pro Max models of each generation but the comparison applies to the Pro models as well, as they feature identical camera hardware.

There's also a new Dual Capture video mode on all iPhone 17 models, offering simultaneous camera feeds from the rear and front snappers. It's not something groundbreaking, as we've seen it on Android phones from years ago (such as the Xperia Z5 and XZ), but it's still a nice addition to the list of features.

We will test the new system and include side-by-side samples once we finish testing the iPhone 17 Pro.

Apple is known for its conservative approach toward battery capacity and charging, but the company hinted at larger batteries for the iPhone 17 family. Unsurprisingly, there were no capacity figures mentioned, just hours of video streaming, but we have a couple of teardowns revealing the true capacity of the battery inside the iPhone 17 Pro. 

This year Apple brought two version of the phone with two different battery capacities. The US variant lacks a physical SIM slot and relies on eSIM only, thus having more space for a bigger battery. The EU version has a physical SIM slot and a tad smaller battery cell inside.

The iPhone 16 Pro comes equipped with a 3582 mAh battery on board, which is quite modest compared to other flagships that are now sporting 5000+ (or even 6000 mAh) batteries, but the way iPhones handle tasks, apps, and day-to-day activity allows for smaller-capacity batteries to perform on par with much larger ones.

PhoneArena Battery and Charging Test Results:

Battery life is almost identical between these two, the new iPhone 17 Pro adds a few more minutes here and there in our battery test, but for all intents and purposes you might assume the battery life is the same.

In terms of charging, which has been another weak point and source of complaints from Apple users, the iPhone 17 Pro was presented as faster charging promising 50% in just 20 minutes. In comparison, the iPhone 16 Pro charges from zero to 100% in 1h 34m.

Here's a quick specs comparison between the iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro (follow the link for a more detailed comparison on PhoneArena):

The iPhone 17 Pro has a unique look, for better or worse, and this might be a determining factor for many people. The changes are extensive, including the new A19 Pro chipset, more RAM, a more efficient and durable display, a new zoom camera, a new selfie camera, and a bigger battery. 

The iPhone 16 Pro, on the other hand, remains a formidable choice, even with the A18 Pro CPU and 12MP telephoto lens (which also has greater zoom at 5X). The battery life is also pretty similar between the two, and the only difference might be the pricing. However, there are reports of the new iPhone 17 Pro models being easy to scratch and dent, due to the softer aluminum used, and we were able to confirm this during our testing. So, if you plan to use the iPhone 17 Pro without a case, that's something to consider.

The iPhone 17 Pro now starts at $1,099 (which is reasonable given the base 256GB capacity), whereas the iPhone 16 Pro began at $999. If you already have the iPhone 16 Pro, you should probably hold on to it for a few more years. If you're coming from an older iPhone or looking to switch from Android and dip your toes into the iOS ecosystem, the iPhone 17 Pro is a great choice.