Review: iPhone 17 Pro

The iPhone 17 Pro gets a refreshed design with a much larger camera bump than before. It is instantly recognisable and quite frankly, ugly.

There’s a drastic imbalance when placed on a table. And yes, previous designs also meant the phone never sat flush, but this time around, it’s a whole chunk of the phone. Now there’s more to dislike.

I know we’re not going back to the days where cameras sat flush but those were the best designed phones. So this shouldn’t come as a shock when I say the iPhone 17 Pro is easily the worst designed iPhone, or rather, the least aesthetically pleasing.

The iPhone 17 Pro’s dimensions are 150 x 71.9 x 8.75mm and it weighs 204g.

iPhone 17 Pro Quick Look

• 6.3-inch display with 120Hz refresh rate
• A19 Pro Chipset; 12GB RAM; 256GB base storage
• 48MP triple rear cam with 8x optical ‘quality’ zoom
• 18MP selfie-cam with Centre Stage
• Physical SIM and eSIM support
• 50% charge in 20 minutes with 40W plug
• Price: From R28 599

What’s new on the iPhone 17 Pro 

Apart from the larger camera bump, Apple made another crucial change with the 17 Pro. It is no longer made from titanium or stainless steel like before, but rather with aluminium, a material used for standard models and not typically the Pro range.

The back also has a ceramic shield, which is a different colour to the actual phones. It feels like the Pro models have cheapened, and it was done as a cost cutting measure, however, Apple claims it has better thermals, which is better for heat dissipation, plus it has a vapour chamber now. But it’s not as strong as titanium, so it’s no surprise people’s phones are getting dinged quite easily.

My review unit, loaned to me for a three week period, was supplied without a case and it fell. Bear in mind, I’ve not damaged any previous iPhone test units, and if it was titanium, this wouldn’t have happened. If you want to resell your device down the line and keep it in good condition, definitely buy a case.

And then there’s the new bright orange shade, alongside dark blue and silver. They do not give off a “Pro” look, compared to last year’s desert, natural, white and black titanium shades. If you’re shooting content without a case, these bright colours will also reflect on the subject, which makes silver the best choice.

On the hardware front, it is powered by the A19 Pro chip with a promise of 33 hours of video playback compared to last year’s 27 hours; an 18MP selfie cam (up front last year’s 12MP) with Centre Stage and a new square format with dual capture on the rear cameras; and triple rear 48MP camera and up to 8x optical zoom.

All iPhone 17 models now come with a base 256GB of storage, and it’s now marginally heavier than before, 206g vs 199g; dual capture at 4K Dolby Vision with 30fps; shooting in ProRes RAW and Apple Log 2 video recording.

MagSafe wireless charging is now 25W compared to 22W last year; and a cable charge delivers 50% of power in up to 20 minutes with a 40W adapter and 50% up to 30 minutes with a 30W adapter. Plugs are not supplied, so these are at an additional cost if you don’t have a high wattage plug.

Oh, and the price of the base model Pro has increased to R28 599 (256GB) from last year’s R26 499 (128GB).

How I’ve been using it

I set up the new phone by pulling my data from iCloud, save for banking apps, which isn’t worth verifying if I have the device for three weeks.

However, over the years I’ve noticed it takes longer to set up this way because at some point, all my apps do not load onto the new phone. Some apps show up but are not clickable as it did not download. I haven’t figured out a smoother process, yet, which would likely involve cables.

In terms of carrying it around on the daily, I’ve tried to be extra careful as I didn’t receive a case so when I’m putting it in a bag, I make sure my keys do not scratch it or the screen is facing inwards. I have a case on my existing 16 Pro and the lenses feel protected, while the 17 Pro felt like it was susceptible to damage.

Initially when I used the device, it was over heating, likely due to iOS 26, but temporarily. I had recorded about five minutes of video footage at the time and I had to put the phone down.

However, within a few days, the issue completely disappeared. I did have a similar issue, a battery drain on my 16 Pro when I first downloaded iOS26. These were attributed to initial indexing of data in the background. Since those issues stabilised, I’ve been enjoying using iPhone 17 Pro.

Earlier I mentioned Apple claims the 17 Pro has a more watch time, cos you know how they don’t officially share battery sizes. I can confirm that the battery life in the 17 Pro has been improved dramatically. At the end of the day sometimes I’m left with 50%, which is unheard of. But for most days it doesn’t go below 20% while I’m using it.

I use my phone a lot as a freelance individual who is sometimes working on the go. This year is the first in a long time I can say that the battery life is exceptional. Usually battery life on the iPhone was average, as in, it wasn’t something I could tell had a massive jump, but I say this as Pro user, not Pro Max.

The daily usage has been fantastic, performance is snappy, there’s no lag, especially considering that I use resource intensive apps like shooting videos, editing them, and consuming a lot of video content, apart from the regular browsing and productivity tasks. I also run two numbers and WhatsApp’s on my device, plus I use 5G, so it really goes through the most.

Camera and videos

On the software side, I’m not a fan of the new look camera layout on iOS26. I’m not as quick due to the placement of the dots on top where you go into the settings and toggle between what you want. It’s not user friendly like before which was at the bottom and easier to access, which is a bit frustrating to me.

I also don’t like the Styles option which gives a different look if you’re into filters (neutral, cool rose, bright, rose gold), it usually accidentally gets adjusted and it’s not as easy to reset for some reason, see image above. When I hit the reset button, it does not reset the values, which was frustrating. It stays in some sort or premix colour, and the slider you see at the bottom was moved to the centre but gets shifted. This works properly 100% on my 16 Pro when I reset the values.

That said, the 48MP trio of lenses takes some great shots. I took photos for some paid work that has not gone live and was thoroughly impressed with the results, especially with the lighting and sun. I also shot this video for my TikTok, and you can see how great the lighting is.

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♬ Technology – FlyFlyMusic

Apple is punting an 8x “optical-quality” zoom, but it’s actually 4x optical with 8x being a crop, hence the wording “optical-quality”. This is an example of that, you can click to view the attachment:

I think this 8x zoom is passable but if you’ve seen my previous reviews, I’m not a fan of digital/crop zoom of any kind. I found the photo quality to be great, colours are well-balanced. Here’s an example of a macro shot where this flower is quite small and you can see the fine hairs on it.

The new 18MP front camera takes rectangle selfies without turning the phone to landscape but I’m not a big into selfies in general. I usually take 9:16 on the front if I’m sharing on social media but I didn’t use this lens a lot.

The front camera also has a the new Centre Stage feature that’s popular on iPads. It keeps you in frame when you’re on a video call [FaceTime] and if you’re moving or even presenting, it will focus on you at all times for the framing. If you’re taking pictures with a group using the selfie cam, it also has an auto zoom and auto rotate feature, which is handy.

Here’s some foodie pics in different types of lighting conditions:

As both a journalist and content creator, I’ve enjoying using the phone for my images and videos. I didn’t have issues with the phone lagging either, especially when taking loads of shots for the paid work I mentioned that has not gone live yet. It was continuous shooting without worrying about reliability, though eventually you can feel some heat.

iOS26 

As mentioned, iOS26 did slow my previous phone down and was a bit buggy when I first fired up the phone, but eventually things stabilised. The overall new look is glass-like, and this can be hit and miss. You can customise your Home Screen icons in different colours and choose how transparent you want it or make it one solid colour.

I don’t like the glass look on my watch but didn’t find it too much of a bother on the phone. However, the extra padding and spaces on some apps is an issue for me. Some of the stuff can be adjusted in settings if you’re not entirely happy with the glass look, though it cannot be turned off completely.

But there’s also getting used to certain things, like I don’t like the Photos look and feel anymore. However, the addition of Preview on iOS is welcome. A small yet much needed update is the ability to change the snooze time on your alarm from 9 minutes to between 1-15 minutes.

The Lock Screen supports spatial effects on your photos to give it a 3D like effect and you can put widgets at the bottom. If you’re into customisation on that level, it’s cool. I tested it but I didn’t make it my primary setting. Perhaps I’m too old?

There’s also a new phone screening setting if you don’t want to take calls from unknown numbers, they can leave a recorded message and you can decide if you want to pick up. As amazing as this feature is, I get calls from delivery people every other day so it didn’t make sense for me to turn it on.

On iOS26, if you have a supported pair of AirPods, you can also use the Live Translate feature, which is super handy if you travel lot. It is also available on calls and messages, like what we’ve seen on Android and Samsung since last year.

When my phone carried over from my previous settings, I was happy with those tweaks already as I’ve been traveling a bit recently so it was a matter of getting it ready to move.

Final Thoughts

The iPhone 17 Pro has a new polarising look that most people won’t like; I’ve already said it’s the worst designed iPhone and at R28 599 for the base model that’s now 256GB, it’s a lot of money for a phone.

However, if you’re already locked into the Apple ecosystem and you’re due for an upgrade, you will be happy with a lot of other things, enough to overlook the design. This includes the performance, the camera on both the front and rear, and the noticeable difference in the battery life.

Unfortunately Apple is not a leader when it comes to AI like Android is, so it’s hardly something worth mentioning if you’re going for this phone as other features matter more.

Do I hate the design? Yes. Will I upgrade? Also yes.