CALIFORNIA (Kashmir English): Apple has officially launched its iPhone 17 series at the spectacular event with a mix of fresh designs, enhanced cameras, and added brawn under the hood.
The company also surprised everyone further by keeping the prices mostly the same as those of last year’s iPhone 16 phones, which makes the new phones all the more irresistible for shoppers who are thinking of upgrading.
This year’s lineup consists of four models: the standard iPhone 17, the new iPhone Air, and the premium iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Besides the phones, Apple also released new watches and AirPods, but the star of the event was clearly the iPhone line.
iPhone Air
The iPhone Air, Apple’s thinnest phone to date at 5.6mm, received the warmest applause. With a titanium casing and only weighing 165 grams, the Air is noticeably lighter and thinner than other iPhones.
It carries a 6.5-inch OLED display and lasts as long as 27 hours of video playback, narrowly behind the standard iPhone 17’s 30-hour mark.
But Apple did the unthinkable by equipping the Air with a single 48-megapixel primary camera rather than the dual-camera setup of the standard model.
iPhone 17 Air design
The compromise appears intentional, given that the Air is positioned as a thin lifestyle phone and not so much as a photo monster. Priced at $999, it takes the place of last year’s Plus model but offers a thinner body rather than a larger size.
The base iPhone 17 now sports a larger 6.3-inch display that is ProMotion-capable, with more fluid refresh rates of up to 120Hz. It also gets a new design on the rear, where both cameras are placed vertically within an oval casing.
On the camera front, the improvements are significant. The new phone features a 48-megapixel ultrawide lens and an improved 18-megapixel front-facing camera.
Selfies get a massive upgrade with a new, broader sensor that allows individuals to take horizontal selfies without having to flip the phone.
Under the hood, the iPhone 17 runs Apple’s A19 chip, which is more power-efficient and faster than the A18 that runs on the iPhone 16. The starting model starts at 256GB of storage, double the base of last year’s model. In contrast to these advancements, the price remains at $799.
Performance and Photography
Apple’s most extreme upgrades were to the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max. Both handsets now feature the A19 Pro chip and a new cooling system that uses a vapor chamber to be more efficient at dissipating heat.
Apple claims this allows for 40 percent better sustained performance compared to last year’s Pro handsets.
Cameras have leaped too. Both Pro models now come with enhanced 48-megapixel ultrawide and telephotos, with the telephoto going up to 8x optical zoom at 12-megapixel resolution. Digital zoom extends to 40x. Front cameras now come improved to 18 megapixels with superior “Center Stage” tech that keeps the subject in frame.
iPhone 17 Pro Max camera features
The Pro Max is the largest, with a 6.9-inch display and the longest battery life across the series at up to 39 hours of video playback.
iPhone 17 Pro Max front screen
Storage now goes all the way up to 2TB on the Pro Max, though that model has a hefty $2,000 price tag. Starting prices for the Pro are $1,099, and the Pro Max begins at $1,199.
Colours, design, and software
Apple has revamped the color scheme throughout the range. The iPhone 17 is available in light blue, lavender, dark grey, silver-white, and green. The Air comes in light blue, gold, black, and white. The Pro and the Pro Max come in white, dark blue, and bold bright orange.
Apple iPhone 17 colours
All the phones have brighter screens up to 3,000 nits, which enhances outdoor visibility. The added protection comes courtesy of the new Ceramic Shield 2 coating, and the Pro phones also get more robust glass-ceramic backs.
All iPhone 17 models are shipped with pre-installed iOS 26, which introduces a new “Liquid Glass” reworked interface, revamped Camera app, tidier lock screen, and enhanced look for central apps such as Safari, Photos, and Music.
Apple’s AI collection of tools under the “Apple Intelligence” label also carries over, but no new AI features were announced this year.
