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Phones · Apple iPhone

Apple iPhone 17

23owners with an opinion
42%of verdicts positive
8/11positive/negative since 2024
0happy after 3+ years

Praised for ease of use and performance; criticized for portability and reliability.

What owners wrote

Doesn’t like it
I think they made iOS run slower for 60Hz devices. Like 2-3 version ago they changed all the animations and it makes it unbearable to use my iPHone 17 on 60Hz when I used to prefer running my old Samsungs on 60Hz several years ago.
Doesn’t like it
It's too slow. Safari crashes too often. But the rather bigger mess for me has been iOS 27 (on my 17) – slowness and the battery drain. Goodness, what have I done on my phone thaat made it into a proper before and after scenario. I had to disable my mission corner hot corner it was so broken. It amazes me how a trillion dollar company manages to break their already broken OS even further. I guess the reason is they know it isn't going to matter. The good hint is the hordes of people (even on hn) finding it necessary to post their polite (of course!) and subtle rebuttals in the form of "been using for the last , couldn't be happier)".
Likes it
Don't forget law enforcement, customs or any high(ish) stakes sector which needs to be able to trust the images they show as evidence as well. Back in the day Canon and Nikon tried this with embedded private keys on their cameras, and with Sandisk's WORM SD cards. Then, somebody extracted the keys and it was game over. While my iPhone 17 can't match a full frame mirrorless camera, it can take pretty impressive photos, so they are already more than adequate in detail and clarity department. So making these images trusted is a huge win for them.
Likes it
I’m in the exact same situation. Been upgrading every year for a long time (via the Upgrade Programme, making doing so more or less “free”). I was absolutely jazzed they finally did an orange phone, and this is the first year in a while that…I just don’t care. The Duo is far more expensive than I could ever entertain (plus buying a first-gen Apple product has never been a good idea), and there is quite literally nothing in the 18 Pro that makes me want to upgrade. I may be swayed by a second gen Air in the spring, as I would like a lighter phone that feels less of an imposition in my pocket and my life in general. But it almost certainly won’t have the zoom camera, which has unexpectedly become one of my favourite and most used features of the 17 Pro. Why the two-camera phones all come with the ultrawide instead of the telephoto is baffling to me. Perhaps I’m an anomaly, but I never use the ultrawide lens.
Likes it
I used to think I preferred a smaller phone until I upgrade from an SE3 to an iPhone 17. It’s not even that much bigger, less than the screen size suggests because of the end-to-end screen and taller aspect ratio. And that extra screen area is extremely useful. Would be nice if it was smaller in my pocket, but it’s already not an issue to carry
Doesn’t like it
Fixing the shit show that iOS 26 is and making it so my shiny new iPhone 17 doesn’t visibly struggle rendering simple ui elements should be considered table stakes for iOS 27, I wouldn’t expect them to mention that too much as it’s like the bare minimum we expect for the update.
Doesn’t like it
Especially because in most ways it actually isn't better in the app. Even on an iPhone 17 it is usually quite slow and hangs frequently. Offline reading SHOULD be a clear advantage to the app, but it is completely inconsistent about what will be available offline, when I'm sure a significant fraction of their readership are New Yorkers trying to read while commuting on the subway.
Doesn’t like it
Thank you so much for this link :-) I'm studying old operating systems, because it's very interesting how we've been so productive with less screen pixels than we have today. It's basically mind blowing that 800x600 pixels have been a long time enough to get work done. Currently I'm typing this on an iPhone 17 with a larger screen and after all the years there is nothing like a good charting, dashboarding or spreadsheet on it.
Doesn’t like it
In my experience, iPhone 4 was better than iPhone 8 which is better than iPhone 17. Either I got lucky, went to more interesting places and composed better, or the technology is getting worse from an aesthetic point-of-view. I definitely had more keepers, more memorable photos of a higher subjective quality. I pretty much don't bother with iPhotography now. Similar story on Android but I won't bore with the model names and numbers. Older handsets gave better results. Pre-smartphone, king of the hill was the Sony K800, I loved the photos from that phone. No fancy software, just quality hardware and straightforward processing gave consistent results. That said, I should try Halide app. Bringing it back to basics with less computation might be the way forward for me.
Doesn’t like it
We have a mini in my household and I wouldn’t call it “zero problems”. It’s usable but definitely slower than iOS 18. My iPhone 17 visibly struggles with basic browser UI rendering. I’m not satisfied with iOS 26. Here’s hoping they improve performance in 27.
Likes it
Wow. That really sucks. As a counterpoint (not sure if this was t-mobile, apple, or both), I just upgraded from an iPhone 11 with physical sim, to iPhone 17 with esim. All I had to do was hold the new phone next to the old one, and it just transferred the line over and deactivated the old sim automatically. I wasn't even in the US (so not even on their network), and it was stupidly seamless. It sounds like t-mobile support has gone downhill. Last time I had to contact support was 2020, and it was really easy back then. I rarely had to wait more than 5 minutes to get a human, and I once had an issue escalated to the "executive resolutions" team and resolved to my satisfaction the day it was opened.
Neutral
I haven't enjoyed the iPhone since it could sit flat on a table. (5S) I can't tell you that I use the phone differently than I did then, because I don't. The camera on a phone, for me, is a nice to have in the moment, I'm not a photographer and I have never felt the need to have such an incredible camera at my disposal (except that my eyes are failing so using the zoom to see the distance has been nice... twice). I've been thinking of dumping the phone entirely, except I have my cards on there (yes, cards are smaller) and, crucially, my online banking. I thought about going to a 5SE, which isn't supported but would still kinda work, but my own one is bricked somehow and Apple doesn't allow it to be restored via Finder anymore. :( Bear in mind, I still have an iPhone 17 for work, and a 15 Pro for home... I hate this duopoly.
Doesn’t like it
Liquid Glass is the obvious regression in the room for me. Windows 11. The "EOL" of Windows 10 could also be considered a UX choice. I also recently upgraded from an iPhone 13 mini to a 17, and I'm still not used to the larger screen size. Phones that can fit comfortably in your hand and pockets are in short supply. AI-"enhanced" Autocorrect can be a nightmare, especially when you're talking about niche topics, or different languages. Infinite scroll and addiction-as-product-design is a scourge on many. Previously non-algorithmic news sources that now algorithmically feed you headlines. Lots of websites have a slightly-but-noticeably degraded experience on Firefox. The Internet at large without uBlock Origin. ----- Most of these are not design "choices" though, they are profit motivated. Good and/or humanist design often tends to be at odds with profit these days because attention is currently primary vector of exploitation for companies. "More Usage" != "Good Design", but people do like to be employed and receive a paycheck, myself included.
Doesn’t like it
My god I cancelled my isp because I’m moving. Thought hot spot would be fine for a few months. Every single day I have to restart my MacBook Air for hot spot to work. Multiple times every day I have to turn hot spot off and on even though it’s in discoverable but won’t connect. Multiple times every day hot spot is just off and can’t be turned on in control center. And this is with iPhone 17 and m2 on most recent updates. I can’t imagine on older hardware.
Neutral
Does the Common [Wo]Man have any control over any of our own shit anymore? I just got an iPhone 17. I travel often and have a bunch of SIMs and eSIMs from various countries, with varying periods of validity. With the physical SIMs, I can just pop them into the new phone and still use them for a month or two more just fine. (I specifically got a Singapore region variant with a SIM tray AND eSIM support just for this) But with the eSIMs, it goes for "approval" through the carriers, some of whom demand me to update my ID with them before they can allow an eSIM to be used on a new phone. When Apple announced going eSIM only in the US and other draconian countries, I thought nothing of it. Now I see how bad it can be...
Likes it
I’ve been trying out locally run models on my phone. The iPhone 17 is able to run some pretty nice models, but they lack access to up to date information from the web like ChatGPT has. Wonder if some company like Kagi would offer some api to let your local model plug in and run searches.
Recommends it
USB C by itself is enough of a reason to upgrade. I have one set of cords that work everywhere and the iPhone supports all of the standard USB-C standards - video, storage, audio, and networking using the same devices you use on computers. And MagSafe charging and stands.
Doesn’t like it
AppleCare+ is really good IMO if you're interested in caseless. I can get my screen or back replaced same day for as little as $29. On my iPhone 17 I've broken the screen twice and gotten repairs done same day.
Likes itHasn’t owned it
That's highly inaccurate information. MTE is included on a large number of smartphones beyond Pixels. It's heavily integrated into iOS on the iPhone 17 as their Memory Integration Enforcement feature. MTE enables massive security improvements against exploits and Pixels have had it since the Pixel 8 in October 2023. Traditional desktop computers have atrocious privacy and security throughout hardware, firmware and software. That isn't a relevant comparison for GrapheneOS. Recent Mac hardware does support MTE and so will non-Mac devices using Snapdragon chips. Qualcomm has added MTE support for their latest flagship mobile SoC platform and will bring it elsewhere. MediaTek and Exynos have also added MTE support. MTE does not have the substantial performance or battery life impact you're portraying it as having. It's also far more useful than you're portraying it as being. Apple would not have extensively integrated MTE if they had to give up significant performance or battery life. iPhones have a lot of focus on security but aren't willing to make significant sacrifices in those areas for it, at least for the default settings. Their Memory Integrity Enforcement entirely based on MTE is always enabled in the kernel and the large portion of userspace where they deployed it. It's not only used for Lockdown Mode.