After months of rumors, the iPhone 17 Pro is here. Unveiled as part of Apple’s «awe dropping» September event, the phone will launch with the latest version of Apple’s iOS 26 software, along with rumored updates to the design and expected updates to Apple Intelligence (the company’s rival to Google’s Gemini AI).
The iPhone 17 Pro will go on sale starting at $1,099 ( 1,099, AU$1,999) with 256GB of storage while the larger iPhone 17 Pro Max will start at $1,199.
While it might seem that the iPhone 16 Pro has had a slight price hike from its $999 starting price last year, it’s now got double the storage and actually costs the same as the equivalent 256GB iPhone 16 Pro, putting to bed fears of significant price hikes due to Trump’s tariffs remains to be seen.
iPhone 17 Pro: Design and display
The rear of the phone is where you’ll notice the biggest physical change. The camera unit now stretches across the whole top of the phone, rather than simply occupying a small square in the corner. The cameras themselves are still clustered in the same location as before, although Apple says the expanded space gives more room for batteries and for the updated telephoto zoom camera, which I’ll come to later.
The Pro models are now built from aluminum, instead of the titanium frames that debuted on the iPhone 15 Pro. It’s a unibody construction, which should make it especially durable — as should the new «Ceramic Shield» toughened glass on the front and back which Apple says is 3x more scratch resistant. From the front, the phones remain almost indistinguishable from previous models, with only the Dynamic Island breaking the display in the small cut out towards the top. Apple has yet to confirm the water resistance rating of the phones but it’s pretty safe to assume they’ll continue to be IP68-rated as has been the case with pretty much all iPhones since 2018.
The new range does bring some new colors however, with the vibrant-looking orange model being my personal favourite. I’ve found the Pro iPhone range often takes itself a bit too seriously, relying on darker or more muted tones. That new life-affirming orange color looks right up my street.
iPhone 17 Pro: Cameras
The Pro’s cameras have had a series of significant upgrades. The optical zoom now goes to 8x, doubling the range of the zoom on the last model. It offers an equivalent focal length of 200mm, which will be great for photographers wanting to really get in on the action from a distance. The main camera’s sensor is 56% larger than before, giving more space to gather light for brighter low light images and generally better-looking daytime images with hopefully less reliance on image sharpening.
All three cameras capture images at 48 megapixels, while the front camera offers 18 megapixels of resolution.
Video shooters haven’t been forgotten either; the Pro phones can now shoot in Apple’s ProRes Raw codec — an update to the existing ProRes codec that captures a lot more data at the point of capture allowing for deeper and more accurate post processing. ProRes Raw, as Apple explains, is an industry standard in professional cinematic productions and seeing it on a phone is wild. As both a photographer, video producer and YouTuber, I’m excited.
iPhone 17 Pro: A19 Pro processor
The A19 Pro processor features an improved CPU and GPU which Apple reckons can achieve 40% better performance than the iPhone 16 Pro. Keeping things cool is a new thermal management system which includes a vapor chamber that uses de-ionized water to actively cool the phone as it gets hot. The aluminum alloy also apparently dissipates heat 20x better than the titanium design of previous models.
iPhone 17 Pro: iOS 26
The iPhone 17 range will launch with the latest iOS 26 software on board. We’ve played around with iOS 26 in its early beta form and the biggest changes are to the look of the software. Apple’s new «Liquid Glass» design leans into glasslike transparency in its menus and notification panels to achieve a brighter, more modern look.
I’m pretty keen on the style from the images I’ve seen so far. CNET’s Blake Stimac has tested the beta and says, «underneath it all, Liquid Glass doesn’t reinvent the wheel, and that’s a good thing.» I find that encouraging. I can’t be bothered learning my way around an entirely new operating system, but I’m happy to see any tweaks that keep things feeling fresh.
iPhone 17 Pro: Battery
Apple says the iPhone 17 Pro packs the largest battery ever on an iPhone which as a result delivers the best battery life ever from any iPhone. The company hasn’t been specific about exactly how big this battery is, but as always we’ll be keen to see how it performs.
The iPhone Pro launched alongside other new Apple products including the skinny iPhone Air, the latest AirPods Pro 3 with live translation and the Apple Watch series 11, SE 3 and Watch Ultra 3. Don’t fancy the Pro iPhone? Apple also took the wraps off the base iPhone 17.
This is a developing story. Follow all of CNET’s 2025 Apple Event coverage for live updates, hands-on impressions, and more announcements as they’re revealed.