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Home / Features / iPhone 17 vs iPhone 17 Air vs iPhone 17 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro Max: all the rumoured specs compared

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iPhone 17 vs iPhone 17 Air vs iPhone 17 Pro vs iPhone 17 Pro Max: all the rumoured specs compared

All the early specs of the entire iPhone 17 family - which model will you go for when they're announced next week?

Dan Grabham Dan Grabham
iPhone 17 render Majin Bu
Image credit: Majin Bu

On Tuesday, Apple will announce its latest upcoming smartphone series, before releasing it into the world the week after.

There have been plenty of rumors about what to expect from the iPhone 17 series. And every time there’s some confusion around about what exactly each model brings to the party.

So let’s look at the differences between the iPhone 17 range, which at this stage we think consists of iPhone 17 and the super-thin and new model of the iPhone 17 Air at the more standard end.

After that, it looks like there will be the more standard introduction of the 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max. Last year it was rumored that the 16 Pro Max would in fact end up being the iPhone 16 Ultra, but this never materialised and we’re not expecting that name this year.

So what can we glean from the specs? Here are the key observations:

  • The iPhone 17 gets a bump-up in size from 6.1in to 6.3in. Last year’s Pro was 6.3in.
  • The standard model (iPhone 17) will finally get an improved display with 120 Hz ProMotion, a step-up from the iPhone 16‘s 60Hz display.
  • Once again the Pro and Pro Max get a better processor than the other models (as usual). As last year, these are of the same generation, with the Pro models simply having a Pro variant.
  • The 17 Air is set to follow the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge as a premium-priced, super-thin option – but one that actually won’t make sense for a lot of people if it has a single camera and small battery. It is also likely to be eSIM only.
  • We believe the whole iPhone 17 series will be eSIM-only in more countries, particularly in Europe, folllowing the lead of the US (which has been eSIM-only since iPhone 14).
  • The battery capacities aren’t as big as we’d have expected, particularly for the Pro models. So we’re not sure about these.

What else can you deduce? We’ll find out for sure whether these rumored specs reflect the real thing on Tuesday.

The rumored iPhone 17 series specs

FeatureiPhone 17iPhone 17 AiriPhone 17 ProiPhone 17 Pro Max
Display~6.3″ OLED, 120 Hz ProMotion~6.6″ OLED, 120 Hz ProMotion, ultra-thin~6.3″ OLED, 120 Hz LTPO, Always-on~6.9″ OLED, 120 Hz LTPO, Always-on
ChipsetA19A19 (with Apple C1 modem)A19 ProA19 Pro (reportedly with a higher clock speed)
RAM8–12 GB8–12 GB12 GB12 GB
Rear camera(s)Dual: 48 MP main + ultrawideSingle: 48 MPTriple: 48 MP main + telephoto + ultrawideTriple: larger sensor plus 5× telephoto
Front camera24 MP TrueDepth24 MP TrueDepth24 MP TrueDepth24 MP TrueDepth
Thickness and design notesStandardUltra-thin (~5.5 mm, ~9.5 mm incl. bump)Titanium, vapor-chamber coolingTitanium, vapor-chamber cooling
Battery~3,500 mAh~2,900–3,300 mAh~4,000 mAh~4,400 mAh
Charging and other details35 W wired, 50 W Qi2.2 wirelessSimilar to 17, likely eSIM-onlyFaster charging, reverse wireless chargingSame as Pro, bigger battery
Connectivity5G, Wi-Fi 75G, Wi-Fi 7, eSIM-only5G, Wi-Fi 75G, Wi-Fi 7
Estimated price$799–849 / £799–850 / €899–999$899–949 / £899–950 / €999–1,049$1,049 / £1,050 / €1,150$1,249 / £1,250 / €1,350

All our iPhone 17 coverage so far

Profile image of Dan Grabham Dan Grabham Editor-in-Chief

About

Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website.  Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.

Areas of expertise

Computing, mobile, audio, smart home