The iPhone 17 Pro is here with a new design and a few changes, but overall, it mostly looks similar to the last generation. However, there are a few changes that are worth considering and could make users think the newest Pro is worth upgrading to, but is it? Well, let's list out everything new in the iPhone 17 Pro over the iPhone 16 Pro to find out.
iPhone 17 Pro switches to an aluminium chassis
Straight up, the first change to the iPhone 17 Pro is related to the use of materials. The newer iPhone Pro ditches Titanium for Aluminium after a relatively short run with the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro. Speaking of durability, the iPhone 17 Pro adopts Ceramic Shield 2 for better scratch resistance.
While this could be considered a downgrade since Titanium is much stronger than Aluminium, the former has never really been a major point for users to get the Pro in the first place. So, while it's gone, chances are, not many are going to notice or care..
The back design of the iPhone 17 Pro has changed significantly with the new camera bar, with the cameras to the left and the ToF sensor and LED flash to the far right. The Apple logo has been shifted slightly downward and now rests inside a subtle rectangular shape with a contrasting finish compared to the rest of the back.
iPhone 17 Pro has better performance
Powering the iPhone 17 Pro is Apple's latest chipset, the A19 Pro, which brings a few improvements over the A18 Pro in the iPhone 16 Pro. For starters, it's built on TSMC's second-generation 3nm process and brings the same 6-core CPU with a 6-core GPU setup. On paper, the A19 Pro is expected to be faster and more efficient.
The RAM is also getting a significant bump from 8 GB on the iPhone 16 Pro to 12 GB on the iPhone 17 Pro, likely to make the Apple Intelligence experience a bit faster and smoother. Similarly, iPhone 17 Pro features vapour chamber cooling technology to improve the thermal performance. Therefore, the iPhone 17 Pro should be able to achieve better sustained performance than the iPhone 16 Pro.
iPhone 17 Pro charges faster
While the battery capacities on both the iPhone 17 Pro and 16 Pro remain unchanged, the charging speeds are getting a significant bump to 35W (wired) and 25W (wireless via Qi2.2). This should mean that the iPhone 17 Pro should charge significantly faster than its predecessor.
- The iPhone 17 Pro Max gets a bigger battery, which is rated for 37 hours of video playback
iPhone 17 Pro gets upgraded Telephoto and Selfie cameras
The iPhone 17 Pro gets a pretty significant camera upgrade from the iPhone 16 Pro in the form of a better 48 MP telephoto camera. The iPhone 16 Pro's 12 MP telephoto snapper is capable of 5x optical zoom, while that's being bumped to 8x with the new camera on the iPhone 17 Pro.
The front camera on all the iPhone 17 models has also been bumped to an 18 MP unit from the measly 12 MP on the iPhone 16 Pro. This should not only give you sharper selfies but also better low-light performance.
Is it worth getting the iPhone 17 Pro over the iPhone 16 Pro?
Before getting into the specifics, here's a full spec table to give you an idea about how both phones fare on paper with each other.
Specification | iPhone 17 Pro | iPhone 16 Pro |
Display | 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR OLED LTPO 120 Hz display up to 3,000 nits | 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR OLED LTPO 120 Hz display up to 2,000 nits |
Processor | A19 Pro | A18 Pro |
Battery | 31 hours of video playback | 35W wired charging and 25W wireless via Qi2.2 | 27 hours of video playback | 30W wired charging and 15W wireless via Qi2 |
Storage and RAM | 12 GB + 256 GB, 12 GB + 512 GB, 12 GB + 1 TB | 12 GB + 128 GB, 12 GB + 256 GB, 12 GB + 512 GB, 12 GB + 1 TB |
Connectivity | Wi-Fi 7 (new Wi-Fi chip), Bluetooth 6, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C |
Software | iOS 26 | iOS 26 |
Colours | Black, White, Dark Blue and Orange | Black Titanium, White Titanium, Natural Titanium and Desert Titanium |
Price | Rs 1,34,900 | Rs 99,999 |
Concluding, is the iPhone 17 Pro worth upgrading to over the iPhone 16 Pro? The answer is no. Sure, the newer Pro gets a new Telephoto, front camera and faster charging speed, but those two things alone do not warrant an upgrade. That said, the iPhone 17 Pro would make sense for those upgrading from an iPhone 12 Pro or iPhone 13 Pro.
