Normally, we wait until phones are released to compare them, but Apple’s next iPhone models are so eagerly awaited that we’ll make an exception. We’re basing our comparisons on the most credible rumors of what’s coming in the iPhone 17 series, including a potential superthin iPhone 17 Air, to give readers an early sense of how the new series of phones may look. 

Last year’s iPhone 16 series added a handful of upgrades on its predecessors, most notably the new Camera Control key. While the basic iPhone 16 and Plus models got a new ultrawide camera and bigger battery, as is typical with Apple’s phones, the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max got the lion’s share of the improvements with upgraded rear cameras, pro video recording modes and thinner bezels. 

Last year’s iPhone upgrades are a template for what we expect in the iPhone 17 — here’s how we anticipate those comparisons to shake out. 

iPhone 17 price and release date

Apple traditionally holds its iPhone announcements the first Tuesday in September after Labor Day. This year, that would be the first Tuesday of the month (Sept. 2), so we’d expect the reveal event on the next day, Sept. 3, or the following Tuesday, Sept. 9. A number of rumors point to Sept. 9 being the day Apple holds its fall event.

The iPhone always goes on sale the Friday of the week after it’s announced. Depending on which day it’s announced, that could mean the iPhone 17 release date would be either Friday, Sept. 12 or 19.

The iPhone 17 prices are up in the air, mainly due to tariffs. Increased costs of imports mean Apple could raise iPhone price tags, with Jefferies analyst Edison Lee predicting a $50 price hike across the lineup. If that’s the case, then anticipated US starting prices could be as follows:

• iPhone 17: $829
• iPhone 17 Air: $979
• iPhone 17 Pro: $1,049
• iPhone 17 Pro Max: $1,249

Design and display

The biggest change we expect in the iPhone 17’s design is in a single model potentially added to the lineup: the iPhone 17 Air. Following plenty of rumors, the Air would be a thinner model of the iPhone line akin to the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, which would focus on a thinner, lighter body that might have reduced battery life as a consequence. CNET Senior Reporter Abrar Al-Heeti found that with the S25 Edge. The Air could take the place of the larger Plus model in the iPhone 17 lineup, though whether that means the thinner phone is also bigger than the standard model is far from certain.

We’ve also heard rumors that the iPhone 17 line could swap from the square camera block it’s used for years to more of a pill-shaped camera bar that runs across the width of the phone’s body. Leaker Majin Bu posted a leaked image and CAD renders on X that show a differently shaped camera setup for each phone. And case-maker Dbrand is preselling an iPhone 17 Pro Tank case that shows off the wider camera bump as well.

A Bloomberg report in April affirmed that other than the camera block, the iPhone 17 lineup will look much like last year’s phones, at least as far as rumors go, with the standard iPhone 17, Pro and Pro Max models largely unchanged from their iPhone 16 predecessors. 

Assuming Apple isn’t changing the sizes of the smartphones, expect the iPhone 17 to have a 6.1-inch display, the iPhone 17 Pro to get a 6.3-inch screen and the iPhone 17 Pro Max a 6.9-inch display. The iPhone 17 Air’s size is uncertain, but Apple does have a tendency to retain phone sizes for years (just look at the iPhone SE line using the same display dimensions as the iPhone 6), so if the new thin phone has the same dimensions as the iPhone 16 Plus, it could have a 6.7-inch display.

Another display rumor suggests that Apple will close a feature gap between the baseline and pro models by making all phones have a maximum 120Hz refresh rate (prior lineups have kept the cheaper phones at 60Hz).

Cameras

While the camera bump may be changing in design, it’s not clear how much the actual cameras themselves will change from last year’s iPhone 16 lineup. 

We expect the usual feature gap to split the iPhone 17 generation, with the standard iPhone 17 having two cameras (48-megapixel main and 12-megapixel ultrawide) while the Pro and Pro Max models bump the ultrawide to 48 megapixels and also include a third telephoto camera (presumably the 12-megapixel with 5x optical zoom inherited from last year’s iPhones). One of the wildest rumors is that the 17 Pro and Pro Max will have 8x telephoto cameras. The report comes from MacRumors and mentions the lens having moving elements for continuous optical zoom at various focal lengths (think Sony Xperia 1 V).

Rumors suggest the fourth model — possibly the iPhone 17 Air — will only have one camera, which would likely be a 48-megapixel main shooter similar to the iPhone 16E. That would set it apart from last year’s iPhone 16 Plus, which had the same two cameras as the standard iPhone 16.

The only other significant camera rumor suggests that the front-facing shooters on all the phones will be upgrading to 24-megapixel cameras, up from 12 megapixels on last year’s phones.

Specs and software

As is typical with the feature gap between standard and pro models, rumors suggest the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max (as well as the Air) will get the newest A19 chip, while the regular iPhone 17 will get the same A18 chip that powered last year’s iPhone 16.

It’s unclear if the new phones will get another tech advancement — Apple’s C1 chip, the internally developed 5G modem that debuted in the iPhone 16E released earlier this year. Presumably, the company will want to bring it to the new iPhone 17 lineup, but we haven’t heard rumors suggesting so.

While Apple never explicitly says how much RAM its iPhones pack, most phones require 8GB of RAM to use AI features — and given Apple Intelligence debuted on the iPhone 16 lineup, it’s heavily suspected that those devices were given 8GB of RAM. Presumably, the iPhone 17 series will have the same amount. 

There’s also no reason to believe Apple will switch up its storage options. The standard iPhone 17 will likely be offered in 128GB, 256GB and 512GB tiers, while the iPhone 17 Pro should have those and a 1TB version. The iPhone 17 Pro Max will likely only have 256GB, 512GB and 1TB options.

The batteries of the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro aren’t expected to change, though a leak suggests the iPhone 17 Pro Max could expand its capacity to 5,000 mAh, up from the 4,685 mAh on the iPhone 16 Pro Max. The big question will be the size of the iPhone 17 Air’s battery, which will almost surely be smaller due to the thinner body; by comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge only has a 3,900 mAh capacity.

All iPhones will almost surely launch with iOS 26, the next version of Apple’s iPhone software that was renamed to align with the year following its release.