When Apple stopped squeezing out new models and began backward compatibility with its strictly tiered version tiers, the all-new iPhone 17 standard edition immediately exploded the mobile phone market. As someone who stumbled onto the iPhone 12 five years ago and immediately quit a year later, I feel lost again on this all-new iPhone 17 standard edition.
A consistent design and an exceptional ProMotion experience
Let's first look at the exterior. Apple's designs have always been consistent, so the iPhone 17 is virtually identical to the previous generation, the iPhone 16. It still has the familiar matte aluminum frame, and the rear camera setup remains in the same "traffic light" design. The front panel has been upgraded to the next-generation Ceramic Shield 2, offering three times the scratch resistance.
While the exterior of the standard iPhone is generally indistinguishable from the previous generation, the color schemes differ significantly from each generation. In addition to the classic black and white, the iPhone 17 also comes in three refreshing new colors: lavender purple, sage green, and mist blue.
The one I have is the new lavender purple. The matte back adds a touch of elegance to the color. Compared to the Pro version, which has a more professional and technological color scheme, I prefer the standard version for its uniquely fresh and elegant feel.
Furthermore, for me, the first thing that once put me off Apple was the lack of a high refresh rate in the standard version. Although I briefly used an iPhone 12 five years ago, I ultimately couldn't master the adaptive frame rate. I eventually sold it through a third-party platform and returned to Android.
The standard version of the iPhone 17 makes a "unconventional" decision, using the same XDR screen as the Pro version, with a 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate, finally reaching parity with Android phones. Compared to some 120Hz Android phones, the iPhone 17 standard edition benefits from iOS's consistently excellent animations and transitions. Both visually and operationally, it's both smooth and fast, offering a significantly better experience than simply speedy alternatives.
Furthermore, thanks to its Pro-like screen, the iPhone 17 standard edition has improved border control, eliminating the usual black borders that dominate the screen. This is one of the reasons the screen size can be expanded from 6.1 inches to 6.3 inches.
Unparalleled performance and impressive heat dissipation.
Thanks to Apple's self-sufficient ecosystem, performance has never been a weakness for the iPhone. The iPhone 17 standard edition's A19 chip, built on TSMC's 3nm N3P process, boasts a 7%-16% improvement in CPU single-core and multi-core performance over the A18, and an 11%-25% improvement in GPU performance. Geekbench 6 single-core scores exceeded 3700 points, and multi-core scores exceeded 9400 points.
Although the A19 chip lacks a GPU compared to the A19 Pro in the Pro version on paper, in daily use, the difference is only about 5%, making the impact negligible. What really concerns me is that the iPhone 17 standard version lacks a heat sink, which could cause overheating during intense gaming.
Thankfully, after actual testing, the iPhone 17 standard version performed beyond my expectations. While not as extreme as the Pro's temperature control, after launching "Genshin Impact" at 60 frames per second and running at the highest quality setting, the front of the iPhone 17 standard version reached a maximum temperature of just 41.4°C and the back of the phone a mere 42.9°C after 30 minutes. They felt barely warm to the touch.
In terms of battery life, the iPhone 17 supports up to 30 hours of video playback. Thanks to excellent power consumption control, the phone's battery life is generally sufficient in daily use. However, compared to current Android phones with batteries exceeding 7,000mAh, Apple's choice of battery capacity seems overly conservative.
In terms of wired charging speed, the standard iPhone 17 has doubled from 20W to 40W, a significant improvement in fast charging capabilities. However, compared to the current Android average of nearly 100W, 40W fast charging is still a bit underwhelming. Fortunately, the iPhone 17's battery is relatively small, so the actual experience isn't significantly different.
On par with the Pros
In terms of imaging, the standard iPhone 17 still features a dual-camera setup of a main camera and an ultra-wide-angle lens, but the ultra-wide-angle lens has been upgraded from 12 megapixels to 48 megapixels. In other words, aside from the absence of a telephoto lens, the two lenses on the iPhone 17 are largely the same as those on the Pros.
It's worth noting that the iPhone 17 standard edition's imaging upgrades aren't in the rear camera, but in the front-facing lens. Besides an upgrade from 12MP to 18MP, the most important feature is the square sensor, making it easy to shoot in both horizontal and vertical orientations, allowing for more people to fit in selfies without having to hold the phone awkwardly sideways.
Furthermore, based on the characteristics of this square sensor, new features have been added, such as tap rotation, centering subjects, and simultaneous dual-shot video capture, making it especially suitable for users who enjoy vlogging on the go.
In summary, compared to previous, more gradual generational upgrades, the improvements made to the iPhone 17 standard edition are substantial. If we use a coordinate system, the standard model used to be ranked 1, with the Pro version taking a downward penalty. This year, the standard version now sits at 1, while the Pro version steps up from there. In other words, the standard version has truly become the standard.
For those without professional needs, the standard iPhone 17 is undoubtedly a better choice than the Pro version, as its upgrades are focused on everyday use, while the majority of the Pro's additional features are focused on "professional" features.
Especially in terms of price: while the price remains unchanged, the memory version has dropped from 128GB to 256GB. This increase in capacity without a price increase is truly exceptional value, and it's even supported by government subsidies. As an Android user myself, it seems I'm once again lost in this "Apple" forest.
