After owning every iphone since the iphone X, this is the first iphone that I can’t find a single flaw with. This is the best phone Apple has ever made.
Every year, i've always had at least one thing that I disliked about the jphone. Not enough to warrant switching from Apple to Android- but minor things that are inconvenient. For example- the 16 pro would overheat and the battery life would never last all day. I know having the 16 pro max would fix chat issue for the most part, but even with large hands; it’s almost impossible to use the device with one hand. Having to use two hands just to pull down the notification tab or swiping down from the top right to adjust the brightness, turn wifi on/off, etc. I couldn’t do it with one hand.
Another example is how the selfie camera has been basically the same since the iphone X. Now the selfie camera takes incredible portrait photos and on top of that, you get the center stage feature which seems like a no brainer now but no one really thought about it until Apple introduced it and I guarantee you, every other company will follow suit.
Another example is how you pretty much had to set the action button to open your camera, instead of using it for far more convenient shortcuts like opening the flashlight or literally any other shortcut that isn’t a camera. Call me old school, but I love having a dedicated camera button- which the camera control button essentially does. I don’t use the camera control button for literally any other purpose besides opening up the camera and to snap pictures right in the moment. I don’t use it to zoom in/out since it’s pretty clunky especially with a case.
I could go on and on about minor inconveniences that all previous iphones had, but this is truly the first ‘complete’ iphone or smartphone in general that I’ve ever used. I use the double tap feature on the back to open up my flashlight. Camera control to open the camera and take photos/videos. Action button to toggle my alarm clock on or off if I need to work at the office the next morning. Lock screen buttons on the bottom corner of the screen are for setting a timer, and opening up the camera. For the lock screen widgets I use chat-GPT since siri is atrocious. Sleep monitoring so I can keep track of what time I fall asleep to keep my circadian rhythm in balance and know when it’s time to go to bed. Gmail widget for immediate access to my emails. And Apple Pay whenever I need to send my younger sister money for school/shopping or whenever she needs it. Top of the phone I use the !weather app as it shows me if it’s cloudy or not, the current temperature, and the daily high/low. The stock weather app is superior but it doesn’t have the same lock screen information right above the clock.
This phone legitimately never overheats. I’ve used my phone heavily since the day it came out and my battery health is still 100%. I guarantee you it’s because of the new vapor chamber Apple uses. And for those who say “silicon carbon batteries are better!” I disagree. Lithium Ion is the gold standard because it’s been tried and tested. Yes, Silicon Carbon has much higher milliamp than the 17 pro or pro max. But because of how quickly it charges, the battery physically swells up and then constricts due to the fast charging and the heat that it generates. That’s why Apple, Samsung, Pixel, etc have not made the transition to silicon carbon yet. It’s far too new of a technology and no one knows the long term effects of using Silicon Carbon batteries. For all we know, after several years- Silicon Carbon batteries could straight up blow up like how the Galaxy note 7 did, and absolutely no one wants to take that risk after the nightmare that caused Samsung. But since the 17 pro has a vapor chamber, the phone remains cool to the touch at ALL times. This gives me 2 full days of use before I need to recharge it. That’s all 99% of people have been asking for. And it charges from 20% to 80% in half an hour which is incredible.
Now let’s talk hardware. Using three 48MP cameras (and the upgraded selfie camera) is such a welcoming experience. telephoto actually takes incredible pictures now. Pro res LOG is unparalleled in quality. You can legitimately take film quality videos on your iphone and all you need is a usb C SSD because it takes up such a massive amount of space recording 4k pro res LOG footage and you can even edit the videos professionally without having to use Adobe Premiere on your computer. I can’t praise enough how you literally have a DSLR sitting in your pocket that just happens to also be a smartphone. Apple may not have the objectively best *photos*, but you cannot dispute that not a single company is better in the video department.
Build quality. Personally, I actually like the aluminum frame. It dissipates heat far more efficiently than the titanium borders on the 16 pro and 15 pro. I’d take a phone that isn’t scorching hot while using your phone to do heavy tasks while you’re outside in the summer for a less durable but far better battery life and charging speeds any day.
Now the camera Plateau. Everyone talks about how the anodizing process on the 17 pro scratches easily where the plateau has a sharp 90 degree edge, but who cares? Maybe 1-5% of all phone users don’t use a case and that’s on them if they decide to go caseless.
Now on the subject of cases- the Torras silicon magsafe case that comes with a built
in vertical or horizontal stand makes it the best iphone case i’ve EVER used. And trust me, I’ve used them all. It’s around $55 but it’s so much better than any Apple case. The phone is grippy and never slips out of my
hand. Before I started using the Torras case, I had the cactus leather otterbox symmetry series. It’s a very durable case, but the magsafe is weak; it doesn’t have a built in stand, and it’s $70. I dropped it once from knee height and the cornered leather edge scuffed within a single day. Yes, silicon cases pickup the oil from your skin and over months it’ll leave stains, but all you need to do is use mild soap and the stains will come right off.
I’ve also tried every single screen protector you can think of, and Torras wins in that department again. The torras 9M screen protector is as smooth as butter and you legitimately cannot tell that there is a screen protector on there. There is a very low chance that you might get a slightly defective screen protector from Torras that’ll have a micro scratch on it, but amazon will refund you/replace the defective screen protector free of charge. I had an issue with the first 17 pro Torras screen protector but when they sent a replacement, its been flawless. When I had the 16 pro, I had a Torras screen protector on it and for the entire year that I’ve
had the 16 pro, there wasn’t a single scratch on the screen protector. Not even a single hairline scratch.
That’s pretty much my phone setup and I seriously will just stare at how gorgeous my 17 pro looks in its case and how clean the liquid glass OS is. I know a lot of people aren’t particularly fond of the orange color, but it’s really grown on me over time, and call me crazy but I love the color scheme of the cream colored Torras case over the orange 17 pro. It looks and feels gorgeous in the hand.
This is the perfect iphone. The A19 pro chip is the fastest smartphone chip out there right now. The 120hz amoled display looks absolutely stunning. The OS is so fast it blows my mind. The 5G UW cellular connection from verizon and the millimeter wave (mmWave) antenna gives me gigabit download speeds when i’m not connected to wifi. I can easily watch 4k videos on youtube or any streaming service anywhere I go without wifi, and I have unlimited, unthrottled data with my plan for $90 bucks a month.
I honestly rate this phone a perfect 10/10. There isn’t a single thing I would change on my 17 pro. These are just the main features that I love the most but I could go on and on about how perfect this device is. If you’re on the fence about upgrading, take my word for it. If you’re not into taking top of the line pictures/videos, the base 17 is the best bang for your buck iphone that Apple
has ever made.
I know a lot of people are shitting on the 17 pro and I was on the fence about how I felt about the 17 pro until I used it for a week and completely fell in love. If you guys want my exact same setup, get the Torras Q3 Silicone 360 Spin case in Dune Beige. There’s 9 colors in total so plenty of options to go with. For the screen protector, get the Torras unbreakable 9H+. Both are on Amazon. The screen protector is $27 and the case is on sale right now for $40, I paid $60 which is retail price.
That’s all I wanted to share with you guys. I’m genuinely not going to be upgrading unless Apple has a huge upgrade in the next 3 years. Otherwise, I’m 100% satisfied with my current setup. It’s genuinely perfect.