Apple iPhone 17 Review – The Hidden Gem

After my detailed experience with the iPhone Air, which brought an impressively slim form factor from Apple, I’m shifting my attention to the standard model this time. This is the one that sets the foundation for the entire lineup. Here’s my iPhone 17 review, and we’re about to find out if the base model still packs the wow factor. Let’s go!

Unboxing iPhone 17

Unlike the iPhone Air, the iPhone 17 still comes with a physical SIM card slot, meaning it’s not an eSIM-only device. Because of that, Apple has included the SIM ejector tool in the box. Everything else remains simple and minimalistic, just as you’d expect. Inside the packaging, you’ll find:

• USB-C to USB-C cable
• Documentations
• SIM ejector
• The iPhone 17 itself

The variant that I have here is the Lavender color. There’s also option of Sage, Mist Blue, White and Black.

Note, the protective case that you may see throughout this review is a separate purchase and is an official Apple case.

iPhone 17 Specifications

CPU	Apple A19 3nm TSMC 2 x performance cores up to 4.05GHz 4 x efficiency cores up to 2.42GHz 16-cores Neural Engine
GPU	5-cores GPU with Neural Accelerators
RAM	8GB
Display	6.3″ 2622 x 1206 (460ppi) LTPO Super Retina XDR 120Hz OLED with Dolby Vision, 19.5:9 ratio 120Hz ProMotion adaptive refresh rate HDR10, True Tone, P3 Wide Color, 1000nits typical, 1600nits HDR, 3000 nits max brightness, 1nit minimum on AOD Dynamic Island Always On Display (AOD) 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic and anti-reflective coating Ceramic Shield 2
Storage	256GB, 512GB NVMe
Audio	Stereo Speakers 2x Microphones
Camera	48MP Fusion Main 48MP (Fusion), f/1.6, 26mm, 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, dual pixel PDAF, sensor-shift OIS Also enables 12MP optical-quality 2x Telephoto: 52mm, f/1.6 aperture, sensor-shift OIS 48MP Fusion Ultra Wide 48MP (Fusion), 120º ultra wide, f/2.2, 13mm, 1/2.55″, 0.7µm, PDAF, sensor-shift OIS 2x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out; 4x optical zoom range Digital zoom up to 10x Sapphire crystal lens cover Stills True Tone Flash, Photonic Engine, Deep Fusion, Smart HDR 5, Focus & Depth Control Portraits, Portrait Lighting with 6 effects, Night Mode, 63MP Panorama, Spatial Photos, Burst Mode, 48MP Macro Video Up to 4K60 Dolby Vision Up to 1080p60 Dolby Vision 720p30 Dolby Vision 4K30 Cinematic Dolby Vision 2.8K60 Dolby Vision Action mode Up to 1080p240 Slow-mo 4K30 Dolby Vision Dual Capture Time-lapse with stabilization and Night Mode 4K60 Dolby Vision QuickTake Sensor-shift OIS for video 6x digital zoom Audio zoom True Tone flash 8MP still image while capturing 4K video Spatial Audio and stereo recording Wind noise reduction Audio Mix
Selfie Camera	18MP Center Stage Camera, f/1.9, 20mm (ultrawide), PDAF Up to 4K60 Dolby Vision video recording Up to 1080p60 Dolby Vision video recording 4K30 Cinematic Dolby Vision 1080p120 Slow-mo video 4K60 Dolby Vision QuickTake video Center Stage for photos and videos Ultra-stabilized videos Dual capture Photonic Engine Deep Fusion Smart HDR 5 Portraits with Focus and Depth Control Animoji and Memoji Night Mode Lens Correction Burst Mode Time-lapse video Spatial audio and stereo recording Wind noise reduction Audio Mix
Connectivity	SIM card + eSIM Model A3520 FDD‑5G NR (Bands n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n20, n25, n26, n28, n30, n66, n70, n75) TDD‑5G NR (Bands n38, n40, n41, n48, n53, n77, n78, n79) FDD‑LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 30, 32, 66) TDD‑LTE (Bands 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 48, 53) UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz) GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) 5G (sub-6 GHz) with 4×4 MIMO Gigabit LTE with 4×4 MIMO Apple N1 wireless networking chip Wi‑Fi 7 (802.11be) with 2×2 MIMO Bluetooth 6 Thread networking technology Apple second-generation Ultra Wideband chip NFC with reader mode Express Cards with power reserve GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, BeiDou and NavIC iBeacon micro-location Type-C USB 2.0 (up to 480 Mbps) with DisplayPort support
Software	iOS 26.0.1
Battery	Li-ion 3692mAh, non-removable PD3.2 25W wireless MagSafe/Qi2 4.5W reverse wired
Dimensions	149.6 x 71.5 x 7.95mm
Weight	177g
Ingress Protection	IP68 (maximum depth of 6 metres up to 30 minutes) under IEC standard 60529

iPhone 17 Performance

Under the hood, the iPhone 17 runs on Apple’s A19 chip, built on a 3nm architecture. It features a 6-core CPU made up of 2 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, along with a 5-core GPU and Neural Accelerators that enhance AI-driven tasks. On paper, it looks quite similar to the iPhone Air, but there are a few key differences. The iPhone 17 has slightly lower clock speeds and comes with 8GB of RAM instead of 12GB. These differences place it at the lower end of the lineup, but as always, we’ll let the numbers from our iPhone 17 review benchmarks tell the real story.

Like I mentioned earlier, don’t be too quick to judge based on paper specs. Our primary benchmark on Antutu V10 shows that the iPhone 17 actually packs quite a punch. Despite sharing similar hardware with the iPhone Air, the iPhone 17 manages to utilize its resources far more efficiently. How much better, you ask? Let’s get into deeper results and see what our iPhone 17 review benchmarks reveal.

Here’s how the key contenders stack up in our tests. The iPhone 17’s CPU takes the lead over the iPhone Air but falls slightly behind last year’s iPhone 16 Pro Max, still an impressive feat for a base model. What really stands out, though, is the GPU performance, which outclassed both devices with a much higher score. Memory bandwidth didn’t fare as well, losing to the slimmer iPhone Air, but keep in mind that the iPhone 17 only packs two-thirds of the RAM. As for the UX results, they remain relatively consistent across all models, showing that Apple’s optimization is still top-notch. That’s one strong showing in our iPhone 17 review so far.

Let’s take a closer look at the CPU performance. When broken down, both the single-core and multi-core results of the iPhone 17 and the iPhone Air are almost identical. Both devices also managed to outperform the former heavyweight, the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Just to recap, as mentioned in my iPhone Air review, I ran the iPhone 16 Pro Max benchmarks using the latest iOS version available at that time, and those are the figures carried forward here. Some might argue that CPU improvements are minimal, but the fact that a base model stands this strong against last year’s Pro models shows that the Apple A19 chip is impressively capable.

So, how does it all perform when everything comes together? The 3DMark Stability Test, using the 20-minute Wild Life Stress Test, revealed some interesting results. The iPhone 17 achieved an impressive 97.4% stability score, proving that Apple’s optimization efforts really pay off. What makes this even more fascinating is that the slimmer iPhone Air still managed to take the crown with an even higher stability rating, which feels a bit contradictory and almost unbelievable. Regardless, any score above 90% in our stability test deserves a round of applause, and the iPhone 17 certainly earns that in this iPhone 17 review.

Earlier, we saw how the GPU outperformed both of its rivals by a wide margin in our Antutu test, and those results were significant enough to raise my eyebrows. That performance edge is now even more evident here. From ray-traced gaming in Solar Bay to non-ray-traced tests in Steel Nomad, and Vulkan API runs in Wild Life Extreme, the iPhone 17 delivered exceptional results across the board. It’s clear that Apple is turning up the heat in the mobile gaming scene, and this moment marks a major highlight in our iPhone 17 review. My only wish is that the iPhone 17 came with 12GB of RAM instead of 8GB that would have easily turned my 99 into a perfect 100.

Finally, let’s look at the GPUScore Sacred Path results, which further strengthen my call for more RAM. Sacred Path runs two key tests: the Official test, which benchmarks at 2540 x 1440 for consistency, and the Native test, which renders at the device’s actual display resolution. The Official test involves live frame resampling to match the benchmark resolution, and that process demands extra resources, including RAM. If the iPhone 17 had 12GB of memory, I’m confident it would have outperformed the iPhone Air in this scenario. I’ll be able to prove this in my upcoming iPhone 17 Pro Max review, though that comparison might not be entirely fair given how much more powerful that device will be. As it stands, the iPhone 17 comes incredibly close to perfection, falling just a little short.

iPhone 17 Battery Test

Now comes my favorite part, the battery test. Since the PCMark Battery Test isn’t available on iOS for obvious reasons, I’ve always approached iPhone battery testing a little differently. Rather than relying on synthetic benchmarks, I focus on real-world usage instead. As I mentioned in my iPhone Air review, your experience may differ from mine, but in my case, I rely on my smartphone quite a lot but most of my time is spent on my laptop. Due to this, the iPhone Air’s battery life was more than enough for my needs, so naturally, I expected the iPhone 17 to last about 1.5 times longer. That was the KPI I set before starting this iPhone 17 review. So, how did it actually perform?

Not only did it deliver, the iPhone 17 absolutely nailed it in our battery test. I started with a full charge at 100% by noon on 16th October 2025 and unplugged it to begin my official test. It was a typical day filled with WhatsApp messages, social media scrolling, Waze navigation, and music playback. Twelve hours later, by midnight, the battery had only dropped by half. Given my bad sleeping habits, I left it idle at 2am and resumed my day at 9am with the same routine. By around 5pm, I finally hit the red zone at 20%, and by 9pm the battery was nearly drained at 3%. In total, I clocked an impressive 33 hours of battery life, which is well beyond what I normally need in a day. That’s one serious win for the iPhone 17 review battery segment.

To push things further, I ran another test on a busier day than usual, one that focused heavily on photography. The camera alone accounted for about 12% of total battery usage for the day, which says a lot about how much I used it. Even with my heaviest usage, the iPhone 17 made it home with nearly 40% of battery remaining. Considering that Apple didn’t release an iPhone 17 Plus this year, it makes me wonder just how much better that variant could have performed if it existed. In the context of battery life, the iPhone 17 truly impresses, and that is a major win in our iPhone 17 review.

iPhone 17 Camera

Apple clearly has strong faith in its Fusion camera system, and that confidence shows with the inclusion of not one but two Fusion cameras even on the base iPhone 17. There are absolutely no complaints from me here, because I genuinely find the Fusion setup to be more than capable for most photography sessions.

The iPhone 17 features a 48MP Fusion main camera that combines two optical-quality sensors into one powerful system. Using a quad-pixel design, it captures incredible detail and balances light beautifully, delivering sharp, vibrant results even in low light. The camera defaults to 24MP shots by merging data from a 48MP and a 12MP frame, ensuring excellent clarity, impressive dynamic range, and manageable file sizes that are ideal for everyday use.

When you need maximum detail, switching to the full 48MP mode lets you take ultra-crisp photos with just a tap of the HEIF MAX option in settings. The 2x Telephoto mode uses the center 12MP of the sensor to provide true optical-quality zoom with Deep Fusion and Dolby Vision support.

Once again, I have to say it, the Camera Control button just doesn’t win me over. It adds little to no practical benefit when using the iPhone 17 or its camera. Sorry, Apple, I just hope this one goes away, or it finds some other usage scenarios instead like the Action button evolved into. In the meantime, enjoy viewing the pictures that I took with the iPhone 17.

The photos taken above are mix of Portraits, Landscapes, Telephotos, Night Photography and all possible options. All images are simply point and shoot with no edits applied. Images were shot in HEIF and converted to webP for cross browser compatibility. The lossless converted images can be viewed by clicking on the respective picture.

One of the most innovative features Apple has introduced this year is Center Stage for the selfie camera. Thanks to its square sensor, the iPhone 17 can capture portrait or landscape selfies regardless of whether you hold it vertically or horizontally. The level of convenience this brings is truly impressive, especially in moments when you cannot adjust your grip easily but still want to switch orientation. It is a small yet meaningful upgrade that makes everyday use feel smoother, and it definitely earns a highlight here.

The Good

There is honestly a lot to love about the iPhone 17. This year marks the first time that the base model brings several Pro-level features, and a few of them really hit all the right notes.

At the top of the list is the display. The iPhone 17 now features a ProMotion 120Hz Super Retina XDR OLED panel, a first for the non-Pro series. It even supports a peak brightness of 3000 nits and a 1-nit Always-On Display, matching the same high-end specs found on both the iPhone Pro lineup and the slimmer iPhone Air. The screen size has also been bumped up from 6.1 inches to 6.3 inches, offering a more immersive viewing experience. To complete the package, Apple added Ceramic Shield 2, its latest and toughest glass protection yet. It is safe to say the display easily steals the spotlight in our iPhone 17 review here.

Up next, the selfie camera definitely deserves the spotlight. Apple’s biggest innovation this year has to be the Center Stage selfie camera, which finally puts an end to the long-standing question of whether to take selfies in portrait or landscape mode. Like magic, it simply fixes that issue without you having to think twice. What makes me genuinely happy is that this clever feature was not reserved for the Pro models but is also included in the iPhone 17. I have to give Apple full credit for bringing such a useful upgrade to the base model, and it easily earns serious merits in our iPhone 17 review.

Now, let’s talk about the rear camera. After getting used to having just a single lens on the iPhone Air, switching to the iPhone 17 completely changed the experience for me. With two 48MP Fusion cameras on board, the iPhone 17 offers a huge advantage, covering just about every shooting scenario you can think of. Portraits, telephoto shots, and even macros are handled with ease. As you saw earlier, capturing great photos takes little more than a simple point and shoot, proving how capable the camera system is. It also brings in dual capture that is rather a new feature on the iPhone series, though I don’t really find it very much useful in my video capturing scenarios; at least until they cant be captured and stitched separately at post production.

The iPhone 17 also brings a bunch of networking goodness that are not exclusive to the Pro model like Bluetooth 6, Wi-Fi 7 and Find My via satellite. This is all achieved using the Apple N1 wireless networking chip alongside their second-generation Ultra Wideband chip.

Finally, it is great to see Apple increasing the minimum storage to 256GB, officially retiring the 128GB option from future iPhones. What makes this even better is that the iPhone 17 retains the same price point as the 256GB variant of the previous iPhone 16. This upgrade adds even more value to the base model and makes the iPhone 17 a very tempting choice really.

The Bad

Let’s be honest. We have never gone easy on our iPhone reviews, and the iPhone 16 definitely took some heat from us. This time, however, it feels like Apple has been listening because most of those issues have been addressed. The display, which was a major letdown before, is now significantly improved. The limited storage option that we previously criticized has also been fixed. So, what else is left to complain about?

Since Apple has already adopted Type-C USB across its lineup, it is disappointing to see the iPhone 17 still stuck with USB 2.0 that tops out at just 480Mbps. This feels outdated, especially when even more affordable devices have moved past that limitation. It really makes you wonder why Apple continues to hold back on USB capabilities. The strange part is that it is clearly not a hardware limitation, as both the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max come with USB 3 support capable of up to 10Gbps transfer speeds. On the bright side, the iPhone 17 at least supports DisplayPort output, but honestly, that is not something to get too excited about for what it lacks still.

Second, I did not plan to touch on this, but it deserves attention. The Apple Intelligence integration on the iPhone 17 still feels underwhelming. While I appreciate that it is not constantly pushed into every part of the experience like some Android AI features, the overall execution feels half-baked. I had high expectations here, as mentioned in my previous iPhone reviews, because if any company had the vision to pioneer artificial intelligence in smartphones, it was Apple. Seeing how far behind Siri now feels makes it clear that innovation in this area has slowed down.

At this stage, I expected Siri to interact with me conversationally, almost like how I use chatGPT, only through voice. Unfortunately, that is far from reality. For instance, I asked Siri, “Hey Siri, can you remember a separate in-game timezone and automatically calculate reminders for it?” and guess what I got? I’ll let the image prove it.

That sums it up perfectly. For a device that once led the AI vision years ahead of others, the result is disappointing and it absolutely gets its spot here. This is not even a complicated task that I expect from an intelligent smartphone, considering where AI stands already today.

Another thing I have to bring up, even if it makes me sound like a broken record, is the Liquid Glass interface. After using it for over a month, I can confidently say it just does not click with me. I dislike how Safari now requires extra steps just to switch tabs, and the glossy, glass-like silhouette with shiny corners feels more distracting than modern. Everything about the Liquid Glass experience feels off, and there is no option to revert to the flat design we once had. At first, I thought it was just me being picky, but after asking around, I could not find a single friend who genuinely enjoys it. The entire interface feels like change for the sake of change, and to me, it screams early 2010s design all over again. Apple really needs to refine this in future updates.

Oh and finally, if they really had to omit one variant, they should at least have kept the Plus variant and made that into the base model with larger display and battery. That’s just my personal opinion of course.

iPhone 17 Verdict

With all the attention that the iPhone Air has been getting and the buzz surrounding the bold new orange color of the iPhone 17 Pro series, the iPhone 17 seems to be quietly sitting in the background. That is a shame because it truly deserves more recognition. If you are in the market for a new iPhone, the iPhone 17 might just be the smartest buy right now. It strikes the perfect balance between performance, features, battery life and even price. The price starting at RM3,999 for 256GB and RM4,999 for the 512GB actually hits the perfect spot. Save the trouble of getting the iPhone Air and get the iPhone 17 512GB variant instead. The extra bucks that you will save? Get the new Apple Watch Series 11 together and elevate your ecosystem experience. Thank me later.

The iPhone 17 carries all the features that you will need in a daily driver. You’re not going to shoot in ProRaw or ProRes, so you dont need the Pro Max. You’re not ready to carry an extra power bank, so you don’t need the iPhone Air. I can guarantee you one thing, the iPhone 17 is definitely the hidden gem nobody is noticing.