A Full Breakdown of the iPhone 17 Lineup: Features, Specs, and What’s New

Apple’s annual “Awe Dropping” event on September 9th delivered a fresh perspective on its flagship smartphone, with the company unveiling not three, but four new models in the iPhone 17 series.[1, 2] This expanded lineup signals a strategic shift, offering greater variety and more specialized features to cater to a wider range of users. The 2025 family includes the standard iPhone 17, the new iPhone 17 Air, and the professional-grade iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max.[1, 2] From a groundbreaking new design to powerful on-device AI capabilities, here is a complete look at all the new models and what makes them a pivotal release for Apple.

The 2025 iPhone Lineup at a Glance

The iPhone 17 series introduces a tiered pricing and feature structure designed to provide distinct value propositions for each model. The addition of the iPhone 17 Air is a notable move, positioning a super-thin device as a direct competitor to high-end Android phones like the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge.[3, 2] Meanwhile, the standard and Pro models receive significant upgrades that were previously exclusive to the Pro line, offering more value across the board.

iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Air: A New Standard of Performance

The standard iPhone 17 receives a significant overhaul, starting with a larger 6.3-inch screen that now features a 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate, a feature previously exclusive to Pro models.[6, 7] It also boasts a peak outdoor brightness of up to 3,000 nits, which is a major leap forward for screen visibility in direct sunlight.[6] Powering the iPhone 17 is the new A19 chip, providing a solid foundation for performance.[5] The most compelling value proposition lies in its pricing: while the starting price remains at $799, the base storage has been doubled to 256GB, providing consumers with twice the capacity for the same cost as the previous generation’s entry-level model.[9, 10, 11, 12]

The standout newcomer is the iPhone 17 Air, which is positioned as the thinnest iPhone ever, with a chassis measuring just 5.6mm thick.[13] This model is designed to compete directly with rival flagships and comes with a 6.5-inch Super Retina XDR display.[5] Despite its slender profile, the iPhone 17 Air is a powerhouse, equipped with the A19 Pro chip and 12GB of RAM, making it a compelling choice for users who prioritize both form and function.[5] This model also introduces a new, Apple-designed C1x cellular modem, which is reportedly two times faster and 30 percent more power-efficient than its predecessor.[10, 14]

iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max: Professional-Grade Power

The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max are built on a new architectural philosophy centered around sustained performance and thermal management. The unibody design is crafted from aerospace-grade 7000-series aluminum, replacing the previous titanium build for superior heat dissipation.[15] This is paired with an Apple-designed vapor chamber cooling system that allows the new A19 Pro chip to deliver “up to 40 percent better sustained performance” for demanding tasks like gaming and video editing.[6, 16] This combination ensures the phones can handle intense workloads without overheating, which was a common issue with earlier models.[16]

The camera system is a highlight of the Pro models. For the first time, all three rear cameras—Main, Ultra Wide, and Telephoto—are 48MP.[5, 7, 15] The iPhone 17 Pro Max takes it a step further with an all-new telephoto lens that features a tetraprism design and supports “up to 8x optical zoom,” the longest on any iPhone to date.[6] This new lens, combined with a larger sensor, provides sharper images in both bright and low-light conditions, with digital zoom capabilities extended to 40x.[6, 15]

Shared Upgrades Across the Lineup

Beyond the model-specific features, the entire iPhone 17 lineup shares key upgrades that enhance the user experience. All models now feature a new, higher-resolution front-facing camera with an 18MP or 24MP sensor and “Center Stage” technology, which uses AI to automatically adjust the frame for video calls and selfies.[17, 6] The entire series also benefits from the new N1 wireless chip, which supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, offering faster and more reliable connections, especially in crowded areas.[6, 13] All devices ship with iOS 26, which introduces Apple Intelligence, bringing powerful on-device AI capabilities for tasks like live translation and enhanced visual search.[18, 6]

The iPhone 17 series represents a significant leap forward in design, performance, and camera technology. By expanding its lineup and integrating advanced features across all models, Apple is once again setting a new standard for the smartphone industry.