Boring? Hardly. The iPhone 17 just blew us away with these five features

Apple today introduced the iPhone 17, the entry-level model in this year’s lineup. If you thought it was going to be a ho-hum upgrade compared to the iPhone 17 Pro and Air, you’re going to be surprised. The iPhone 17 is a solid upgrade with a brighter display, faster chip, and longer battery life. And at the same price as its predecessor, it’s a far better value than we expected.

Here are five new iPhone 17 features that make it stand out.

A brighter, smoother display

The iPhone 17 finally brings ProMotion to the non-Pro line, delivering a 120Hz refresh rate for smoother scrolling and gameplay. That also enables an always-on display, another feature exclusive to Pro for many years. But that’s not all, because the screen has also increased from 6.1 to 6.3 inches.

Apple says the new OLED Super Retina XDR panel can hit 3,000 nits of peak brightness, paired with an anti-reflective coating for better visibility outdoors. More than that, iPhone 17 introduces Ceramic Shield 2 with better scratch resistance.

In everyday use, that’s a massive upgrade over the iPhone 16 with several features that easily could have stayed exclusive to the Pro line.

The more efficient A19 chip

Under the hood, the iPhone 17 runs on Apple’s new A19 chip, a 6-core CPU with a GPU up to 2 times faster than the A15 GPU inside the iPhone 13. And if you’re coming from an iPhone 15, you’ll still get a phone that’s up to 40 percent faster.

The new chip also includes Apple’s N1, the first Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modem designed by Apple itself. The company says it improves overall wireless connectivity performance.

It’s not just about speed, though. Efficiency gains mean the iPhone 17 can last up to eight extra hours of video playback compared to last year’s model for a total of 30 hours, enough time to spend the day away from the charger.

And when you run out of battery, iPhone 17 can charge up to 50 percent in just 20 minutes with the right power adapter.

A new versatile selfie camera

Apple didn’t dwell on the camera specs for the base iPhone 17 model like the Pro models, but it did highlight some nice improvements coming to both the rear and front cameras. 

Now, both the wide and ultra-wide lenses have a 48MP sensor, just like the Pro models. This means users can capture high-resolution images with the ultra-wide lens. Apple has also unveiled a new feature that lets users record videos with both the front and rear cameras at the same time.

When it comes to the selfie camera, Apple has introduced a new square-shaped sensor that is capable of taking photos in any orientation without requiring the user to rotate the phone. The new sensor also has higher resolution, which means your selfies will look better.

Of course, the iPhone 17 also gets some well-known features, including the ability to take 2x zoom photos with optical quality, macro photography, and 4K60 fps Dolby Vision video capture.

Fresh colors

The iPhone 17 keeps the familiar flat-edged design and classic black and white color options, but introduces three new finishes: lavender, mist blue, and sage. It’s a refreshing palette that makes the phone look fresh despite having the same design from last year’s model.

As nice as these colors are you might want to protect the one you choose with one of the best iPhone 17 cases we’ve reviewed.

The same price as before

The best news is that despite having a dramatically better screen, the iPhone 17 will cost the same as before, starting at $799 in the US. And now the base model comes with 256GB of storage, twice last year’s 128GB. This year’s entry-level model now offers excellent value for your money.

Apple will open preorders for the iPhone 17 this Friday, September 12, with shipping set to begin a week later on September 19.