iPhone 17 Pro Reviews: Two Key Advantages Over iPhone Air

3 min read 08.12.2025

Explore the new features of the iPhone 17 Pro with reviews highlighting its advantages over the iPhone Air.

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Review of iPhone 17 Pro: Two Key Advantages Over iPhone Air

Initial reviews of the new models iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max have already appeared in the media and on YouTube channels. They offer a closer look at the devices ahead of the official launch scheduled for Friday.

Reviews of iPhone 17 Pro: Two Key Advantages Over iPhone Air

The iPhone 17 Pro models feature one of the most significant design changes in recent years — they come with a seamless aluminum body and a full-size rear camera. New color options include Silver, Deep Blue, and Cosmic Orange.

The front camera has become an 18-megapixel square camera, making automatic rotation and the Center Stage feature easier to use. For the first time, a 48-megapixel telephoto camera with 4x and 8x optical zoom is also available.

The powerful A19 Pro chip delivers high performance thanks to neural accelerators, and the vapor chamber cooling system enhances heat dissipation. Innovations include a significant improvement in battery life, enhanced anti-reflective coating, Ceramic Shield 2, a brighter display, and Genlock support.

The two key advantages of the Pro models over the ultra-thin iPhone Air are approximately 20-40% longer battery life and a telephoto lens with 4x and 8x optical zoom. The devices also feature an ultra-wide lens for additional photography capabilities.

The iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max are already available for pre-order. Below are some of the first reviews.

Review from Tom's Guide

According to their tests, the battery life of the iPhone 17 Pro is 15 hours and 32 minutes, which is a significant improvement compared to the average of 14 hours and 7 minutes in the iPhone 16 Pro. The author notes stable battery performance throughout the day during active use — browsing the web, taking photos, watching videos, and gaming, leaving about 20% charge by the end of the evening.

Telephoto Lens Review from CNET

The author points out that the difference between 4x and 5x zoom is hardly noticeable unless compared side by side. Images from the telephoto lens on the 17 Pro Max have better brightness and detail compared to previous models, likely due to larger sensors. In good lighting conditions, 4x zoom photos can compete with the main camera, while in low light, 8x shots have more noise and less sharpness.

WIRED Review

The author praised the improved cooling: during the testing of the game Assassin's Creed Mirage, the temperature spread across the back, making the device less uncomfortable to hold. Even with graphics set to maximum, the frame rate remained stable, and lags were rare.

Engadget Review

It was noted that the A19 Pro neural accelerators significantly enhance the speed of AI task execution. The authors happily noted that the speed of AI image and emoji generation has greatly increased, reducing wait times.

Overall, the reviews highlight improvements in performance, battery life, and new features that make the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max a substantial upgrade for users.