Apple·phone
iPhone 17 Pro
Based on 34 credible posts from Hacker News, Bluesky & YouTube. 47 filtered out as bot-like or off-topic.
Medium confidenceA solid sample; expect small shifts as more owners post. How we score
Scored September 27, 2026
We may earn a commission from this link. It never affects the score.
Owner reviews
Overall owner mood
Owners are split: 56% of 34 reviews are positive, 29% negative, and the rest mixed or neutral. Praise centers on camera and battery & charging. The most common complaint is software & ai (6 owners).
What owners like
Camera praised by 4 owners
“Delighted that re-setting-up the the product I bought in Japan in the UK and attaching it to a UK network has removed the PERVERT ALERT camera shutter sound required by Japanese law.”
Battery & charging praised by 4 owners
“It's still the best choice and balance of size, cost, battery life, and features.”
What owners complain about
Software & AI raised by 6 owners
“Photos are worse, low light is worse, macros are worse, the UI is laggy, buggy and crashes.”
Display raised by 4 owners
“Gboard hasn't been updated in 4 years and as a result the UI doesn't always display properly.”
Connectivity raised by 3 owners
“MLO was causing some issues for my non-WiFi 7 Apple devices - since WiFi credentials are sync'd in iCloud, I found that my laptop was joining the MLO network even though I never explicitly told it to - so I have disabled MLO.”
Camera raised by 2 owners
“Photos are worse, low light is worse, macros are worse, the UI is laggy, buggy and crashes.”
What owners talk about
- Camera4 praise · 2 complain
- Software & AI0 praise · 6 complain
- Display1 praise · 4 complain
- Battery & charging4 praise · 1 complain
- Price & value1 praise · 2 complain
- Connectivity0 praise · 3 complain
- Build & durability0 praise · 2 complain
- Controls & input0 praise · 2 complain
Built from the reviews themselves — every quote links to the owner who wrote it.
Full text of every credible post we scored. Bot-like and off-topic comments are hidden.
The maximum capacity of my iPhone 17 pro is still at 100% after 192 charges, that's after 1 year of usage. The extra battery life does reduce the amount of charges I have to do so that helps with the battery life. [...] Apple refused to replace just the battery on that one because of a small crack in the screen.
Few months ago i got the deep blue 17 pro, best color this year. ( in my opinion)
I had the 15 pro and decided to upgrade a few months ago once I saw the 18 colors and specs. I love the orange so I snagged it and got the dbrand please back case and love it.
Video review: More than three months have passed since the launch of Apple's iPhone 17 Pro, and I've been using it daily. It's still the best choice and balance of size, cost, battery life, and features.
Recently sold my 17 Pro that I had for 11 months, and went for the 17PM - love it, needed more battery life, and this does the trick. [17 Pro was good, but I wanted even more battery on long travel days] The 18Pro and PM will really be a S upgrade year. Glad I did!
[...] I ask because my wife has the 15T and the camera is better than my iPhone 17 Pro. [...] Plus hers support native split screen which I kinda need to multitask on the go. I'm so pissed at how bad Siri is compared to her android phone that I'm thinking about selling the iPhone to get a Huawei Pura Ultra.
iphone 17 pro: 0. none of the options you describe really disable LG and the glitches it introduced. [...] and semi daily when switching to it from lock screen the now playing layout will be garbled, either just the bottom card or the entire now playing screen is empty (at which point i usually restart the app). and of course janky layout shifts and adjustments when switching between screens like search, show, episode, transcript, etc (which additionally also all involve sliding motion despite reduce motion + prefer fade on, but i will let that slide) the list goes on
I'm not Shaq and I also have this complaint. Moved recently from an iPhone 13 mini which I could easily use with one hand to a iPhone 17 Pro which I can not use with one hand.
[...] I have an iPhone 17 Pro, and it's the first one that I've had (since the SE), that seems to have some "clunk" to it. [...]
I'm honestly suddenly having issues unlocking my iPhone 17 Pro in broad daylight. Feels like it doesn't work in the sun anymore. No hair, just eyeglasses.
Somehow, with 12GB of RAM, I can't get my iPhone 17 Pro to keep more than a few safari tabs open without having them refresh when I come back from an app or two, and it makes me want to throw my phone across the train (Where the internet often cuts out!). A lot of software has been squandering the massive hardware gains that have been made. [...]
Gboard hasn't been updated in 4 years and as a result the UI doesn't always display properly. [...] It doesn't fit into the OS keyboard target area properly (on my iPhone 17 Pro, at least). I've tried pretty much every reputable third-party keyboard app in the App Store. [...]
It’s incredibly sad to watch Google abandon the values that inspired so much trust and belief that there is a better way to build a company. [...] I was convinced to make the switch this year and the Apple iPhone 17 Pro + whatever iOS version is, by far the worst phone I’ve ever owned. Photos are worse, low light is worse, macros are worse, the UI is laggy, buggy and crashes. The keyboard and autosuggest is shockingly bad. [...]
why is the UI so slow / explorer slow / bluetooth slow this is a legitimate complaint, but I see latency absolutely everywhere. my iPhone 17 Pro dropped frames out of the box . [...] Like 15kHz audio to a boomer or purple to the color blind . [...] But Microsoft had a very high bar for engineering until about 10 years ago ( you may laugh, but remember they were writing OS's that last 40+ years) . [...]
[...] I know how bad the support for HDR is on computers (particularly Windows and cheap monitors), so I avoid consuming HDR content on them. But I just purchased a new iPhone 17 Pro, and I was very surprised at how these HDR videos on social media still look like shit on apps like Instagram. [...] After a few trials I had to just turn it off in the Camera app.
I get 1,700 Mbps on Ookla with my iPhone 17 Pro. [...] MLO was causing some issues for my non-WiFi 7 Apple devices - since WiFi credentials are sync'd in iCloud, I found that my laptop was joining the MLO network even though I never explicitly told it to - so I have disabled MLO.
I bought an iPhone 17 Pro about a month ago, expecting that there'd be a significant price hike with the 18 Pro, but only $100 increase, even when upgrading storage. I still don't think I regret it. The 17 Pro is an awesome phone
[...] Came 17 pro fell in love with the zoom and the Orange colour. [...]
i love my 17 pro i got in silver! I was going to upgrade to the 18 pro but i guess i would have to wait
[...] My battery was so horrible, charging 3 times a day. Now I get a day an a half on one charge. [...] Best part is everything is on usb c charging now.
I came from the pink 16 Plus to the orange 17 Pro, I love my phone. Especially the camera & battery. I should have got the PM, but next upgrade I will 😂
Issues that I’ve had with his phone have definitely been the battery after some of the updates and losing signal quite a bit at times
[...] And yes I use a case & screen protector on it. [...]
I just upgraded to the 17 pro max from a really abused iphone 12 felt good hearing it’s a good upgrade and don’t wait for the 18 and etc i’m happy with the phone so far and definitely plan on keeping it for a while
Just got one — love it. My honest takeaway? You should consider dedicating one pocket, just for that precious phone. ;-)
17PM gonna hold me down until the anniversary fold next year. Absolutely no need to upgrade this year. It’s a great phone.
I upgraded from my 13 Pro to an 17 Pro Max in Cosmic Orange (zero discoloration) still orange to this day and wow this iPhone reminds of the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max days Battery easily lasts me 2 days (I don't use my phone alot), A19 Pro and the Vapor Chamber makes the phone cool during multiple tasks.
My new IP17 pro is nearly two weeks old and i know i made the right decision to buy now. I went from IP14 Pro (I still like that one too) . [...] I intend keeping this phone a good long while
I came from a 13 Pro Max to an 17 Pro Max I have zero regrets with it in my case the 17 Pro Max is a Beast of a iPhone.
Delighted that re-setting-up the iPhone 17 Pro I bought in Japan in the UK and attaching it to a UK network has removed the PERVERT ALERT camera shutter sound required by Japanese law. 😄
I really hope Steve Lemay fixes liquid glAss in macOS and iOS 27. I've held off upgrading past Sequoia because of it, or wanting to buy M4/M5 Macs. I've tried and absolutely love the iPhone 17 Pro hardware, but the camera app is an unusable monstrosity.
Lemay has been at Apple for 27 years and has a track record that implies the future of Apple software under his leadership is extraordinarily bright. [...] And it is not like Apple's design rot started with liquid glass, this recent post shows that it is regression after regression after regression (which is also my impression after having used Macs since 2007): It is sad that Apple is still extremely good at hardware (I have the iPhone 17 Pro and the design is stellar), but software has become worse and worse over the years. [...]
[...] I've tried and returned the iPhone 17 Pro. Love the hardware (especially the camera), but iOS 26 is inefficient (for lack of a better term), and the new camera UI hides too many things.
But I have big hands, and I can't use my iphone 17 now without two hands. Are you a woman by any chance? I am currently typing this one handed on an iPhone 17 pro (not the pro max) and don’t consider my hands to be particularly large, for a man, but my wife has to two hand her android which is roughly the same size
The claims, and the evidence
Owners push back on 2 of 9 marketing claims.
What the brand claims
- A19 Pro chipFew owner reports
- Aluminum unibody design with vapor chamber coolingFew owner reports
- 48MP Pro Fusion camera system — all three rear cameras are 48MPMixedCamera: 4 of 6 positive
- Up to 8x optical-quality zoomMixedCamera: 4 of 6 positive
- 18MP Center Stage front cameraMixedCamera: 4 of 6 positive
- Ceramic Shield 2 front coverFew owner reports
- 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion up to 120HzOwners disagreeDisplay: 1 of 5 positive
- Up to 3000 nits peak outdoor brightnessOwners disagreeDisplay: 1 of 5 positive
- Up to 50% charge in about 20 minutes with a 40W adapterOwners agreeBattery & charging: 4 of 5 positive
What owners report
“The maximum capacity of my iPhone 17 pro is still at 100% after 192 charges, that's after 1 year of usage. The extra battery life does reduce the amount of charges I have to do so that helps with the battery life. [...] Apple refused to replace just the battery on that one because of a small crack in the screen.”
after 1 yearView on Hacker News“Few months ago i got the deep blue 17 pro, best color this year. ( in my opinion)”
after 3 monthsView on YouTube“Recently sold my 17 Pro that I had for 11 months, and went for the 17PM - love it, needed more battery life, and this does the trick. [17 Pro was good, but I wanted even more battery on long travel days] The 18Pro and PM will really be a S upgrade year. Glad I did!”
after 11 monthsView on YouTube“Somehow, with 12GB of RAM, I can't get my iPhone 17 Pro to keep more than a few safari tabs open without having them refresh when I come back from an app or two, and it makes me want to throw my phone across the train (Where the internet often cuts out!). A lot of software has been squandering the massive hardware gains that have been made. [...]”
Common iPhone 17 Pro problems
Issues at least two owners independently report.
- Software & AI6 mentionsView on Hacker News
“[...] I ask because my wife has the 15T and the camera is better than my iPhone 17 Pro. [...] Plus hers support native split screen which I kinda need to multitask on the go. I'm so pissed at how bad Siri is compared to her android phone that I'm thinking about selling the iPhone to get a Huawei Pura Ultra.”
- Display4 mentionsView on Hacker News
“iphone 17 pro: 0. none of the options you describe really disable LG and the glitches it introduced. [...] and semi daily when switching to it from lock screen the now playing layout will be garbled, either just the bottom card or the entire now playing screen is empty (at which point i usually restart the app). and of course janky layout shifts and adjustments when switching between screens like search, show, episode, transcript, etc (which additionally also all involve sliding motion despite reduce motion + prefer fade on, but i will let that slide) the list goes on”
- Connectivity3 mentionsView on YouTube
“Issues that I’ve had with his phone have definitely been the battery after some of the updates and losing signal quite a bit at times”
- Build & durability2 mentionsView on Hacker News
“It’s incredibly sad to watch Google abandon the values that inspired so much trust and belief that there is a better way to build a company. [...] I was convinced to make the switch this year and the Apple iPhone 17 Pro + whatever iOS version is, by far the worst phone I’ve ever owned. Photos are worse, low light is worse, macros are worse, the UI is laggy, buggy and crashes. The keyboard and autosuggest is shockingly bad. [...]”
- Controls & input2 mentionsView on Hacker News
“Gboard hasn't been updated in 4 years and as a result the UI doesn't always display properly. [...] It doesn't fit into the OS keyboard target area properly (on my iPhone 17 Pro, at least). I've tried pretty much every reputable third-party keyboard app in the App Store. [...]”
- Performance2 mentionsView on Hacker News
“It’s incredibly sad to watch Google abandon the values that inspired so much trust and belief that there is a better way to build a company. [...] I was convinced to make the switch this year and the Apple iPhone 17 Pro + whatever iOS version is, by far the worst phone I’ve ever owned. Photos are worse, low light is worse, macros are worse, the UI is laggy, buggy and crashes. The keyboard and autosuggest is shockingly bad. [...]”