iPhone 17 Pro vs iPhone 16 Pro - What is Improved?

This content is not created to promote affiliate products or paid placements. Any monetization, when present, does not influence what we cover or how we review products.

The iPhone 17 lineup was just released, and there are a lot of questions about what was actually improved.

The 2025 models come with some big updates, and the iPhone 17 Pro especially offers some big upgrades.

Let’s take a look:

The display is brighter – 3,000 nits compared to 2,000 nits in iPhone 16 Pro
More powerful chipset
Vapor chamber cooling
48MP Telephoto camera – compared to the 12MP sensor in iPhone 16 Pro
Better raw video formats – the iPhone 17 Pro offers ProRes RAW, Apple Log 2, ACES, and Genlock support
Bluetooth 6 – compared to Bluetooth 5.3 found in last year’s model
Bigger battery with 40W fast charging
Bigger storage – the new iPhone 17 Pro starts from 256GB Storage, compared to 128GB in the previous model
Comes in new colors (and Cosmic Orange is really eye-catching)

Here is a full specs comparison between this year’s iPhone Pro model and the previous generation from 2024:

iPhone 17 Pro	iPhone 16 Pro
Size & Weight Height: 150.0 mm (5.91 in) Width: 71.9 mm (2.83 in) Depth: 8.75 mm (0.34 in) Weight: 206 g (7.27 oz)	Size & Weight Height: 149.6 mm (5.89 in) Width: 71.5 mm (2.81 in) Depth: 8.25 mm (0.32 in) Weight: 199 g (7.03 oz)
Display 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR OLED (all-screen) 2622 × 1206 resolution, 460 ppi Always-On display ProMotion up to 120Hz 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio Brightness: 1000 nits (typical), 1600 nits (HDR), 3000 nits (outdoor), 1 nit minimum Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating Anti-reflective coating	Display 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR OLED (all-screen) 2622 × 1206 resolution, 460 ppi Always-On display ProMotion up to 120Hz 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio Brightness: 1000 nits (typical), 1600 nits (HDR), 2000 nits (outdoor), 1 nit minimum Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating Anti-reflective coating
Chip A19 Pro chip 6-core CPU (2 performance + 4 efficiency) 6-core GPU with Neural Accelerators 16-core Neural Engine Vapor chamber cooling Capacity 256GB, 512GB, 1TB	Chip A18 Pro chip 6-core CPU (2 performance + 4 efficiency) 6-core GPU 16-core Neural Engine Capacity 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB
Cameras Rear (Pro Fusion System): 48MP Main (ƒ/1.78, 24 mm, 2nd-gen OIS, 24MP & 48MP photos) 48MP Ultra Wide (ƒ/2.2, 13 mm, 120° FoV, Hybrid Focus Pixels) 48MP Telephoto (ƒ/2.8, 100 mm, 4x optical, tetraprism, 3D OIS) 16x optical zoom range, digital zoom up to 40x Adaptive True Tone flash, Photonic Engine, Deep Fusion, Smart HDR 5 ProRAW, Spatial photos, 48MP macro photography Video: 4K Dolby Vision up to 120 fps (Fusion Main) ProRes up to 4K at 120 fps (external recording) ProRes RAW, Apple Log 2, ACES, Genlock support Dual Capture up to 4K Dolby Vision at 30 fps Front (Center Stage): 18MP (ƒ/1.9, autofocus) 4K Dolby Vision up to 60 fps ProRAW, Smart HDR 5, Portrait mode, Night mode	Cameras Rear: 48MP Main (ƒ/1.78, 26 mm, sensor-shift OIS, 24MP & 48MP photos) 48MP Ultra Wide (ƒ/2.2, 13 mm, 120° FoV, autofocus) 12MP 3× Telephoto (ƒ/2.8, 120 mm, 3D sensor-shift OIS) 0.5×, 1×, 2×, 3× optical zoom options, digital zoom up to 25× Photonic Engine, Deep Fusion, Smart HDR 5 Video: 4K Dolby Vision up to 120 fps (Main), 60 fps (Ultra Wide, Telephoto) ProRes up to 4K at 120 fps (with external storage) Apple Log, ACES support Front (TrueDepth with Center Stage): 18MP, ƒ/1.9, autofocus 4K Dolby Vision up to 60 fps Smart HDR 5, Night mode, Portrait mode
Safety Emergency SOS via satellite Crash Detection Roadside Assistance via satellite Messages via satellite Find My via satellite	Safety Emergency SOS via satellite Crash Detection Roadside Assistance via satellite Messages via satellite Find My via satellite
Cellular & Wireless 5G (sub-6 GHz & mmWave) with 4×4 MIMO Gigabit LTE with 4×4 MIMO Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) with 2×2 MIMO Bluetooth 6 NFC with reader mode Ultra Wideband (2nd gen) Thread networking Precision dual-frequency GPS (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, BeiDou, NavIC) Apple N1 wireless networking chip	Cellular & Wireless 5G (sub-6 GHz & mmWave) Gigabit LTE with 4×4 MIMO Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) with 2×2 MIMO Bluetooth 5.3 NFC with reader mode Ultra Wideband chip (2nd gen) Thread networking Precision dual-frequency GPS (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, BeiDou, NavIC)
Power & Battery Video playback: Up to 33 hours Fast charge: 50% in ~20 min with 40W USB-C adapter 50% in ~30 min with 30W MagSafe Charger MagSafe wireless charging up to 25W Qi2 wireless charging up to 25W	Power & Battery Video playback: Up to 27 hours Fast charge: Up to 50% in 30 min with 20W adapter (USB-C) MagSafe wireless charging up to 22W Qi2 wireless charging up to 15W
Design & Durability Colors: Silver, Cosmic Orange, Deep Blue Aluminum unibody design Ceramic Shield 2 front Ceramic Shield back IP68 Splash, Water & Dust Resistance (up to 6m for 30 min, IEC 60529)	Design & Durability Colors: Black Titanium, White Titanium, Natural Titanium, Desert Titanium Titanium design Ceramic Shield 2 front Ceramic Shield back IP68 Splash, Water & Dust Resistance (up to 6m for 30 min, IEC 60529)

What do you think about the iPhone 17 Pro? Share with us in the comments below!

And don’t forget to check out these related articles:

Our Editorial Process
This article was created by the TrendsPlace editorial team.
We only use AI tools to assist with drafting and efficiency, while all content is researched, reviewed, edited, and finalized by humans to ensure accuracy and quality.