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Dynamic Island as a product feature - chef's kiss. Never has a dead area on your screen been marketed so perfectly.
Apple always been the best at selling “it’s a feature, not a bug”. Remember iPod shuffle ?
What is it? It's the fourth listed feature, and even the 'learn more' page doesn't say wtf 'dynamic island' means.

It's a bizarre page really, the entire top section is:

> 6.5" / 6.9"

[Makes sense so far.]

> Super Retina XDR display1

They're proud of the resolution, whatever it actually is, though only know that because they've used 'retina' for years, and Super & XDR sound high tech and better.

> ProMotion technology

Maybe something to do with motion blur of videos?

> Always-On display

That sounds... Undesirable? But presumably it must just mean it's faster to wake up or something?

> Dynamic Island

Absolutely no idea.

Please could the apple announcements be merged together this year. I'd argue they are of little interest to a hacker spirit but they are certainly promotional... If they are going to be tolerated could they at least be tolerated in one place.
Aren't most tech product announcements promotional?
> I'd argue they are of little interest to a hacker spirit but they are certainly promotional

I mean, kind of? It's good to know what you might be building against going forward if you're a mobile app dev.

It's not irrelevant.

“Could have been a memo”
Esim vs Physical Sim Card Analysis: By using Apple’s cellular specifications page (https://www.apple.com/iphone/cellular/) to identify model numbers and supported bands, and then checking SIM card options in the comparison tool (https://www.apple.com/iphone/compare/) for each iPhone 17 model number within a single regional Apple store, you can see which versions still include physical SIM trays and which bands they support. Pulling this information into ChatGPT makes the conclusion clear: unlike the iPhone 16, where the Canadian model number was the best choice for users who needed a SIM tray and broad U.S. band support (covering everything except mmWave), the iPhone 17 lineup in Canada is now eSIM-only. That means Canada no longer offers a model number with both a SIM tray and full U.S. carrier compatibility. The only remaining options with physical SIM trays are the non-air European and Chinese model numbers. These versions do support Verizon fully (aside from mmWave which is mostly useless anyways), but they omit key bands needed for AT&T and T-Mobile in the U.S. Becoming harder and harder to travel as China is adding esim, but will only allow phones actually purchased in China on a non tourist plan and any Chinese esim will not work the moment you leave the country while a physical sim will.
Hilarious how they refuse to list memory (RAM) capacity of their phones. Probably because they are way behind other phones in that regard.

Which is weird, since they focus so much on on-device AI. I guess the very very slightly lower profit margin from including more RAM is incredible unpalatable.

It’s because the OS needs far less ram than their competitors to function, and RAM uses electricity and costs money so it makes perfect sense to pack less of it - but they also know showing a lower number than their competitors would be interpreted as a failing by those that don’t understand this.
Considering how efficiently they utilize that "low on paper" RAM, I'm not complaining.

All the Apple iDevices I have contains comical amounts of RAM compared to other devices, yet they still can handle tons of tasks despite their age. While I'm pretty picky about RAM in my computers, I can't care less as long as my other iDevices works as advertised.

Always seemed to me like RAM value is much more irrelevant on phones since every app is sandboxed and uses APIs for background operations.

RAM is also always consuming battery, so there are reasons to minimize it. I wonder what the RAM usage efficiency is between iOS and Android in real-world, installed-app-usage usecases.

The presentation specifically called out the iPhone 17 Pro having more memory...but did not elaborate, and the number is not in the tech specs.

It's rumored the Pro has 12GB RAM vs. 8GB for the other models.

Or the way around: they pack a lot of RAM, so everything is cached and feels faster.
It's because since the invention of the iPhone ram has never been a concern of the customer. I've never considered it, or felt the need to.
Feels like the air is the “consumer” pro iphone and the actual pro really is a proper product aimed at pros, just took them a while to feel out these lanes.

The real question is next year if they release the rumoured folding iphone if they’ll still keep all 4 of these existing categories…

I was thinking about what all is new in this version, or in fact in any other versions after iPhone 10/X (I don't know)? They all look same to me.

I personally think that Apple and other smartphone companies need to do a minor and major version release like you do with software. Every 3-5 year, do a major release. This way you create significant hardware/software features every major version, a hype that is well backed up, and at the same time keeps you working and improving and still making money out of it through minor versions. Plus, you also don't have to rely on planned obsolescence as people are gravitated towards the major version release naturally.

>I personally think that Apple and other smartphone companies need to do a minor and major version release like you do with software. Every 3-5 year, do a major release.

That's basically what they've been doing. That's why people whine when they aren't blown away every year now.

You don't have to buy a new phone every year, and indeed most people don't. The changes are incremental, but if you buy a new phone after 3+ years, the new one will probably noticeably better enough compared to your old to make a difference to you.

The late 2000s - early 2010s were exciting cause there was a lot of room for improvement. It's not so easy now and that's fine, because if you buy a new iPhone, it'll last longer and be overall better than what you got a decade+ ago.

Related ongoing threads:

iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45186044 - Sept 2025 (42 comments)

Apple Debuts iPhone 17 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45186023 - Sept 2025 (104 comments)

iPhone Air - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45186015 - Sept 2025 (431 comments)

The color choices seem… odd. I can't get a lavender/green/blue Pro Max? The premium option has the least color options, 1/3 of which is... garish?
Apple used to reserve the "mature" muted colors for the Pro, and the colorful ones for the base model. Not only did they switch the schemes this year, the Pros also have one less option which suggests... something.
It's the same way with cars. The fancier you go, the less options for "fun" apparently "poor people" colors.
They offer a blue Pro Max.
In past years, part of the new iPhone's hardware was usually coupled with a huge new software feature that was made possible by the new hardware (think of FaceTime for example that came with the front facing camera, or Dynamic Island that came from the full display).

Was there anything like that this year? It felt like the iPhone 17 Pro talk lasted 2 mins, and they spend 99% of their time just talking about the cameras. Although I only started watching parts of the event 52 mins in.

I understand that hardware has mainly reached a steady state, but have we also hit peaks of creativity from the software side, given that we have these amazing machines in our pockets?

Of course, no mention of anything AI, so Apple is either truly restraining themselves until they have something amazing, or they continue to slide into irrelevance and are missing the whole AI shift.

There was only one such feature that caught my eye.

The new front camera sensor is now square. If you have more people in your selfie, the software will detect this and pick a wider aspect ratio for the cropped shot.

Not sure if Android has already been doing this, but this seems like a clever way to use the new hardware.

38:27 in the Apple Event video (https://www.apple.com/apple-events/).

Have high expectations of their own modem in the new iPhone. Hopefully it makes a difference in terms of connection quality and improves battery life, especially with the cellular coverage in the US.
My friends Google phone was getting service when I wasn’t. We both have the same carrier. What gives?
It's surprising to see the iPhone 17 Pro Max specs compared to those of the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Comparisons show the S25 Ultra leading in several areas, especially the cameras. The difference in megapixel count is significant.

For years, Apple's flagships were considered superior, but Samsung appears to be pushing boundaries with the S25 Ultra.

Is Apple truly behind, or does their optimization and ecosystem integration make up for it?

Their cameras have been terrible for a long time (comparatively speaking). I switched from a Pixel 6a to an iPhone 16 and was shocked at how bad my pictures are now. I get the feeling that iPhone users just don't know any better because they've always had an iPhone.
Amateur photography overemphasizes megapixel count. While a 200MP phone sensor is impressive, the iPhone’s larger pixels and faster sensor deliver superior HDR, low-light, and action shots. However, I find iOS image processing poor; despite Samsung’s oversaturated photos, their processing is better. The proof of the sensor quality is in the video though: never seen video from an Android phone match that of a comparable iPhone.
No point in buying a Pro now. Will get a 17 to replace my 15 Pro, give that to my eldest kid and be done with it.
The Pro has a much larger sensor size for the camera than the previous generation Pro, and also now 8x optical zoom instead of 5x. Big upgrades on the camera front may be a reason for people to stick with the higher price.
Not looking promising on upgrade

14 ProMax -> 17 Pro (roughly same size) have remarkably few tangible diffs.

Stronger CPU/GPU -> wouldn't notice. It's not a computing device for me

3x to 8x optical zoom and nice camera yeah would notice

Apple math - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NiNYOZZLOyg
My first thought to this was, "Oh, that was today?"

Is the iPhone 17 supposed to be the bottom-of-the-line now, or the 16e?

Apple has been selling multiple generations for many years now. So 16e looks like the cheapest iPhone for this upcoming year.
Another rung in the Apple price ladder - https://medium.com/entrepreneur-s-handbook/if-you-cant-buy-i...
Not really? They're similarly priced as the outgoing models.
They’ve been doing this for, what, 14 years now since Jobs passed. I fail to see anything substantially new since then. They’re quite literally milking the cash cow at this point. They became the company the old Apple fans despised.
> I fail to see anything substantially new since then.

I'm inclined to see Apple's M series chips as pretty substantial.

I don't know that phones need massive innovation right now.

They're incrementally better each cycle. I don't want something radical.

For me, and a lot of people, we get a new phone every 2 years and hand the old one down to family. I've got 3 kids and 4 iPhones in service that get handed down every 2 years. Equivalent in the UK of about $80 a month to run 4 iphones including phone service contracts is pretty cheap.

Their phones are so good they don't have much they can do at this point to make them better. You can have a 5 year old iPhone right now and it's probably still a very good device, assuming you swapped the battery since purchase.

It's a pretty good problem to have.

> They’re quite literally milking the cash cow at this point.

Figuratively, not literally. Otherwise I agree.

So EU people can’t buy the e-SIM only version and thus get more battery?

Wtf??

Why does the air have usb 2? lmao
The cheapest of the new phones is 7500DKK ~ 1175USD. That is just insane. I get that I can get an older models and that Apple is a "luxury" brand, but at $1000+ I don't get who buys new iPhones anymore.

Apple seems stuck in a mentality of subsidized phones, which might still be how the US does it, but it makes their product unreasonably expensive in other parts of the world. I can accept that Apple can't do a $200 phone, but that this point I'd be happy with a $500 phone.

The biggest enhancement this year seems to be the across-the-board increase in prices.

Just don't say the "tariff" word...