iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 16: Table of Contents
It’s official: the iPhone 17 is here, and it ticks more boxes than ever before. Every year, Apple releases a new baseline iPhone at its September event, only to be criticized for the same things again, such as the lack of a 120Hz display or the presence of 128GB storage on the base variant. However, that’s not the case this year. Yes, you read that right!
The baseline iPhone 17 offers everything you could possibly ask for, except for a dedicated telephoto camera. However, I suppose I can overlook that, given the numerous positives to focus on. This is one of those comparisons where upgrading from the previous generation actually makes sense. So, without any further ado, let’s compare the iPhone 17 with 2024’s iPhone 16 (review) and see what’s new.
Also Read: iPhone 17 Pro Max Price in India vs. Abroad: The Ultimate 2025 Savings Guide
iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 16: Tech Specs
| Specification | iPhone 17 | iPhone 16 |
| Dimensions | 149.6 x 71.5 x 7.95 mm | 147.6 x 71.6 x 7.8 mm |
| Weight | 177 grams | 170 grams |
| Colors | Black, White, Mist Blue, Sage, Lavender | Black, White, Pink, Teal, Ultramarine |
| IP Rating | IP68 (6 meters for up to 30 minutes) | IP68 (6 meters for up to 30 minutes) |
| Display | 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR OLED screen, ProMotion supported | 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED screen, limited to 60Hz refresh rate |
| Processor | A19 (3 nm), 20% better performance | A18 (3nm) |
| RAM | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Software | iOS 26 | iOS 18, will get iOS 26 stable update |
| Camera | Rear: 48MP Fusion Main + 48MP Ultrawide Front: 18MP Center Stage | Rear: 48MP wide + 12 MP ultra-wide Front: 18MP Center Stage |
| Battery Capacity | 3692 mAh (up to 30 horus video playback) | 3561 mAh (up to 22 hours video playback) |
| Charging Speed | 40W wired, 30W MagSafe/Qi2 | 30W wired, 30W wireless |
| Starting Price | US: $999 / India: Rs. 82,990 | US: $799 / India: Rs. 79,999 |
iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 16: Design
Dimenions & Weight
- iPhone 17: 149.6 x 71.5 x 7.95 mm; 177 grams
- iPhone 16: 147.6 x 71.6 x 7.80 mm; 170 grams
The iPhone 17 is both thicker and heavier than the iPhone 16, which was released last year. This isn’t the usual pattern we see on smartphones, as they tend to get thinner year after year.
Material
While both phones feature an aluminum frame and a color-infused glass back, the iPhone 17 comes with Ceramic Shield 2 protective glass, which provides 3x better scratch resistance than the Ceramic Shield on the iPhone 16. In addition, the newer iPhone also gets a seven-layer anti-reflective coating that improves the overall display.
Design
Both iPhones share a similar design, featuring a pill-shaped Dynamic Island on the front, symmetrical bezels surrounding the screen, a textured aluminum frame, and a matte-finish glass back. Further, they also have a vertical camera module on the back panel.
Colors
- iPhone 17: Black, White, Mist Blue, Sage, Lavender
- iPhone 16: Black, White, Pink, Teal, Ultramarine
This year, Apple has shifted back to a minimal, pastel color palette, similar to what we’ve seen on the iPhone 15 lineup. The colors are identical, but they’re much less saturated than those on the iPhone 16.
IP Rating
Both iPhones feature an IP68 rating, indicating that they can withstand immersion at a maximum depth of 6 meters for up to 30 minutes.
Also Read: Should You Fly Abroad to Buy the iPhone 17 Pro? We Ran the Numbers
iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 16: Display
Apple’s latest iPhone 17 sports a 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR OLED screen, the first to support ProMotion technology (along with always-on display), can achieve a peak brightness of 3,000 nits under direct sunlight (limited to 1,600 nits in the HDR mode), and has a pixel density of 460 ppi.
In comparison, the iPhone 16 features a slightly smaller 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED screen, which maxes out at a 60Hz refresh rate, 2,000 nits of peak brightness (limited to 1,600 nits in HDR mode), and has a similar pixel density. Some common features on both phones include support for HDR content, Apple’s True Tone technology, and coverage of the Wide Color (P3) gamut.
iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 16: Performance
The iPhone 17 features Apple’s new A19 (3nm) chipset, which consists of a six-core CPU (with two performance cores), a five-core GPU with Neural Accelerators and hardware-accelerated raytracing, and a 16-core Neural Engine. Combined with 8GB of RAM and up to 512GB of NVMe storage, the chipset provides 20% better performance compared to its predecessor.
It’s worth mentioning that this is the first time Apple has officially compared the latest iPhone with its predecessor to showcase the performance improvement, indicating the confidence the company has in the new chip.
In comparison, the iPhone 16 runs on Apple’s A18 (3nm) chipset that also features a six-core CPU, a five-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine. Like the iPhone 17, the iPhone 16’s chip is also combined with 8GB of RAM, but unlike the latest model, it starts from 128GB of base storage.
Even in 2025, the chipset offers enough processing power to handle all the current and upcoming Apple Intelligence features. To put things in perspective, the A18 on the iPhone 16 is among the Nanoreview’s top five most powerful smartphone processors; however, the list is yet to include the recently released A19 chipsets.
iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 16: Software
The iPhone 17 will debut with iOS 26, one of the most significant software updates for Apple in a while. It primarily focuses on the Liquid Glass design language, which treats visual layers in the user interface as pieces of glass with their own independent reflective and refractive properties, resulting in a fluid and fresh user experience. And yes, the operating system will also be available on the iPhone 16 models starting next Monday, September 15, 2025.
Apart from the design changes, the operating system gains features like Call Screening, Live Translation (available in Phone, Messages, and FaceTime), new CarPlay improvements, and minor enhancements to other system apps, such as Apple Music and Notes. You can check out our iOS 26 beta hands-on article or the latest features article below to see what’s new in iOS 26.
Also Read: The iPhone Air Indeed Features a Single Speaker
iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 16: Cameras
| iPhone 17 | iPhone 16 | |
| Primary Camera | 48MP (f/1.6, 1/1.56″, sensor-shift OIS) | 48MP (f/1.6, 1/1.56″, sensor-shift OIS) |
| Secondary Camera | 48MP (f/2.2, 120° field of view, PDAF) | 12MP (f/2.2, 120° field of view, PDAF) |
| Front Camera | 18MP (f/1.9, OIS, PDAF) Center Stage | 12MP (f/1.9, 1/3.6″, PDAF) TrueDepth |
The iPhone 17 gets a new 48MP ultrawide camera, along with an 18MP Center Stage selfie camera on the front. The new ultrawide camera unlocks high-quality photos and videos from the ultrawide camera (also valid for macro photography). On the other hand, the selfie camera provides a totally different selfie-taking experience with a wider field-of-view that can accommodate more people at once (without the need for stepping ahead).
Given that it’s a square sensor, it can also switch from the vertical to horizontal orientation without having to flip the iPhone 17 to its side. Furthermore, the front camera features optical image stabilization, ensuring that the video footage is steady. There are a couple of other additions as well that might go unnoticed, but I’ve spent enough time on the product’s spec sheet to find and list them for you.
- Cinematic Mode is still limited to 4K 30 fps, but it can now record in Dolby Vision format (while the iPhone 16 was limited to HDR).
- Action Mode remains capped to 2.8K at 30 fps, but it can also record Dolby Vision videos, increasing the overall dynamic range of the video.
- The iPhone 17 supports Dual Capture in 4K Dolby Vision at up to 30 fps.
- The front camera has finally got “tap to zoom and rotate” functionality, along with ultra-stabilized videos and Center Stage for video calls via FaceTime.
- All the aforementioned upgrades also apply to the front camera. Additionally, Apple mentions Wind Noise Reduction and Audio Mix for the 18MP True Depth camera system, features that were previously available only for the rear cameras.
iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 16: Battery & Charging
The iPhone 17 has a physically larger battery than the iPhone 16. Combine that with the N1 chip’s efficiency, and the latest iPhone can now provide up to 30 hours of video playback, which is an eight-hour improvement over the iPhone 16, which was rated at 22 hours. In retrospect, the iPhone 17’s claimed battery life exceeds that of the iPhone 16 Plus, which is a significant achievement for Apple.
Regarding charging speeds, the iPhone 17 can charge up to 50% in 20 minutes with a 40W or higher adapter, and up to 50% in 30 minutes with a 30W or higher adapter connected to a MagSafe charger. In comparison, the iPhone 16 took 30 minutes to reach 50% with a 30W or higher adapter, while the wireless charging rate remains the same.
Also Read: iPhone Air vs. Galaxy S25 Edge: Which Ultra-Thin Flagship Should You Choose?
iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 16: Connectivity
Although we’re yet to figure out its specifications, the iPhone 17 features Apple’s N1 wireless networking chip, which supports Wi‑Fi 7 (802.11be) with 2×2 MIMO, Bluetooth v6.0 (an improvement over the iPhone 16), and support for the Thread networking technology.
However, the USB-C port remains capped to the USB 2.0 standard (up to 480 Mbps). In addition to that, the Indian iPhone 17 units support sub-6 GHz 5G, Gigabit LTE, and a dual-SIM (nano-SIM and eSIM) option.
iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 16: Price & Conclusion
iPhone 17 Price
This year, the iPhone 17 is looking the most complete baseline iPhone ever. For years, critics and reviewers have criticized it for not featuring a higher refresh rate or a subpar camera system that lacks a dedicated telephoto sensor. While some of that remains, Apple has outdone itself by introducing the ProMotion technology to the non-Pro iPhone, bringing a higher-resolution ultrawide camera, and including the Center Stage camera on a phone (previously found on iPads), a feature that none of the existing Android phones can match.
Most importantly, the Cupertino giant has also improved the base storage from 128GB to 256GB. While the storage was previously available for Rs. 89,900, its price has been reduced to Rs. 83,900, retaining all the fancy additions that the iPhone 17 already offers.
iPhone 16 Price
You see what has happened? If you go out to get the iPhone 16’s 256GB variant, you’d have to spend Rs. 78,999, which is Rs. 4,000 less than the new iPhone 17 (256GB). Unless you’re looking at the 128GB variant, or you’re getting massive discounts on the handset as part of the Flipkart Big Billion Days 2025 sale, it doesn’t make sense to get the iPhone 16 anymore.
If you can’t extend your budget up to Rs. 80,000, you can opt for the Android flagships like the vivo X200 or the Oppo Find X8 instead, as they offer more value for your money, along with an excellent camera system.
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