Thoughts on New Apple Things
There is not much to say that hasn't already been said. Both because people who actually review iPhones these days have already undoubtedly taken every angle, but also because after 18 years of the iPhone, even on an individual level, there's just not much left to write. If you like the iPhone in 2007, and 2008, and 2009, and 2010... spoiler alert: you're gonna like the iPhone in 2025.
I mean, there are a few new things to say this year I suppose because Apple went the 'Air' route with one of the models. But while I'm tempted by the more 'Pro' specs there, that just was never going to be the model for me. The two things I care about most in the iPhone are battery life and the camera system. So it was always going to be iPhone 17 Pro Max all the way.
Also, this one comes in orange. That's both sort of weird and sort of fun.1 Very fall.
While Matthew Panzarino used to level-set his iPhone thoughts by taking it to Disneyland, I took mine on a more rugged adventure this year: to the Scottish Highlands. Specifically, I was all the way up and out in the Isle of Skye with my newly acquired Apple devices – beyond the 17th (ish) iPhone, I also had a pair of threes in tow: the AirPods Pro 3 and the Apple Watch Ultra 3.
I'm happy to report that everything performed well in all conditions – including in 13th century castles and 50mph wind gusts. I will say that I was very happy to have the better battery life of all three devices on this trip. Though, as always, it's hard to know how much of the battery life feels boosted because of the new hardware versus it just being new hardware instead of my old hardware. In particular, I had (literally) worn my AirPods Pro 2 battery into the ground, it seems. Ditto with the Apple Watch Ultra 2, which was two years old after I skipped the "new" black version last year.
Overall, the AirPods Pro 3 feel like an awesome, no-brainer update. Everything about them is better, most notably the noise-cancellation. Again, some of that is undoubtedly because my AirPods Pro 2 were worn down, but this new model feels like Apple refined and perfected the form factor. While the old ones fit in my ears just fine, these do seem more secure. They also, oddly, seem to protrude more, which may just mean I should try other tips beyond the defaults – though my "seal" test was perfect. Maybe Apple is just preparing us (and our ears) to add some cameras to the mix? Unclear, but the sound remains very clear!
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is less of a home run. That's only because it really doesn't seem any different from the Ultra 2 (which itself didn't seem all that different from the first Ultra). I know the screen is said to be ever-so-slightly larger, but as someone who wore the Ultra 2 every day for two years and switched to the Ultra 3, you can't tell. It has the same chip, which is fine as it wasn't slow before. There is satellite connectivity now, which is nice and potentially handy when you're, say, up in the Scottish Highlands! (Though I never needed it.) I did opt for the black model this year, which is nice. And when paired with my orange iPhone makes me feel a bit like David Pumpkins.
As for that orange iPhone... I wasn't sure I would like the color as is far more orange than, say, brass or bronze, but it's nice. As is so often the case with Apple's colors, it shifts depending on the light. It can morph from papaya in the sunlight to almost copper when it's more dim. I'm not sure I would ever call it "Cosmic".
That glass back plate though stays an awfully muted, dull orange throughout. For some reason, I associate the color with sherbert. I don't hate the color contrast of this area, but it is fairly weird. It almost screams "put a MagSafe Wallet on me". Or a battery back, which, oddly, Apple only now makes for the iPhone Air.
Feel-wise, when case-less, I think I prefer the 17 (Pro Max) to the 16 (Pro Max). The aluminum feels "softer" and slightly more rounded than the sharper titanium. It doesn't feel less premium to me, but we'll see if and when it starts scratching...
It is, of course, also slightly thicker, which I honestly don't mind at all. In fact, I almost wish Apple would go more extreme and maybe make a super-chunk iPhone to accommodate an even larger battery! Could you imagine one so thick that there was no longer a camera bump – er sorry, "plateau"? I mean, that would undoubtedly be a bridge too far for Apple, but who says no to a two-day battery iPhone?
Speaking of the "plateau", I think it works well design-wise. When paired with a case, it almost doesn't even look like there's a camera bump anymore. And the whole thing just looks a lot more symmetrical. I'm sort of surprised Apple didn't do this sooner, but maybe they didn't want to be seen as copying the Pixel?
Back to the aluminum, the return to that material plus the new "vapor chamber" definitely keeps this thing running cooler. The most heat I tend to notice in my iPhones is actually usually when I'm setting them up when they're furiously downloading and indexing your digital life, and this was much better than last year. Of course, last year I also had a weird and painful 40-hour set up/restore. This year was a "mere" 4 hours thanks to using a cable. I'm still not entirely clear why this isn't far faster.
In actually using the device, the only thing I would say is that having more RAM seems noticeable thus far as apps are quitting and getting tripped up less often. Again, it's hard to know how much of this is just having a new iPhone versus more memory, but at least one of my most-used apps, Matter, which is my read-it-later service, seems to be performing much better for much longer on things like text-to-speech. On top of more battery options, I wish Apple let you pay to max out RAM on your iPhone. I would love and pay a lot for a 16 or 32 GB variety!2
The camera system was great and it remains great. The 8x zoom seems pretty solid, though others will be able to test that far better than I can. Ditto with the new selfie camera, which feels like a particularly fun addition this year.
1x vs. 8x
In terms of cases, I can now confirm in usage that the new 'TechWoven' is roughly 1,000x better than the failed 'FineWoven' variety. Not only is it clearly going to hold-up better, I think it actually feels far more premium too. I still miss leather, but Apple made their choice and this will do.
As previously noted, I also bought the "Cross-Body Strap" to carry my iPhone like Indiana Jones (my preferred analogy, versus the European Carry-All one). I'm still getting used to it and not sure it's really for me. But as someone who still has PTSD from an iPhone being snatched right out of my hands a few months ago, I definitely feel more secure in using it out and about...
Mainly, the thing I find myself thinking about while using the iPhone 17 Pro Max is that it may be the end of an era, in a way. Assuming the rumored timetables are true, we should see the mythical 'iPhone Fold' next year. And unlike the iPhone Air, I think I'll be making that jump. I like the Pixel Fold form factor and assuming Apple can improve the "crease" problem, this might be the last single slab of glass I carry around for a while. Unless the 20th anniversary iPhone tempts me back, of course.3 For now, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is the peak (pumpkin) phone.
There can be only one.
1 As someone who roots for both the Cleveland Browns (my hometown) and San Francisco Giants (my home of 20 years), I actually have quite a bit of orange in my life. Also, I grew up going to a school named "Orange" where the school colors were black and you guessed it. Also, I'm told by reliable sources – my wife and older daughter – that orange is very much in fashion thanks in part to Taylor Swift right now... ↩
2 Though I realize this would undoubtedly ding battery life and may cause some heat issues... And it's seemingly just not a path Apple wants to go down with developers being able to target more RAM for those who pay to upgrade. ↩
3 I suspect it will be quite hard to move from a foldable back to a "regular" smartphone, workflow-wise. But we'll see, I guess! Good problems to have – choices from Apple, for once. ↩