Understand at a Glance: Did Cook Finally Listen to Advice? The iPhone 17 Series Ushered in the Biggest Change in Recent Years

The annual "tech gala" saw Tim Cook unveil the 2025 "Apple product lineup".

Four iPhones, three Apple Watches, and a new pair of AirPods. These are all the new products this year.

Let's first talk about the four most concerning things: phone prices, the thinnest iPhone, eSIM, and Apple Intelligence.

● Regarding phone prices: The starting price remains the same (still 5,999 yuan), but it shows great sincerity. The minimum storage configuration is 256GB, while the same - priced iPhone 16 only had 128GB.

● The thinnest iPhone in history: The iPhone Air didn't miss its launch. It's only 5.6mm thick, with an extremely stunning appearance and feel.

● eSIM situation: In mainland China, only the iPhone Air can use eSIM technology, and currently, only China Unicom supports it (the eSIM support for global products varies by region and version).

● Apple Intelligence: The launch time in the Chinese mainland wasn't specified at the press conference. We need to wait for subsequent updates.

Just like in the past two years, with all the spoilers, this Apple press conference became another "open - book exam". Moreover, the press conference was a pre - recorded video, lacking the "surprise" of a live broadcast.

Fortunately, this year's iPhone 17 series brought visible breakthroughs in appearance - the ultra - thin Air and the Pro with an upgraded battery capacity. Finally, it feels like Apple's innovation engine, which had been stagnant for a long time, has started to turn slowly again.

In the past few years' autumn press conferences, there have always been comments in the industry like "lack of innovation" and "without Jobs' soul". Maybe there will be fewer such comments this year.

01 iPhone 17 Series

First impressions of the entire iPhone 17 series: The Pro has a major design change, the Air is really light, and the iPhone 17 now has high - refresh rate.

The "ultra - thin" Air, the Pro with a "camera island", and the base model offers more for the same price

Today, Apple really went all out and even offered more for the same price.

Let's start with the prices. The starting prices of the entire iPhone series in the Chinese mainland are 5,999 yuan, 7,999 yuan, 8,999 yuan, and 9,999 yuan respectively. The price of the iPhone 17 is quite sincere. It still starts at 5,999 yuan, but the storage configuration has been expanded from 128GB in the previous generation to 256GB.

The most expensive iPhone 17 Pro Max, with the addition of a 2TB version, can be called the ultimate version. However, the price has reached 17,999 yuan, making it "the most expensive iPhone in Apple's history".

As we can see, this year's iPhone series starts with a 256GB storage capacity, and the 128GB configuration has been completely removed.

Comparison of the prices of the entire iPhone 17 and iPhone 16 series in the Chinese mainland

Comparison of the appearance of iPhone product lines from 2007 - 2024

iPhone's design language has lasted for nearly two decades. Supporters say it has a classic family - style design, while critics think its innovation is slow and it's "using the same design for twenty years".

The newly released iPhone 17 series, while maintaining brand recognition, achieved a significant design breakthrough in Apple's history. Tim Cook defined it as "the biggest leap in iPhone history" and "a groundbreaking product", emphasizing its comprehensive innovation in technology, aesthetics, and user experience.

Highlights of the iPhone Air: The thinnest iPhone in history

The iPhone Air makes its debut. With a body as thin as 5.6mm, it's the thinnest iPhone to date.

This year, the iPhone "product lineup" removed the Plus model and added the Air product line, which focuses on a lightweight and thin design. It comes in a total of four color versions and also offers a lanyard.

With a 6.5 - inch screen and a 5.6mm - thick body, it breaks the 6.9mm record of the iPhone 6 and can be called "the thinnest iPhone in history".

In terms of materials, the Pro series switched to aluminum alloy, while the Air retains titanium alloy - more than 80% aviation - grade recycled titanium metal. Theoretically, it should be paired with the ultra - thin design to enhance the body's durability. In addition, it has ultra - tough ceramic shields on both sides, increasing the anti - drop performance by four times.

On the back cover of the iPhone Air, it also uses a horizontally extended DECO (lens module area), but since it only has a single - lens, the DECO has become narrower.

In addition to the 18 - megapixel front - facing camera across the series, the rear - facing camera has 48 megapixels, achieving a 2x telephoto equivalent of 12 megapixels through computational photography.

Limited by its thickness, the internal space is quite tight, which restricts the battery capacity. However, Apple claims that the Air can still achieve "all - day" battery life. If you want to extend the battery life, you can buy an official MagSafe battery pack case, which can support up to 40 hours of battery life.

Look, here's another money - making business.

Another point worth noting is that due to its ultra - thin design, the iPhone Air abandoned the SIM card slot and replaced it with eSIM. In mainland China, currently only China Unicom supports eSIM, and you need to go to an offline store to activate it.

In terms of performance, although the iPhone Air is equipped with the A19 Pro chip, its GPU has 5 cores (the iPhone 17 Pro series has 6 cores). As Tim Millet, the chip leader, put it, "It achieves MacBook Pro - level computing power in an iPhone."

In addition to the A19 Pro, the iPhone Air is also equipped with Apple's self - developed N1 wireless chip (supported across the iPhone 17 series) and the C1 baseband. If the signal is stable, Apple's cooperation with Qualcomm might come to an end.

Highlights of the iPhone 17: 120Hz ProMotion high - refresh rate and better battery life

Epic update! The standard iPhone 17 is equipped with a 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate for the first time.

The standard iPhone 17 doesn't show obvious changes in appearance. It comes in a total of five color versions and uses aluminum alloy. However, it has made a series of improvements in hardware.

The most notable feature is the 120Hz ProMotion adaptive high - refresh rate screen. Previously, this was exclusive to the Pro series. It's also paired with the second - generation ultra - tough ceramic shield, enhancing its scratch - resistance.

Since it's not a model focused on photography, the rear - facing camera has a slight upgrade. However, the front - facing camera uses an 18 - megapixel square large - sensor, supporting four aspect ratios for photo shooting, such as horizontal and vertical. FaceTime video calls are also specially optimized, automatically centering the person, and it also introduces the ability to shoot simultaneously with the front and rear cameras.

Simultaneous shooting with the front and rear cameras

The iPhone 17 is also equipped with the A19 chip with a 6 - core CPU and a 5 - core GPU. Its imaging ability is 20% better than the previous - generation chip. Compared with the iPhone 15 equipped with the A16, the CPU and GPU performance are increased by 40% and 80% respectively.

In terms of battery life, it can play videos for 30 hours, 8 hours more than the previous generation. Paired with Apple's 40W dynamic power adapter (up to 60W) for fast charging, it can charge to 50% in 20 minutes, and 10 minutes of charging can support 8 hours of video playback.

Regarding Apple Intelligence, the protagonist of last year, it doesn't have much spotlight this time. Only features like visual search (asking questions through AI - assisted photos) and real - time translation during video calls were mentioned. As for when it will be launched in the Chinese mainland, the press conference didn't specify.

The Chinese mainland official website states (hardware) "Ready for Apple Intelligence".

 Highlights of the iPhone 17 Pro: "Bulkier" and a "killer back view"

The iPhone 17 Pro series is released: Brand - new 48MP triple - camera, VC vapor chamber, and up to 2TB storage available.

The most obvious change in the appearance of the iPhone 17 Pro series is the color. The orange color has the strongest visual impact, immediately letting people around you know that you've got a new iPhone.

The main design change is on the back. Although it retains the "triple - lens design", the DECO extends horizontally to form a "camera island". The flash and the LiDAR scanner are on the far right, surrounded by a high - performance antenna.

As photography is the focus of the Pro series, the upgrade is quite obvious. All three lenses are 48 megapixels (a 48 - megapixel four - reflection vertical prism telephoto lens + a 48 - megapixel wide - angle lens + a 48 - megapixel main camera).

The telephoto lens supports 8x optical zoom and 40x digital zoom. The front - facing camera is the same as the standard model, also upgraded to 18 megapixels.

The professional photography function is upgraded, supporting up to 4K 120fps and providing ProRes Raw format shooting, which is more suitable for professional photographers. It also supports GenLock, allowing for more precise alignment of transitions between multiple camera positions.

The "bullet - time" shooting system composed of iPhone 17 Pro devices

The iPhone 17 Pro switches from the previous titanium alloy to aluminum alloy and uses an anodized aluminum process. Except for the glass DECO on the back cover, a piece of the wireless charging area is covered with an ultra - tough ceramic shield.

The core consideration for switching to aluminum alloy is heat dissipation. To improve heat dissipation, which is 20 times better than titanium alloy, Apple has introduced a new VC vapor chamber (filled with deionized water inside) in the Pro series to enhance heat - dissipation performance.

Demonstration of the VC vapor chamber effect of the iPhone 17 Pro

However, it should be noted that switching to aluminum alloy makes the body more prone to bending and deformation. You can refer to the early iPhone 6 "bend - gate" incident.

The adjustment of the internal structure increases the battery capacity (the largest battery in history). The