After using the iPhone 17 Pro intensively, I found that the most significant change is not just its appearance...

Different from previous years, rather than the newer and better iPhone we've long been "used to," this year's iPhone 17 Pro seems to have broken out of Apple's routine framework of many years and presented a rather different answer.

Since the iPhone 12 Pro series debuted in 2020, the industrial design of Pro-level iPhones has remained unchanged for 5 years. Just when we all thought the next comprehensive upgrade of the iPhone would come with the foldable screen in the near future, unexpectedly, the iPhone 17 Pro emerged, opening a new era for the design paradigm of this product.

This long-awaited sense of freshness makes my evaluation of this year's iPhone 17 Pro describable as "loving it so much that I can't bear to part with it": it's brand new from the outside in, and every aspect of the experience is also quite different.

▍A New "Aluminum" Look, Beyond Just Design

Starting from the iPhone 15 Pro, Apple chose to use lightweight and sturdy aerospace-grade titanium to build the iPhone and spare no effort in promoting it as the lightest Pro-level iPhone ever. Unexpectedly, after only two generations of products, Apple "abandoned" titanium and didn't even revert to the previous surgical-grade stainless steel. Instead, it chose aluminum to create the brand-new iPhone 17 Pro.

Although many people have complaints about this, the benefits brought about by the material change are also immediate: the one-piece aluminum body not only has a lower processing difficulty but also better heat conduction performance. Coupled with the VC vapor chamber installed inside for the first time, the heat dissipation ability of the iPhone 17 Pro can be said to have reached a new high in history.

In actual use, the heating situation of the iPhone 17 Pro is indeed much better than before. Whether it's during the initial download of a large number of apps on a new phone or during long-term outdoor shooting, you can clearly feel that the overall heating of the iPhone 17 Pro is more uniform and the temperature is lower. Most of the time, you can only feel a slight warmth on the back of the phone, and there is no longer the situation of concentrated heating or even overheating as before. On the other hand, after high-load work, you can also clearly notice that the iPhone 17 Pro cools down much faster. After putting down the phone for two or three minutes and then picking it up, there is almost no heat on the body.

People's complaints about this aluminum body are mostly concentrated on the texture aspect. Especially with the shiny debut of the iPhone Air this year, the delicate feeling of the polished titanium frame really makes this year's Pro-level iPhone a bit less impressive.

Although I can't say that I like the appearance of the iPhone 17 Pro more than the minimalist design of previous models, and the shape of this year's device has indeed changed so much that it's a bit unlike "Apple's style," overall, I still quite like the new look of the iPhone 17 Pro, and the device as a whole still maintains the exquisite craftsmanship and meticulous details of Apple.

Even though the density of aluminum is lower than that of titanium, the weight of the iPhone 17 Pro has still gone back up. It's not hard to understand. Compared with previous models, the iPhone 17 Pro uses more metal to build the overall shell, such as the extended platform extending from the lens and even the entire back frame. Not to mention that there is a larger-capacity battery under the Ultra Crystal Glass 2.

Fortunately, the overall weight distribution of the iPhone 17 Pro is relatively balanced, and the frame uses a larger arc transition design. I think the overall feel of this generation of models is better than before, and it fits the palm curve better when held with one hand.

However, there is still one thing about the iPhone 17 Pro that I can't get used to, which is that the positions of the microphone and the speaker at the bottom of the phone have been swapped. On previous models, the microphone was on the left side of the USB-C port at the bottom of the iPhone, and the speaker was on the right side. On the iPhone 17 Pro, the positions are reversed, and the speaker is now on the left side of the port.

I believe many people have the same habit as me. (Right-handed people) When holding the phone with one hand, the little finger will rest on the opening on the left side of the port. When playing games horizontally, it's quite natural to hold the phone by turning it 90 degrees to the left. In this way, whether holding the phone vertically or horizontally, the fingers will inevitably block the speaker, affecting the sound effect of games or videos. If holding the phone horizontally can solve this problem by rotating it in the opposite direction, it often feels quite awkward when holding the phone with one hand. It's a small pity.

▍The Focus of Imaging, Inside and Out

Every year, imaging is definitely the focus of attention for Pro-level iPhones, and this year is no exception. After upgrading the ultra-wide-angle lens of the iPhone 16 Pro series to 48 megapixels last year, it's no surprise that Apple continued to complete the upgrade of the last lens on the iPhone 17 Pro series: the telephoto lens also reached 48 megapixels.

So far, the three lenses of the Pro-level iPhone have finally achieved the unification of high-pixel specifications, which can be regarded as entering a new era. Regarding this brand-new telephoto lens, Apple said that it uses a new generation of quadruple reflective prism design and is equipped with a photosensitive element with an area 56% larger than that of the previous model. In actual use, this lens is as highly available in low-light environments as the 5x lens on the iPhone 16 Pro. Apple's current algorithm strategy rarely switches to the main camera for cropping when taking telephoto photos in low light. After repeated tests, except for relatively complex low-light scenarios, only when there is obvious shutter shake will the system switch to the main camera with a larger aperture and better anti-shake performance for cropping and shooting.

Shot by iPhone 17 Pro, using the 1.5x focal length.

Shot by iPhone 17 Pro at 4x focal length, using the "Pearlescent" photography style.

Shot by iPhone 17 Pro, using the 8x focal length.

Shot by iPhone 17 Pro, using the 8x focal length.

However, this telephoto lens still has quite "strict" requirements for the focusing distance. After many tests on my part, even in a well-lit environment, the iPhone needs to be about one and a half to two arm lengths away from the subject to take a photo. Otherwise, the system will still switch to the main camera for cropping and shooting.

The telephoto focal length of the iPhone has been changing in recent years: in the iPhone 15 Pro series, the smaller model uses a 3x telephoto lens, and the larger model uses a 5x telephoto lens; in the iPhone 16 Pro series, both models are equipped with a unified 5x telephoto lens; unexpectedly, in the iPhone 17 Pro series, the telephoto lens has become a 4x lens again. A photographer friend of mine joked about this, saying that Apple claimed that two telephoto focal lengths were to give users more flexible choices the year before last, and last year it said that using a unified 5x focal length was because it could. As a device that focuses on professional imaging, the focal length related to the subject has changed again and again. Apple seems not to have figured out how to make the telephoto lens.

That being said, this 4x telephoto lens with 48 megapixels is still more suitable for daily use than the 5x lens: the 100mm focal length can undoubtedly provide more flexible composition ability than the 120mm focal length and is applicable to more daily scenarios. Especially in small indoor spaces, a larger shooting distance makes shooting less restricted. Of course, I also believe that it's precisely because Apple wants to make this telephoto lens on the iPhone more user-friendly that it replaced it with a 4x lens based on user needs and scenarios.

However, after long-term use, I actually quite like the original 5x lens. The stronger sense of spatial compression and more focused detailed close-ups make the photos taken by this lens often present a richer "storytelling" feeling. Fortunately, thanks to the physical advantage of 48 megapixels, even when taking digitally cropped photos at the 5x focal length on the iPhone 17 Pro, the picture clarity and details are better than those of the original 5x lens.

Shot by iPhone 17 Pro, using the 5x focal length.

Shot by iPhone 16 Pro Max, using the 5x focal length.

More importantly, with Apple's fused camera algorithm, this 4x lens can take "optical-grade" 8x focal length photos with 12 megapixels through sensor cropping, which is equivalent to giving users one more lens option.

Shot by iPhone 17 Pro, using the 8x focal length.

Shot by iPhone 17 Pro, using the 8x focal length.

Shot by iPhone 17 Pro at 8x focal length, using the "Pearlescent" photography style.

Although the light intake efficiency of the 8x focal length is the same as that of the 4x focal length, in daylight, we can indeed easily take a photo of good quality, even if it's only 12 megapixels. However, the former is after all an "enlargement" of the latter. Shutter shake and shutter speed when taking 8x focal length photos will affect the