Apple's iPhone 17 is now available on store shelves, along with the super skinny iPhone Air and the powerful iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max. You may be wondering whether to get the shiny new baseline iPhone 17 or buy last year's iPhone 16, which now costs $100 less. To help with that decision, here's a breakdown of how the two handsets compare.
The iPhone 17 starts at $829 (or $799 if you activate with a carrier), the same as the iPhone 16 when it came out -- with the caveat that the iPhone 17 starts with a higher 256GB storage option, as opposed to 128GB.
The iPhone 16 is now available at a $100 discount, though its baseline configuration has 128GB of storage. So, is it worth saving some money, or should you go all out with the latest phone?
Here's what to know about each phone, from the cameras to the displays to the batteries.
Watch this: The iPhone Air Is Unbelievably Thin 04:00
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Screen differences
Some of the biggest changes between the iPhone 16 and 17 have to do with the display.
Apple says it shrunk the borders around the screen on the iPhone 17, expanding the display from 6.1 inches on the iPhone 16 to 6.3 inches on the iPhone 17 without expanding its dimensions. The new Ceramic Shield 2 cover on the iPhone 17 offers 3x better scratch resistance, according to the company.
The baseline iPhone 17 gets a display with a 120Hz refresh rate, as opposed to the 60Hz display on the iPhone 16. That means the iPhone 17 finally supports an always-on display, so you can glance at the time, your notifications and Live Activities without waking the screen.
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