If you’ve been holding off on getting a brand new iPhone, now’s the right time to dimension up your choices. Apple’s 2025 iPhone lineup is now broadly out there, which incorporates the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max, and a brand-new mannequin, the ultra-thin iPhone Air. These new telephones supply quite a few new options over their predecessors, comparable to upgraded cameras, quicker chips, higher battery life, and even higher screens. Apple Intelligence, nevertheless, stays a piece in progress.
Alongside the brand new {hardware}, Apple additionally launched iOS 26 (sure, the numbering system has modified), which features a new Liquid Glass consumer interface, reside translation, wallpapers in messages, and extra. The software program marks Apple’s largest visible redesign since iOS 7, and regardless of some very polarizing reactions, we predict it seems to be high-quality.
If your present iPhone is buzzing alongside, there’s no have to rush out and get a brand new one. But if you happen to’re questioning whether or not it’s the 12 months to exchange your iPhone that’s just a few generations previous, then I believe the reply is a straightforward sure. There are actual beneficial properties available this time round, particularly within the fundamental iPhone 17, which incorporates a higher-refresh-rate show than final 12 months’s mannequin for smoother-looking animations, plus double the bottom storage at 256GB. And that’s all for a similar value as final 12 months’s mannequin, regardless of the continued tariff state of affairs within the US.
What we’re on the lookout for
How we check iPhones
There’s no shortcut to correctly testing a cellphone; I put my private SIM card (bodily or in any other case) in every cellphone I assessment and reside with it for no less than a full week. I arrange every cellphone from scratch, load it up with my apps, and go about dwelling my life — stress testing the battery, utilizing GPS navigation on my bike whereas streaming radio, taking rapid-fire portrait mode images of my child — every thing I can throw at it. Starting over with a brand new cellphone each week both appears like a dream or your private hell, relying on how Into Phones you might be. For me, switching has develop into so routine that it’s largely painless.
Overall worth
The costliest, souped-up iPhone isn’t mechanically the best one for everybody. What I search for is a contented medium — options that can fulfill most individuals on the best value. Sometimes, that’s final 12 months’s mannequin.
Battery life
Battery efficiency can range considerably throughout iPhone fashions, primarily as a result of dimension of the cellphone. Everyone desires a cellphone that may final a full day, and these suggestions replicate that.
Screen dimension
One dimension doesn’t match all. Some individuals like a small cellphone, others need the largest display cash can purchase. This record contains iPhones for individuals in each camps.
The best iPhone for most individuals
$799
The Good
- Always-on show makes it vastly extra helpful
- High refresh price makes utilizing the cellphone smoother
- The cameras are strong
- Battery lasts nicely by way of the day
- The value isn’t going up
- No redesign, however the inexperienced is sweet
The Bad
- Zoom capabilities are weak in comparison with the Pro
- Gets sizzling throughout heavy gaming classes
- Apple Intelligence continues to be someplace between ineffective and MIA
Screen: 6.3-inch 2622 x 1206 OLED, 120Hz refresh price / Processor: A19 / Cameras: 48-megapixel f/1.6 predominant with sensor-shift IS; 48-megapixel ultrawide; 18-megapixel selfie / Battery: Not marketed / Charging: 40W wired, 25W wi-fi MagSafe / Qi2 / Weather-resistance score: IP68
The iPhone 17 marks a turning level for the usual mannequin. After years with a lower-quality display, the most affordable mannequin lastly bought two main upgrades for 2025: an always-on show and a high-refresh-rate panel. These options make it really feel meaningfully higher than the iPhone 16 and prior fashions in on a regular basis use, bringing it nearer than ever to the Pro fashions. And on the identical $799 beginning value because the earlier technology, this 12 months’s replace is a no brainer.
While the iPhone 17’s 48-megapixel predominant digital camera is carried over from final 12 months, the ultrawide digital camera has been upgraded from a 12-megapixel to a 48-megapixel sensor, which delivers sharper, extra vibrant images. The gadget options an 18-megapixel Center Stage selfie digital camera, which can be within the Air and 17 Pro. Your selfies might not look materially higher, however the entrance digital camera’s sq. sensor elevates the consumer expertise, making it doable to take horizontal selfies whereas holding the gadget vertically (no have to rotate the cellphone).
The iPhone 17’s always-on show enables you to shortly look at notifications. Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Apple additionally provides you double the storage — 256GB versus 128GB within the base iPhone 16 — and improved battery life. The normal 17 nonetheless lacks a correct telephoto digital camera, and the A19 chip is slower than the A19 Pro discovered within the Pro fashions. Still, it’s a giant step up in virtually each method, even when it seems to be principally the identical as each iPhone from the previous six years.
Read our full iPhone 17 assessment.
$1099
The Good
- Solid battery life
- Brighter display open air
- Center Stage digital camera
- Faster charging
- Doesn’t get blazing sizzling
- Orange
The Bad
- What’s up with Siri?
- Heavier than final 12 months
Screen: 6.3-inch 2622 x 1206 OLED, 120Hz refresh price / Processor: A19 Pro / Cameras: 48-megapixel f/1.78 with sensor-shift IS; 48-megapixel 8x telephoto with OIS; 48-megapixel ultrawide; 18-megapixel selfie / Battery: Not marketed / Charging: 40W wired, 25W MagSafe / Qi2 / Weather-resistance score: IP68
The iPhone 17 Pro introduces a daring redesign and quite a few notable upgrades, together with the lineup’s most superior digital camera setup but. It additionally options rounded edges, and just like final 12 months, it’s on equal footing with the 17 Pro Max by way of efficiency. The largest variations are that the Pro Max presents a bigger show, a bigger battery, and as much as 2TB of storage.
Whereas the iPhone 17 is for most individuals, the 17 Pro is geared extra towards creators. The gadget has three 48-megapixel cameras, together with a 48-megapixel telephoto, and presents a number of professional options aimed toward those that wish to take the best doable images and movies. Some of these options embrace Genlock assist, which lets videographers sync up timecodes throughout a number of cameras, and assist for ProRes RAW recording. It additionally sports activities the upgraded Center Stage selfie digital camera present in different 2025 iPhone fashions.
The iPhone 17 Pro presents a smaller kind issue in comparison with the 17 Pro Max. Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
Despite the additions and enhancements, there’s little right here that makes the 17 Pro an absolute must-upgrade. However, it is available in an irresistible orange, which is outwardly the brand new “it” coloration.
Read our full iPhone 17 Pro assessment.
The iPhone with the best battery life
$1199
The Good
- Solid battery life
- Brighter display open air
- Center Stage digital camera
- Faster charging
- Doesn’t get blazing sizzling
- Orange
The Bad
- What’s up with Siri?
- Heavier than final 12 months
Screen: 6.9-inch 2868 x 1320 OLED, 120Hz refresh price / Processor: A19 Pro / Cameras: 48-megapixel f/1.78 with sensor-shift IS; 48-megapixel 8x telephoto with OIS; 48-megapixel ultrawide; 18-megapixel selfie / Battery: Not marketed / Charging: 40W wired, 25W MagSafe / Qi2 / Weather-resistance score: IP68
The iPhone 17 Pro Max’s redesign isn’t nearly seems to be. Apple hollowed out the gadget’s aluminum body to slot in the largest battery but in an iPhone. Apple says the gadget presents up 39 hours of video playback, which is 12 extra hours than final 12 months’s iPhone 16 Plus, our earlier battery champ. The gadget can simply push by way of a full day after which some, although your mileage will range relying on how typically you play cellular video games, watch movies, and doomscroll on social media.
The larger iPhone 17 Pro Max means a much bigger battery. Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
There are different advantages to going with the 17 Pro Max. It has the most important show of any cellphone in Apple’s present iPhone lineup — 6.9 inches — and presents as much as 2TB of storage, giving creators extra room than ever for storing their media. If you need probably the most iPhone you’ll be able to presumably get, together with the longest battery life, then the 17 Pro Max is the best way to go.
Read our full iPhone 17 Pro Max assessment.
The best iPhone for individuals who hate cumbersome telephones
$999
The Good
- Easier to hold due to its slim profile
- Remarkably gentle and extra nice to make use of for lengthy intervals of time
The Bad
- Battery drains faster than a typical cellphone
- No ultrawide digital camera
Screen: 6.5-inch 2736 x 1260 OLED, 120Hz refresh price / Processor: A19 Pro / Cameras: 48-megapixel f/1.6 predominant with sensor-shift IS; 18-megapixel selfie / Battery: Not marketed / Charging: 30W wired, 20W MagSafe / Qi2 / Weather-resistance score: IP68
The iPhone Air is Apple’s largest redesign because the iPhone X was launched in 2017. It’s shockingly skinny and lightweight, coming in at 5.6mm and 165 grams, respectively. Thanks to its titanium body and Ceramic Shield 2 show, it’s extra sturdy than you would possibly anticipate, too. The gadget feels deceptively small regardless of its 6.5-inch show, although you actually should see and really feel it your self to grasp the attraction.
The iPhone Air is the thinnest iPhone ever, although it nonetheless has a chunky digital camera hump. Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
But the thinner design comes with just a few substantial compromises in comparison with different fashions. One of the largest is that the Air incorporates a single 48-megapixel digital camera on the again. That’s to not say the gadget’s digital camera is dangerous. But it’s a far much less versatile system than even the much more reasonably priced iPhone 17, which has a dual-camera setup. The second compromise is on battery life, which is simply okay. It’s not horrible, nevertheless it’s not nice, both.
At $999, you’re paying so much for middling battery life and digital camera efficiency. Those who primarily care about design, although, could also be extra forgiving concerning the shortcomings.
Read our full iPhone Air assessment.
The best inexpensive-ish iPhone
$599
The Good
- Reliable efficiency
- Good, if restricted, digital camera system
- It’s the most affordable new iPhone you should purchase
The Bad
- No MagSafe
- $599 appears like $100 an excessive amount of
- No ultrawide
Screen: 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR / Processor: A18 Cameras: 48MP Fusion with 1x and 2x optical zoom, 12-megapixel selfie / Battery: Not marketed / Charging: 20-watt wired, 7.5W Qi, no MagSafe/ Weather-resistance score: IP68
This suggestion comes with a heavy sigh. Yes, the 16E is the most affordable iPhone Apple sells. Yes, it’s a great cellphone. It has a succesful digital camera, dependable efficiency, full water resistance, wi-fi charging, and shall be supported with software program updates for years to return. But its $599 price ticket begins to really feel like an excessive amount of when you think about what it’s lacking.
There’s no MagSafe, which you’ll be able to form of add by means of a MagSafe case, nevertheless it’s a bummer to not have it in-built when it’s principally develop into a typical iPhone characteristic. There’s no ultrawide digital camera, no Dynamic Island housing well timed data, no digital camera management button (not an enormous loss, actually), and no Ultra Wideband for exact object monitoring. It does assist Apple Intelligence, however that doesn’t really feel like a lot of a comfort, on condition that it’s very a lot nonetheless a work-in-progress.
The 16E will almost definitely obtain extra years of software program assist than a previous-gen mannequin just like the iPhone 14 or 15. And certain, Apple Intelligence would possibly transform helpful sometime. The 16E is an effective selection in order for you the trail of least resistance to blue bubbles and FaceTime at your fingertips. But if you happen to’d like MagSafe, a extra superior digital camera, and among the different bells and whistles that bought misplaced on the best way to the 16E, then it’s not a foul concept to have a look at one of many older iPhones.
Read my full Apple iPhone 16E assessment.
- Apple’s newest iPhone lineup is accessible now, however there are already studies about what’s subsequent. Several studies counsel Apple is readying a book-style foldable iPhone for later this 12 months, which is alleged to resemble two iPhone Air fashions positioned facet by facet. Apple is reportedly nonetheless working to flatten the crease that seems when the cellphone is unfolded, however has in any other case settled on a design. Looking forward to 2027, a report claims Apple is planning a redesigned “all-screen” iPhone to have a good time the gadget’s twentieth anniversary. These upcoming releases are allegedly a part of Apple’s three-year plan — which began with the brand new iPhone Air — that’s aimed toward refreshing its smartphone lineup.
Update, January twenty eighth: Updated to replicate present pricing and availability. Brandon Russell and Brandon Widder additionally contributed to this text.
Follow matters and authors from this story to see extra like this in your customized homepage feed and to obtain e-mail updates.
- Allison Johnson
Close Allison Johnson
Posts from this writer shall be added to your each day e-mail digest and your homepage feed.
Follow FollowSee All by Allison Johnson
- Apple
Close Apple
Posts from this matter shall be added to your each day e-mail digest and your homepage feed.
Follow FollowSee All Apple
- Buying Guides
Close Buying Guides
Posts from this matter shall be added to your each day e-mail digest and your homepage feed.
Follow FollowSee All Buying Guides
- Gadgets
Close Gadgets
Posts from this matter shall be added to your each day e-mail digest and your homepage feed.
Follow FollowSee All Gadgets
- iOS
Close iOS
Posts from this matter shall be added to your each day e-mail digest and your homepage feed.
Follow FollowSee All iOS
- iPhone
Close iPhone
Posts from this matter shall be added to your each day e-mail digest and your homepage feed.
Follow FollowSee All iPhone
- Mobile
Close Mobile
Posts from this matter shall be added to your each day e-mail digest and your homepage feed.
Follow FollowSee All Mobile
- Tech
Close Tech
Posts from this matter shall be added to your each day e-mail digest and your homepage feed.
Follow FollowSee All Tech
- Verge Shopping
Close Verge Shopping
Posts from this matter shall be added to your each day e-mail digest and your homepage feed.
Follow FollowSee All Verge Shopping
