Phone comparison · UK prices · October 2026
iPhone 17 or iPhone 16: which should you buy?
The short answer
The iPhone 17 leads on the screen and the camera, and has the bigger screen. The iPhone 16 doesn't pull clearly ahead on anything we compare. The iPhone 17 costs £245 more than the iPhone 16.
Comparing 2 phones
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What the extra money buys
The iPhone 17 costs £245 more than the iPhone 16.
You get: a brighter screen, a sharper selfie camera and a bigger screen.
You give up: nothing in the specs we compare.
Worth it if you want a brighter screen and a sharper selfie camera. Keep the money if those extras don’t matter to you.
Differences in daily life
Battery and charging
EvenBoth have similar battery-test results (15 h 8 min and 16 h 48 min), close enough not to matter much day to day.
Screen
Best: iPhone 17The iPhone 17 has the brighter screen (3,000 nits vs 2,000 nits on the iPhone 16), so it is easier to read in strong sunlight.
Camera
Best: iPhone 17The iPhone 17's selfie camera has more megapixels (18 MP vs 12 MP on the iPhone 16), so selfies and video calls can look more detailed.
Speed
EvenBoth have similar benchmark results, close enough not to matter much day to day.
Size and weight
Best: iPhone 17The iPhone 17 has the bigger screen (6.3 inches vs 6.1 inches on the iPhone 16), which gives more room for videos, maps and reading.
Still can't decide?
One quick question, one tap each.
Scores
| Score | iPhone 17 | iPhone 16 |
|---|---|---|
| Battery | 56 | 55 |
| Screen | 91 | 77 |
| Camera | 80 | 80 |
| Speed | 91 | 87 |
| Toughness | 95 | 92 |
| Connections and extras | 93 | 87 |
| Overall | 84 | 80 |
How these scores are made: Each score is calculated from the maker's published specs and benchmark results, using one fixed formula for every phone. We have not tested these phones in the hand. How we score phones
Specs side by side
Display
- Type
- LTPO Super Retina XDR OLEDSuper Retina XDR OLED
- Size
- 6.3 inches6.1 inches
- Resolution
- 1206×2622 pixels1179×2556 pixels
- Refresh rate
- 120 HzN/A
- Screen-to-body ratio
- 90.1 %86.8 %
- Display features
- Capacitive Touchscreen Dolby Vision HDR10 Multi-touch displayCapacitive Touchscreen Dolby Vision HDR10 Multi-touch screen
- Max rated brightness
- 3000 nits2000 nits
- Screen protection
- Ceramic Shield 2 Glass, Mohs level 5Ceramic Shield Glass
Core Specifications
- Chipset
- Apple A19Apple A18
- CPU max frequency
- 4260 MHz4040 MHz
- Microarchitecture
- 2x 4.26 GHz – Performance cores 4x X.X GHz – Efficiency cores2x 4.04 GHz – Performance cores 4x 2.0 GHz – Efficiency cores
- GPU
- Apple A19 GPUApple A18 GPU
- Storage
- 256GB, 512GB128GB, 256GB, 512GB
Software
- Operating System
- iOS 26iOS 18.0, Upgradable to iOS 18.3
Main Camera
- Features
- High Dynamic Range (HDR) PanoramaPanorama
- Lenses
- 48 MP , ƒ /1.6, 26 mm ( Wide-angle ), 1.0 μm , 1/1.56" Sensor size - Dual-Pixel PDAF - sensor-shift OIS 48 MP , ƒ /2.2, 13 mm , 120° ( Ultra-Wide angle ), 0.7 μm , 1/2.55" Sensor size - PDAF48 MP, ƒ/1.6, 26 mm ( Wide-angle ), 1.0 μm, 1/1.56" Sensor size - Dual-Pixel PDAF - sensor-shift OIS 12 MP, ƒ/2.2, 13 mm, 120° ( Ultra-Wide angle ), 0.7 μm - Dual-Pixel PDAF
Selfie camera
- Matrix
- 18 MP12 MP
- Lenses
- 18 MP , ƒ /1.9 ( Wide-angle ) - Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) - PDAF12 MP, ƒ/1.9, 23 mm ( Wide-angle ), 1/3.6" Sensor size - PDAF
- Video Features
- 3D (spatial) audio, Dolby Vision HDR, Gyro-EIS, HDR, Stereo Sound Rec3D (spatial) audio, Dolby Vision HDR, Gyro-EIS, Stereo Sound Rec
- Features
- N/ADolby Vision HDRHigh Dynamic Range (HDR)
General
- Announced
- Tuesday, 09 September 2025Monday, 09 September 2024
- Released
- Friday, 19 September 2025Friday, 20 September 2024
Battery
- Capacity
- 3692 mAh3561 mAh
- Features
- MagSafe fast wireless charging, Qi2 wireless charging, Reverse wired charging, Wired charging from 0-50% in 20 minutes (official specs),MagSafe wireless charging, Qi2 wireless charging, Reverse wired charging, Wired charging from 0-50% in 30 minutes (official specs),
Battery Life Test
- Browsing
- 15:08 hh:mm16:48 hh:mm
- Video watching
- 8:09 hh:mm7:30 hh:mm
- Playing games
- 8:45 hh:mm9:52 hh:mm
Design
- Height
- 149.6 mm147.6 mm
- Width
- 71.5 mm71.6 mm
- Thickness
- 8 mm7.8 mm
- Weight
- 177 g170 g
- Resistance cert. meaning
- Dust-tight and water-resistant (submersible up to 6m for 30 minutes)Dust and water-resistant (withstands high-pressure water jets; submersible up to 6m for 30 minutes)
Network
- Network_5G bands
- 5G: n1 (2100), n2 (1900), n3 (1800), n5 (850), n7 (2600), n8 (900), n12 (700), n14 (700), n20 (800), n25 (1900), n26 (850), n28 (700), n29 (700), n30 (2300), n38 (2600), n40 (2300), n41 (2500), n48 (3500), n53 (2500), n66 (2100), n70 (2000), n71 (600), n75 (1500), n77 (3700), n78 (3500), n79 (4700), n258 (26000), n260 (39000), n261 (28000 MHz)5G: n1 (2100), n2 (1900), n3 (1800), n5 (850), n7 (2600), n8 (900), n12 (700), n14 (700), n20 (800), n25 (1900), n26 (850), n28 (700), n29 (700), n30 (2300), n38 (2600), n40 (2300), n41 (2500), n48 (3500), n53 (2500), n66 (2100), n70 (2000), n71 (600), n75 (1500), n76 (1500), n77 (3700), n78 (3500), n79 (4700), n258 (26000), n260 (39000), n261 (28000 MHz)
- Network_2G bands
- GSM: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz CDMA: 800 / 1900 MHzGSM: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHzCDMA: 800 / 1900 MHz
Connectivity
- Bluetooth support
- Yes, v6.0Yes, v5.3
- USB connectivity
- USB chargingUSB charging, USB Mass Storage device (UMS)
- GPS features
- BDS, GALILEO, GLONASS, GPS (L1 & L5), NavIC, QZSSBDS, GALILEO, GLONASS, GPS, QZSS