Living The Pro Life

The Apple iPhone 17 Pro finally gives my two alter egos something to agree on

- By Niraj Kakade

As a travelling journalist, you learn quickly that you live in two worlds at once. In one, you are on calls, updating Excel sheets, hunting for images and firing off emails like your inbox owes you money. In the other, you are shooting, editing and squeezing through events while every other journalist breathes down your neck. One side of you is the creative pro with his tote bag and man bun. The other is the business pro with the clean-cut blazer and the even cleaner cut hair. Most phones that belong to travelling journalists barely survive the reality, forget keeping up with both alter egos. Then walks in the 2025 Apple iPhone 17 Pro, a device that swears it is built for professionals and promises to take on whatever chaos you feed it.

So, I fed it everything. This was during a stacked work week and a Pune to Mumbai day trip where both of my inner pros had to show up and multitask without falling apart. I pushed the 17 Pro as far as it would go. Here is what happened.

The Touch, The Feel, The Aluminium

The first real toss up happens the moment you pick up the 17 Pro. The entire 17 lineup, except the Air, shifts to an aluminium shell. It is a pivot from last year's titanium and you feel the difference instantly. I am coming from the iPhone 14 Pro Max, Apple's last and possibly heaviest brick disguised as a phone. Compared to that, the all-aluminium body feels substantial without doubling as a forearm workout.