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The iPhone 17 series is new and improved, with big changes in the design of the Pro devices. Oh, and there's also the super-slim iPhone Air.

- By Nishant Padhiar, Khumail Thakur, Ali Pardiwala and Kaizad Billimoria

If you can look past the cosmic chaos of Apple Store queues and the sea of people grabbing the new orange finish as though it's the latest streetwear drop, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is quietly Apple's most "Pro" iPhone yet.

Not because of hype, but because Apple finally redrew its own playbook for 2025. There's now a neat pyramid, aiming the iPhone 17 at people who just want a current-gen iPhone without spending too much, the Air for those who want sleekness and sanity, and the Pro for spec nerds and creative types who push their phone beyond WhatsApp and Instagram.

That middle child iPhone Air feels like something Steve Jobs would've unveiled, light and simple enough to win hearts. It's a bit spec-light, especially when it comes to the camera system and the battery capacity, but you'll find the form, slimness, and lightweight profile more than makes up for the shortcomings and delivers a uniquely comfortable and eye-catching experience. The 17 Pro Max? This is Apple flexing its engineering chops in ways the 16 Pro Max flirted with but never quite nailed. The ₹15,000 price gap between Air and Pro Max may not look massive, but it's the difference between "nice phone" and "do-it-all weapon." And for once, the Pro Max genuinely earns that title.

1 Shining bright

Apple is bragging about an anti-reflective layer on the new Ceramic Shield 2 glass. Honestly? The change is hardly noticeable. What you do notice is the screen's blistering 3000 nits of peak brightness, up from 2000 nits on the 16 Pro Max.

2 Max resolution

The 17 Pro Max's 48MP/4x shots are sharper and less noisy than last year's 12MP/5x, while the 8x, in good daylight, is usable without looking like a pixelated mess. Indoors, you'll see some computational artefacts, but outdoors, it's a real upgrade.