157 points on DxOMark — and the base iPhone 17 ends up in the same league as the iPhone 16 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, and Oppo Find X7 Ultra. For someone who chooses between a "regular" and "Pro" iPhone every year and consistently overpays for the camera, this is no longer a marketing trick but concrete money savings.
What actually changed
The main culprit behind the progress is not the main module but the ultra-wide-angle camera: the sensor increased from 12 to 48 megapixels. The smartphone's main "eye" remained virtually the same as a year ago. The entire jump in the rating was provided by software processing — what Apple traditionally hides behind the term "computational photography."
This means one simple thing: not only owners of new hardware pay for the update. Apple can quite easily bring some of the improvements to previous models through algorithms — at least for the wide angle, definitely.
Video — a strong suit, and this is the main practical conclusion
DxOMark separately highlights autofocus stability, natural color reproduction, and low noise in video even in difficult lighting. If for someone a phone camera is primarily for shooting stories and short videos rather than posed photos, the base model now covers this need without overpaying for Pro.
More aggressive noise reduction is the price for picture clarity: in complex scenes, the smartphone sometimes "eats" fine details in photos.
Where the compromise remains
- No separate telephoto lens — all zoom is digital, so for distant shots the Pro version or competitors with optical zoom win outright.
- Portrait mode doesn't always accurately blur the background in group photos and loses face detail.
The practical conclusion is simple: if the main scenario is video, stories, and everyday photos without distant zoom, the base iPhone 17 covers this at the level of flagship phones from the previous generation. If distant zoom and perfect group portraits are essential — the Pro premium is still justified for now. The question for the next cycle: will Apple dare to improve the wide angle through software on the iPhone 16 as well, narrowing its own reason for buying a new flagship.
