Apple wrapped it its ‘Awe dropping’ launch event for the new iPhone models, , and yesterday. While the new iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro are much more interesting – I think the base model iPhone 17 will actually end up being a sleeper hit. Here’s why.

In many ways, the iPhone 17 is an without a telephoto camera, but $300 cheaper. An 256GB would cost $1099, and now an iPhone 17 256GB costs just $799.

At that price, you get the same great 6.3″ OLED display with ProMotion as the . You also get incredibly thin display borders, which has previously been a compromise on non-Pro iPhones.

Plus, you get things like an Always-On Display, up to 3000 nits of peak outdoor brightness. In pretty much every meaningful way, you aren’t losing out on display features with the standard iPhone 17.

Obviously, iPhone 17 is the least flashy new phone out of the lineup, but it still inherits everything great about the new phones.

Battery life takes a pretty massive leap with the iPhone 17, with it now offering 30 hours of video playback. That’s a big step-up from 22 hours on iPhone 16 and 27 hours on .

You also get Apple’s incredible new selfie camera with Center Stage, which in my opinion is going to be this year’s killer feature.

Outside of display, battery life, and selfie cameras – you also get Apple’s latest A19 chip, its new Ceramic Shield 2 display cover, and a new 48MP Ultra Wide sensor (up from last year’s 12MP).

Besides the lack of a telephoto lens and a ‘Pro’ chip – this base phone certainly feels like a Pro experience for the first time. It even shares materials with the iPhone 17 Pro, since that phone switched back to aluminum.

All in all, Apple kind of perfected the base iPhone. Sure, it may not have a flashy new design, but it’s hard to not recommend this phone to everyone. Even with cheaper options in the lineup like iPhone 16e and iPhone 16, the iPhone 17 feels like a hands down great option given how many advantages it offers.

It might even compete with the iPhone 17 Pro a bit in my opinion, outside of the camera enthusiast crowd.

What do you think of the standard iPhone 17 model? Will you be picking one up? Recommending it to anyone? Let us know in the comments.

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