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The Wirecutter Show
Is the New iPhone Worth It?
00:16:43
Apple’s new iPhone 17 lineup and iOS 26 update bring real changes—especially the ultra-thin iPhone Air. But should you actually upgrade?
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- [00:03]
A
I'm Christine Cyr Clisette.
- [00:05]
B
I'm Kyra Blackwell.
- [00:06]
A
I'm Rosie Guerin and you're listening to the Wirecutter Show.
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B
Hey y', all, it's Kyra. This episode, we're going to talk about a topic that comes about every September. This new Apple releases. Every year around this time, Apple announces a new line of products. And for the past few years, it's kind of felt like old news, especially when it comes to the iPhones. The same iPhone in a different color, the same technology wrapped up in new packaging. But this week, Apple released several phones that do offer some new interesting features, particularly the super slim new iPhone Air. It's the first model of its kind. But this still may not be worth an upgrade, especially if your current phone is working just fine. There are also new things coming out that require a hefty price tag. Like Apple just released their newest operating system update, iOS 26, which almost everyone with an iPhone can and probably should install for free to keep their phone working at its best, improve data and security, and check out some cool new features. After the break, Christine's going to talk with Brenda Stoyar, senior staff writer covering smartphones and wearables here at Wirecutter. Brenda has been testing these new phones all week and she has plenty of thoughts. So next up, Christine with Brenda.
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C
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E
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A
Brenda, welcome to the show. It's great to have you.
- [03:17]
F
Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
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A
So this week Apple is releasing four new phones, three iPhone 17 models, and a new super thin what they are calling the iPhone Air model. Now, Apple usually comes out with new phones every year in September, and for many years, the new releases have been a bit of a nothing burger. There's just sort of like nothing all that new to any of the models. This year's kind of different. Can you tell us what is different about these phones?
- [03:45]
F
So I think that this is definitely the biggest redesign that we've seen in a really long time. Across the board, there are changes that apply to all the models. So without getting too in the weeds, I'll give you the high level details. They're more durable this year. They have brighter displays, new chipsets, updated front facing cameras, updated cameras on the back. Yeah, I think overall we've just seen multiple changes across the full lineup, which is nice because I feel like in years past it hasn't been this much.
- [04:19]
A
And when you say they're more durable, what's making them more durable? I'm thinking about me, who drops their phone like every four minutes. So what is making these phones more durable?
- [04:27]
F
Yeah, so Apple came out with a new ceramic shield 2. The glass coating essentially is three times more scratch resistant. So that's applicable to all of the iPhone 17 models plus the iPhone Air. What's different about the 17 Pro? 17 Pro Max and the Air is that it has Ceramic Shield 2 on the front, but it also has ceramic shield on the back, which means that it's more resistant to cracking.
- [04:55]
A
Okay. So if you are slippery with your fingers and everything falls all the time, you're less likely to break your phone.
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F
Yes. I mean, I still recommend putting a case on it because these are expensive, but if you want to go caseless, it is more durable.
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A
And you have been using all of these phones for about a week right before they've been released. You've had a chance to get your hands on them.
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F
Yeah. So I've officially tested all of them. I swap between using them as my daily driver. So I use them as I would my normal phone for everything calls.
- [05:31]
A
Yeah, you're using them just like you would. You're calling, checking slacks, doing all the things, trying to put them through their Paces.
- [05:36]
F
Yep.
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A
Okay, so let's talk a little bit about the iPhone air. This is sort of similar to the MacBook air. It's supposed to be their thinner model. What do you think so far? Is it cool?
- [05:46]
F
Okay. I have a love hate relationship with the iPhone air. I will say it is a beautiful phone. There's no denying it's a stage stunning device. It has like a frosted matte back and then this like beautiful larger display at 6.5 inches, which is bigger than what you'll get on the base model. It feels like a piece of jewelry, I think is like the best way to describe it. It's very much like a statement piece, but it also feels like I'm holding something from the future too. I don't know. I can't stress how thin it really is. Yeah.
- [06:20]
A
Like how much thinner is it than the iPhone 17, for instance?
- [06:23]
F
So the iPhone Air is 5.6 millimeters and then the iPhone 17 is 7.95 millimeters. So there is a significant difference.
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A
So it's almost like 2/3 the width of the iPhone 17.
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F
It's thin. It's really thin. And there are some trade offs because it is a slimmer phone. So there are some compromises that you have to make when you invest in such a thin phone.
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A
So let's talk a little bit about that. What are the sort of cons of such a thin phone?
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F
Apple won't confirm the size of the battery, but they do say it gets up to 27 hours of video playback. That's the same amount as the iPhone 16 Pro or claimed battery life of the iPhone 16 Pro. And I would say I struggled to get a full 12 hours with this phone in my testing. I am a power user. I have to let that be known. I use my phone for everything streaming, whether that's Spotify or YouTube, texting, calling. I'll make some edits on Google Docs, sometimes FaceTime TV shows. Like, I rely on my phone for a lot gps. So I powered through this thing very quickly. I drained the battery very quickly. So that might not be applicable to everyone. I think it's also just really hard to have confidence in the iPhone air battery when there is a magsafe battery pack that was released specifically for this phone. It's thinner, lighter, and it's designed to fit on the back so that it doesn't add too much weight to an already light phone. It's kind of pushing people into carrying around an external battery pack with them just in case the battery drains quickly. So battery life is one thing. There's a single camera. I compared it to both the 17 and the 17 Pro, and it does deliver really nice images. This isn't like you're going to sacrifice image quality, but you're also not going to get additional features like the ultra wide lens. It doesn't come with cinematic mode for video, for example.
- [08:27]
A
So if somebody's sort of debating they need a new phone, they're thinking about a new phone. It sounds like the iPhone air might be best. For people who don't need the longest battery life, they're going to prioritize something that's very thin and maybe a little bit lighter. What other reasons would you point someone to that phone?
- [08:41]
F
The iPhone Air, I think, is a design first phone, definitely if you want something lighter. But I think as the first gen model, it's very much for tech enthusiasts at this point. Point someone who wants to try something new and really doesn't care that they're losing out on an extra camera or a bigger battery, they just want to have this. This new shiny thing, like it's just a cool phone. I really can't think of another reason. You have to know that if you're buying this phone, you're gonna attract attention.
- [09:22]
A
All right, so let's talk about the iPhone 17 models. There's three models. There's the 17, the 17 Pro, and the 17 Pro Max. What do you think is cool about these phones?
- [09:32]
F
I really love that. The iPhone 17 now has a bigger display, so it went from 6.1 inches to 6.3. And then there is an updated ultra wide camera, so it's at 48 megapixels now, which is up from 12 megapixels on the iPhone 16. So. So you get higher resolution ultra wide images compared to the last model. Apple also redesigned the iPhone 17 Pro and the 17 Pro Max, so it's now aluminum instead of titanium. And they also moved some stuff around so that they could make room for a new thermal system that should help keep it from overheating. And then the 17 also has an updated A19 chip, which basically just means it's more powerful than last year's model, more power efficient, so it should help with battery life.
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A
And how much longer does the battery last on the 17 models than the air would you say?
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F
On paper, the iPhone 17 is up to 30 hours of heavy use, like.
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A
You were explaining earlier.
- [10:32]
F
My editor is testing the iPhone 17. She's not as insane as me when it comes to using the phone. I'd say she's normal. Okay, but the iPhone air is nowhere near what the iPhone 17 does.
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A
The iPhone 17. So it sounds like the 17 model models are better if you prioritize a longer battery life, if you want to have more cameras, and if you maybe don't really care about the sort of design aspect of that. That super thin phone.
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F
Yeah. And one other feature across all the new iPhone 17 models and the iPhone air is the updated selfie camera. So it's now 18 megapixels, which provides some really crisp, detailed selfies. And then there is also a new center stage feature. So basically, instead of having to manually rotate your phone in landscape mode the way that we all have been for selfies, it has a wider field of view. So when it senses that there are multiple people in the photo, it will zoom out, allowing you to capture everybody in frame.
- [11:33]
A
That sounds super helpful. I mean, I hate taking a selfie, but my kids sure love it, so I'm sure they would like that.
- [11:39]
F
I will say it takes like an ultra wide selfie. So my arms still looked so long, and my friends and I were like, no, no, no, no, no. Like, we ended up just doing it the regular way.
- [11:51]
A
Hmm. Brenda? IPhones have gotten really, really expensive. Whenever I look at the price and am thinking about upgrading, I'm like, nope. What is the cost of these phones?
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F
So the iPhone 17 starts at $800.
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A
Okay.
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F
The iPhone 17 Air starts at $1,000. Okay. The iPhone 17 Pro starts at $1,100, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max starts at $1,200.
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A
Okay. So we're looking at some pretty steep prices for these phones.
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F
Yeah.
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A
And how much does the MagSafe charger cost?
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F
$100.
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A
So if you buy the Air plus that MagSafe charger, how much is that?
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F
Together, that will bring you to $1,100.
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A
Which means you could just buy one of the fancier iPhone 17s. Right, like the pro.
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F
Correct. And you'll get a lot more for that amount.
- [12:41]
A
Wow. Okay, you heard it here, folks. We have this long standing advice on our site that you should use your current phone as long as possible, that you really shouldn't upgrade unless you really need to. Why is that? And does that still hold with these new phones?
- [12:56]
F
Yeah. We don't recommend just ditching your iPhone 16 for the iPhone 17 if you really don't need to. And we can confirm you don't need to, despite the fact that this is the largest amount of updates we've seen in a while from apple. It depends on which phone you're coming from, because I'd say that compared to the iPhone 16, it's still iterative. But I will say if you have an older model, maybe the iPhone 13 at this point, and it's just really struggling, then it's worth looking into what your trade in options are or looking into upgrading. But there are multiple ways that you can keep your current phone running smoothly without immediately jumping to an upgrade.
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A
Let's focus on the operating system for a second. These new phones are very expensive. They're not going to be for everyone. But there is something that any iPhone user can do, which is to update their operating system. And this week Apple came out with their newest operating system operating system, their iOS 26. And this has a bunch of new features. So what are some of the features that people can get with this new iOS?
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F
Yeah, so iOS 26 is Apple's latest version of its operating system. I have actually been using it all summer because I was on the developer beta, which has been fun. A little buggy, but fun. And so I've been testing out a lot of the new features. I think one of the biggest changes is the liquid glass interface. The best way to describe it is it's like this transparent glass, like look to your phone. It's nice, it's a nice change. It feels more fluid. There's a lot of features that I really like and that I'm excited to try once my friends decide to upgrade to iOS 26. There's a ton in messages. You can now change the background of your messages windows, which I really love doing on Android phones. Like, you can change the design and the colors. It just makes it a lot more fun. There's now typing indicators for group chats, which I think is great because now you can see who is typing and then who decides to stop midway and you're like, what were you saying? There's polls that you can now add to chats, which is great for when you're trying to plan, you know, a trip with friends or a birthday party. And you can never decide on a date. So fun things like that. There's also a new hold assist feature which is really nice for when you're on the phone with an operator or customer service and they put you on hold and you don't want to have to stay there and wait. You can just put your phone down, maybe walk around a bit, or maybe even just like scroll through your phone in general and you'll receive a notification or an alert when the operator comes back. So that's really nice. It's like minor but it definitely makes a change.
- [15:48]
A
That would make a huge difference when I'm on the phone with a bank. For sure.
- [15:51]
F
Yeah. So that one's really nice. There's also live translations, so that uses on device AI to translate conversations in real time. So I tried this with my colleague Max Eddy, who covers software. We used it in messages. So basically he would type in German, for example, and I would type in English and I would see the German message and then below it would be the English translation.
- [16:17]
A
Wow. And so that's in the texting feature. You can just. So two people speaking different languages could be texting back and forth.
- [16:22]
F
Yeah. You can also do it when you're talking on the phone and you'll see the live transcript description on the display so that you can keep up with the conversation a bit better. And with that, it struggled a bit. There's also a bit of a lag, so that can be a little bit awkward. So I think on messages it's definitely more natural conversation because you're waiting for that person to text and then answer, but on the phone it takes a bit.
- [16:46]
A
It wasn't so great. Yeah. Well, we're not quite living in the future, but we're pretty close to it. It sounds like.
- [16:51]
F
Yeah.
- [16:51]
A
So this iPhone iOS update is recommended for everyone who has an iPhone. Can you tell us why? Like, if somebody isn't super interested in all these other features that are kind of cool, what is the reason that they should be updating?
- [17:05]
F
You should always update for better performance, enhanced security, protection against vulnerabilities. And I mean, the new features are fun too. You don't want to be that person who's like, why isn't this loading? Or why isn't this working? And it's like, well, which iOS are you on? And then you realize they're on a really old one.
- [17:23]
A
I did update, but I have been very guilty of that. In addition to updating the software you mentioned, there are other things you can do to optimize your phone. And we are going to link to some Wirecutter pieces in the show notes that give detailed instructions on how to optimize your current phone if you're not ready to upgrade. The new iPhone goes on sale on Friday, September 19th. You can read Brenda's early thoughts on the phone as well as our colleague Max Eddy's thoughts On the new iOS, either Wirecutter or linked in our show notes. Brenda, thanks for joining.
- [17:55]
F
Thanks for having me.
- [17:59]
A
If you want to find out more about Wirecutter's coverage, go to nytimes.comwirecutter or find a link in the show notes. That's it for us till next week. Thanks so much for listening.
- [18:20]
C
The Wirecutter show is supported by Rocket Mortgage. Your home is an active investment, not a passive one, and with Rocket Mortgage, you can put your home equity to work right away. When you unlock your home equity, you unlock new doors for your family, renovations, extensions, even buying your next property. Get started today with smarter tools and guidance from real mortgage experts. Find out how@rocketmortgage.com Rocket Mortgage LLC licensed in 50 states nmlsconsumeraccess.org 3030.