Should you wait for the iPhone 18 Pro or buy the iPhone 17 Pro?
Choosing between the iPhone 17 Pro and the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro isn’t as simple as it might seem.
Apple’s current Pro flagship is already an exceptional all-rounder, but the next model looks set to bring some genuinely meaningful upgrades, particularly to the camera and display. So, should you buy now or hold off a little longer? Let’s break it down.
The iPhone 17 Pro is a capable smartphone
The iPhone 17 Pro is a fantastic smartphone that pretty much anyone would be happy to use day to day. There’s a reason why it got 4.5 stars and the Trusted Reviews Recommended award when we reviewed it, after all.
The updated design, though initially divisive, certainly stands out from the crowd. With a wide camera ‘island’ and a mix of glass and aluminium on the rear, flat edges that are subtly rounded to fit nicely into the hand, and the silky-smooth matte finish, it feels every bit like an elegant flagship handset – with the specs to back it up.
The 6.3-inch screen is arguably the perfect size for a smartphone – small enough for easy one-handed use while still more than enough for videos and gaming – with slim bezels, Dynamic Island tech and a silky smooth 120Hz refresh rate, while the A19 Pro chipset can handle anything thrown at it without as much as a stutter.
There’s also a top-notch camera setup comprising a 48MP main, 48MP ultrawide, and, new for this year, a boosted 48MP 4x periscope lens that can offer 8x in-sensor zoom. The latter is particularly important for the iPhone, as it finally allows Apple to better compete with Android phones on the zoom front, where many rivals offer 8x, 10x and more.
And, for me at least, the iPhone 17 Pro is the first non-Pro Max model to comfortably get me through the day without worrying about carrying a power bank.
Yes, it’s a pricey phone with a £1099/$1099 RRP, and £1,199/$1,199 if you go for the bigger 6.9-inch Pro Max model, but the experience is largely unmatched.
The iPhone 18 Pro looks like it might be a big upgrade
There’s no doubting that the iPhone 17 Pro is a capable phone, but the iPhone 18 Pro is rumoured to kick things up a notch.
Now there are the regular upgrades you’d expect – like an upgraded processor, this time the A20 Pro, the first chipset to be built on the 2nm processor – but there are plenty of other tweaks allegedly coming to this year’s smartphone to tempt dedicated fans.
The big headline feature is expected to be a mechanical variable aperture on the main 48MP lens. Though we’ve seen this on the Android side several times before, it’s the first time Apple has ditched the purely static design of its camera setup.
The variable aperture should allow the phone to control how much light hits the sensor, which should not only boost low-light performance but deliver sharper details and offer manual control over the depth of field rather than relying on software quirks.
Camera aside, the screen could also get a noticeable upgrade – this time by shrinking the Dynamic Island that sits atop the screen, housing all the Face ID tech.
While it has already shrunk considerably compared to the initial notch on the iPhone X, rumours suggest that Apple is moving several Face ID components entirely beneath the screen, allowing it to be much narrower and smaller than before. Though not exactly getting rid of it, it should be much less of a distraction.
There’s also a larger battery and, with an alleged 30% boost in efficiency on the A20 Pro, it should translate to better battery longevity too.
So, essentially, the iPhone 18 Pro should deliver strong upgrades not only in performance but also in areas like battery life, screen tech, and, most importantly, camera tech. A big upgrade indeed.
The iPhone 17 Pro should drop in price soon
Now, while the iPhone 18 Pro will be the all-singing, all-dancing Pro-level iPhone for the latter end of 2026 and much of 2027, that doesn’t detract from the fantastic experience you’ll get from the iPhone 17 Pro. And, if you wait just a little longer, you could get it even cheaper.
Once Apple announces the new Pro-level iPhones, likely in early September if Apple sticks to its regularly scheduled programming, the now-top-level iPhone 17 Pro will no longer be the top dog – and both Apple and third-party retailers can no longer charge top dollar for it.
That means prices will likely drop from September onwards as retailers look to shift the remaining stock of the now ‘outdated’ iPhone.
If we look back at last year’s iPhone 17 Pro event, the iPhone 16 Pro immediately dropped to around £999 in the UK and $949 in the US. That’s already a healthy discount from the £1099/$1099 RRP that Apple was asking for just days before the 17 Pro’s reveal, and one that continued until it hit around £700/$700 by the end of 2025. I’d be very surprised if we saw anything differently this time around.
So even if the upgraded iPhone 18 Pro doesn’t interest you, I’d still recommend waiting just a little longer before splurging on the iPhone 17 Pro.
