iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 16: How Do They Compare?

You may be wondering whether to buy Apple's latest device, the iPhone 17 , or score last year's iPhone 16 at a discount. To help with that decision, here's a breakdown of how the two phones compare. The iPhone 17 starts at $829 -- or $799 with carrier activation -- the same launch price as the iPhone 16. But there's a key difference: the iPhone 17 starts with 256GB of storage, double the 128GB base on the iPhone 16. The iPhone 16 is now available at a $100 discount. So, is it worth saving some money, or should you splurge on the latest phone? Here's what to know about each phone -- from the cameras to the displays to the batteries. Watch this: iPhone Air Review: A Joy to Hold, at a Cost Don't miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source. Screen differences Some of the biggest changes between the iPhone 16 and 17 have to do with the display. Apple says it shrunk the borders around the screen on the iPhone 17, expanding the display from 6.1 inches on the iPhone 16 to 6.3 inches on the iPhone 17 without expanding its dimensions. The new Ceramic Shield 2 cover on the iPhone 17 offers 3x better scratch resistance, according to the company. The baseline iPhone 17 gets a display with a 120Hz refresh rate, as opposed to the 60Hz display on the iPhone 16 . That means the iPhone 17 finally supports an always-on display , so you can glance at the time, your notifications and Live Activities without waking the screen. The iPhone 17 also gains an anti-reflective coating and a 3,000-nit peak brightness, compared to 2,000 nits on the iPhone 16. That should make it easier to see your phone in bright sunlight. Camera differences Both the iPhone 16 and 17 have a 48-megapixel wide-angle camera. But the iPhone 17 upgrades the ultrawide camera from 12 megapixels on last year's phone to 48 megapixels. The front-facing camera also gets an upgrade, going from 12 megapixels on the iPhone 16 to 18 megapixels on the iPhone 17. There's a new Center Stage feature for the selfie camera that can automatically adjust from a portrait orientation to landscape to make sure everyone is in the shot. That means you don't have to manually rotate your phone to its side anymore when there are more people to fit in the frame. Both the iPhone 16 and 17 have a Camera Control button on the side to quickly launch the camera, snap some shots and use Apple's Visual Intelligence tool to learn more about what's around you. Processor and RAM The iPhone 17 packs an A19 chip, an upgrade from the A18 chip in the iPhone 16. One key difference is that the iPhone 17 starts at 256GB, while the iPhone 16 started at 128GB for the same $829 price when it debuted. Both phones also support the Apple Intelligence suite...

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