The first non-Pro iPhone with a 120Hz screen — and the one most people actually need.

Apple iPhone 17

Apple

For $799 you finally get a 120Hz iPhone with the A19, a 48MP camera, and 256GB to start — the best entry-level iPhone in years. You give up the Pro's telephoto, low-light strength, and sustained gaming speed; most people won't miss them.

The story here is the display. For the first time, a non-Pro iPhone gets ProMotion — a 6.3-inch OLED with an adaptive 120Hz refresh, Always-On, and 3,000 nits — so the thing you stare at all day finally feels as fluid as the Pro's. Pair that with the A19, 8GB of RAM, and a base storage bump to 256GB, and at $799 IGN called it the best entry-level iPhone in years. The camera is a 48MP Dual Fusion system: a sharp 48MP main and a much-improved 48MP ultrawide, with a 2x optical-quality crop standing in for a telephoto. It's a real step up from the iPhone 16 in daylight, though low-light shots trail the Pro and there's no true zoom lens. Battery is the other quiet win — up to 30 hours of video, several hours more than last year and longer than the old iPhone 16 Plus — and 40W charging now hits 50% in about 20 minutes. What you give up versus the Pro Max is specific: the 8x telephoto, the vapor-chamber-backed sustained gaming performance, and the very brightest sustained workloads. For texting, browsing, photos, streaming, and the occasional game, none of that matters — and because Apple isn't shipping an iPhone 18 in 2026, this stays the current entry iPhone well into 2027.

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Last reviewed Jun 27, 2026

What we like

• ✓First non-Pro iPhone with a 120Hz ProMotion display
• ✓A19 chip and 256GB base storage for $799
• ✓Up to 30 hours of video — a big battery jump over the iPhone 16
• ✓40W fast charging hits 50% in about 20 minutes

Trade-offs

• −No dedicated telephoto lens — only a 2x crop
• −Low-light photos trail the Pro models
• −Heavy games can stutter at top settings
• −8GB RAM vs 12GB on the Pro models