The iPhone 17 reminds me why ‘boring’ tech is always best

Macworld

It was once said that only a few thousand people bought the Velvet Underground’s first album, but every one of them started a band. Which I suppose is a compliment, although I often wonder if they’d rather have had twice the sales and half the influence.

Being influential was a prized quality long before the rise of influencer culture. The musicians who create an entirely new sound; the writers who create a brand-new genre; that one mad chef who came up with salted caramel. And of course the groundbreaking, risk-taking technology which pushes the industry in a totally new direction.

It’s only right to applaud those who achieve something first and encourage others to follow. “New” is a glamorous lure. But when it comes to my own tastes, I’ve always been more inclined to wait and see what comes next. If it wasn’t for the Spice Girls, we’d never have got Girls Aloud, but I’d rather listen to the latter’s records. And when it comes to tech, I’ve never been a natural early adopter.

All of this came to mind last week while testing the iPhone 17, which reminded me all over again why boring technology is best, at least for my requirements. Compared to the reckless radicalism of the iPhone Air, the iPhone 17 feels like old hat: technology that has been around in a similar form for the better part of a decade. It’s easy to trace a lineage from here back to the iPhone X. But while that kind of conservatism is arguably bad for Apple or even the industry as a whole, it’s good for me.

Over the eight years since Apple launched its first all-screen phone, the company has been honing that form factor to a pitch of glorious perfection. The iPhone 17 might do the same things as the iPhone X, but it does them vastly better, with processing power, camera performance, and battery life improving on a yearly basis. And if those annual improvements seem to be slowing down, look at the history of marathon world records. At a certain point, you get so good that things start to level off.

Realistically, the iPhone 17 was never going to offer any dramatic upgrades on the previous generation. At this point the only way to do that would be to completely rethink its essential nature, which is where the iPhone Air come in. But it’s also where you run into all the problems of being first at something. And you start to take backwards steps along with those boring steady forward ones.

The iPhone Air is astonishingly thin. But it has, despite some shenanigans involving the “Plateau,” a smaller battery than the iPhone 17 and 17 Pro, so it doesn’t last as long. It only has one camera on the back, so in some respects it’s worse at photography than previous generations. These aren’t disastrous setbacks by any means, and from a tech point of view, it’s incredibly impressive that the Air’s battery life and camera performance are as good as they are. But they are setbacks. They are readjustments, if you like, that will give Apple room for improvement in the future.

I’ve tried Vision Pro, and I think it’s an impressive and very likely influential product. But I don’t want to buy one for my personal use, because I don’t accept the compromises of a gen-one, groundbreaking product. (Too heavy; too little battery life; too few useful apps, since you ask.) I rarely use Apple Intelligence, even though it’s an important part of Apple’s future roadmap; it just isn’t very good yet. As I did with Apple Maps, I’m waiting for Apple’s AI to become boringly reliable.

It’s my job to investigate and test groundbreaking technology, and as a journalist, I love innovation and risk. I respect the influential launches. But as a consumer, I prefer the boring products that come along a few hardware generations later and do the job better. And this year, the best choice is the iPhone 17.




Foundry

Welcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in a handy bite-sized roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a Monday morning cup of coffee or tea, but it’s cool if you want to give it a read during lunch or dinner hours too.

Trending: Top stories

Apple’s new iPhone 17 is already entering rarified Air, reports the Macalope.

Pro today, Air tomorrow: Apple’s iPhone lineup is designed to create waves, reckons Jason Snell.

Apple blasts EU for lack of features, riskier apps on overseas iPhones.

PSA: Here are 5 awesome Apple One perks you’re probably missing out on.

Mahmoud Itani tested the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s new telephoto lens and it blew him away.

iPhone Air teardown reveals Apple’s ultra-thin handset will be surprisingly easy to repair.

Podcast of the week

Macworld has the new iPhone Air, iPhone 17, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. In the latest episode of the Macworld podcast, we discuss our initial impressions of the latest phones. Tune in and find out more!

You can catch every episode of the Macworld Podcast on YouTube, Spotify, Soundcloud, the Podcasts app, or our own site.

Reviews corner

AirPods Pro 3 review: Small improvements make a sizable difference.

iPhone 16 vs iPhone 17: Testing the front camera.

macOS Gatekeeper review: How well does Apple’s free antivirus defend a Mac from malware?

Norton 360 review: Solid antivirus for the Mac, but with some tradeoffs.

The rumor mill

iOS 26.1 beta suggests iPhones will soon support third-party smartwatches.

Is Apple’s rumored cheap MacBook hiding in plain sight?

Report: Touchscreens are finally going to be a thing on all Macs.

The folding iPhone could be the size of two Airs—which might be too thick.

Video of the week

@macworld.com Sizing up the iPhone Air. From the latest episode of the Macworld Podcast #iphoneair ♬ original sound – Macworld – Macworld

In our latest short, we discuss the iPhone Air and Apple’s Goldilocks moment. Enjoy all our short-form video on TikTok or Instagram.

Software updates, bugs, and problems

iOS 26.1 beta appears to fix iPhone Air, 17, and 17 Pro Wi-Fi issues.

Apple Music finally gets a swipe gesture to change tracks and Jason Cross has never been happier.

PSA: You can’t use AirPods Pro 3 eartips on AirPods Pro 2.

Apple rebrands Rapid Security Responses in iOS 26.1 beta with new ‘Background’ updates.

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