Why I'm Not Upgrading to the iPhone 17 Pro: Serious Photographers Still Left Behind
The iPhone 16 Pro was my first ever iPhone. I didn’t debate for a moment whether I should pick up the 15 Pro instead. It was simple. The 16 Pro was the newest release at the time and it felt like the right choice. Solid build. Great camera system. No hesitation and no regrets.
Now that I’ve been using it for a while, I find myself relating to photographers who have been deep in the Apple ecosystem for years. The lack of manual controls in the native camera app is something they’ve been complaining about forever. I didn’t expect much going in, so I wasn’t outraged when those controls didn’t exist, but I was still surprised. Especially considering how impressive the hardware and design of the iPhone 17 Pro actually are.
So here’s where I stand. If you’re new to iPhone and have the money to spend, go ahead and grab the 17 Pro or Pro Max. It is without a doubt the most advanced iPhone yet. You will not be disappointed.
But if you’re a serious photographer who cares about manual control and not just megapixels, you need to read the rest.
What’s Actually New in the iPhone 17 Pro
When I first saw the iPhone 17 Pro announcement, I’ll admit it. I was impressed. On paper, this thing looks like a beast. A complete redesign with a forged aluminum body, massive battery gains, and a new chip that basically turns the phone into a portable supercomputer, or so they’d like you to believe. All the rear cameras are now 48 megapixels. The front camera finally got an upgrade and some flashy AI features. The display got brighter and less reflective. Zoom got better. Storage got bigger. It’s hard to argue with all that. I do a lot of street photography, and these features are very helpful.
But here’s what started bugging me. As I kept reading through everything Apple dropped and every review that followed, no one was really saying a word about the camera app itself. Not one mention of true manual control. Not one single new feature for photographers who want to shoot with intention. Plenty of praise for the new AI-powered selfie mode and the cinematic video improvements, which I don’t really care about at the moment but fine, glad they’re there if I ever do. Still, where the hell is the actual “Pro” in this Pro device?
Let’s go through the new stuff first because again, I’m not blind to great hardware.
Aluminum Body
The new body is clean and solid. They’ve moved to a forged aluminum shell, which somehow makes it lighter without feeling cheap. I still love the heft of my titanium 16 Pro, but this newer design isn’t a bad step forward. The finish looks good. The flat edges are still there. And the battery life is longer, which matters more than almost anything when you’re out all day shooting. But I can’t help but feel that my beloved titanium body on the 16 Pro will be missed when it’s time to upgrade.
Battery Upgrade
Battery life matters to me. The iPhone 17 Pro now clocks up to 33 hours of video playback and 30 hours of streaming. That’s a solid upgrade from the 16 Pro, which gave you 27 hours of playback and 22 hours of streaming.
The Pro Max version pushes even further with 39 hours of playback and 35 hours of streaming. That’s six extra hours of use for the Pro and another six for the Pro Max. It is noticeable.
You can shoot longer. Edit longer. Review shots in the field without the low battery warning showing up halfway through the day. You can watch back-to-back video without plugging in. This kind of battery life is the kind of upgrade that actually changes how you use the phone. No need to carry a power bank for short trips. No babysitting the percentage. Just use the thing.
Brighter, Anti-Reflective Display
The display also got a serious boost. It’s brighter, sharper, and most importantly, way less reflective. It might not sound like a big deal, but when you’re shooting under harsh sunlight or reviewing shots on location, a glare-resistant screen can save you a lot of frustration. It’s one of those upgrades that you don’t appreciate until you’ve used it in the field, especially in Street Photography Land.
Triple 48MP Rear Cameras
All three rear cameras are now 48 megapixels. The main wide. The ultra wide. The telephoto. That is a solid improvement. More resolution means sharper details, better low light performance with binning, and cleaner digital crops when needed.
Zoom also got an upgrade. Both the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max offer up to 8 times optical quality zoom. This is not true optical zoom through a dedicated lens. It uses sensor cropping on the 48 megapixel telephoto to simulate that reach while keeping detail mostly intact. It is still better than anything Apple has done before.
For everyday shots it means you can frame tighter without switching apps or walking ten feet forward. For photographers it means the zoom no longer feels like an afterthought. You can shoot at longer focal lengths without sacrificing file quality or relying on clumsy digital tricks.
It’s not perfect. There’s no dedicated 8 times optical lens. But the results are clean enough to work with. And you don’t have to buy the larger Pro Max just to get access to the full zoom range.
The camera system is better. No question. But it still feels like the software is playing catch-up with the hardware.
Upgraded Front Camera with AI Framing
The front camera also saw a jump. It’s now 18 megapixels and comes with this new Center Stage framing system that tracks faces, automatically adjusts the crop, and lets you shoot vertical selfies that still work as horizontal group shots. For casual stuff, it’s useful to many of Apple’s customers, I’m sure. But for me, it’s just a gimmicky tech upgrade that doesn’t push the bar much.
Dual-Capture Mode
There’s also a new dual-capture mode that lets you record from both the front and rear cameras at the same time. I don’t need that right now, but it’s the kind of thing I’d play with just to see what I could make out of it. It’s a creative tool for creators who live on the move. I’m sure we’ll see a lot of this in the coming year on Instagram until everyone revolts out of sheer overkill and boredom.
Stacked Pro Video Features
The video specs are obviously stacked. ProRes, Log formats, Dolby Vision, slow motion, 4K at high frame rates. Again, I’m not diving into video yet but I respect how far they’ve pushed it. If I ever go all in on motion work, it’s good to know this thing’s already loaded for it.
Bigger Storage
Storage starts at 256 gigs now. Good. Should’ve been that way last year. That’s the minimum any “Pro” device should have in 2025.
Faster Chip
The new chip means the phone is faster and cooler, even under heavy processing. That’s solid if you’re editing in Lightroom Mobile or exporting a bunch of files to Dropbox like I do.
All the upgrades feel like upgrades. This is not one of those years where Apple changed the color and called it innovation. They clearly put work into making the hardware stronger, faster, and more useful for creators.
But that camera app. Still locked down. Still the same over-processed, AI-heavy, exposure-guessing system that doesn’t trust you to know what you’re doing with a damn photo. No native shutter speed control. No ISO sliders. No custom white balance. Not even a proper histogram. You’re still stuck jumping between third-party apps just to shoot like a grown adult with a camera in their hand.
I kept scrolling, waiting for Apple to say “Oh, and we finally added a Pro camera mode.” I waited for some fine print that mentioned full manual support. Nothing. Just more talk about the new chip and machine learning doing all the work for you.
So yes, I respect what they built. The hardware is impressive. The features are deep. But for photographers who want to shoot with full control, who want to slow down and make intentional images, we’re still on the outside looking in.
And that’s where this whole conversation really starts.
The Problem With the Apple Pro Label
Here’s where the shine wears off. Apple keeps calling this a Pro device, but nothing about the native camera app reflects that; it’s just more automation. The hardware is impressive. The glass and the silicon are serious upgrades. The battery is stronger. The display is better. The zoom has reach. But when you open the camera app, It’s the same limited experience as before. It’s an auto-everything system that assumes you want your hand held through every decision.
A real Pro mode would mean full manual control. I should be able to set shutter speed, ISO, and white balance without having to leave the app. I should be able to pull up a histogram to see what is clipping. I should be able to use focus peaking and zebras if I want them. Instead, Apple forces me to run to third-party apps like Lightroom Mobile, Halide, ProCamera, or Filmic Pro. My phone ends up looking like a digital Swiss army knife, not because I want that, but because the default tool is not built for serious photography.
This is not about asking for niche features that only a handful of people use. Photographers have been asking for these basic controls for years. Nothing new here. Even many of the Android offerings have manual controls come standard. Apple has ignored those requests every single time. Instead of manual control, we get more computational gimmicks. Portrait blur. Night mode magic. Auto HDR turned up whether you want it or not. Those are fine for casual shooting, but they are not Pro features. It’s frosting without the cake.
The question is simple. If this is a Pro device, why does Apple still treat serious and professional photographers like casual hobbyists and technically unsavvy dolts with all the disposable money and no photography skills whatsoever? I’m pretty sure Apple receives such queries without a drop of sweat coupled with a knowing smile. . . because they’re going to sell millions of the 17s. And that’s the bottom line, my fellow photographers.
The Xiaomi Example: What Real Pro Features Look Like
I need to stop here for a second and talk about something I normally don’t do. I don’t jump ship easily. I’ve only just started using the iPhone after years of avoiding it, and I don’t have any plans to toss my 16 Pro in the trash. I like it. I’ve built a workflow around it. I’ve found apps that get me the results I want. But when I started hearing about what Xiaomi was doing with its 15 Ultra, I had to look.
To be clear, I haven’t used the phone myself. I’m not here to promote another company or pretend I’ve put it through its paces. What I know comes from specs, launch material, and conversations with other photographers who got their hands on it. The point isn’t to say everyone should switch to Xiaomi. The point is to show that another company is at least listening to photographers, even if it’s only in baby steps.
That’s what made me pause. While Apple keeps piling on megapixels and giving us more AI-driven gimmicks, Xiaomi seems to be experimenting with features that photographers have been asking for forever. Maybe they nail it, maybe they don’t, but at least they’re swinging. Apple isn’t even stepping into the batter’s box.
So here’s what caught my eye when I looked at what Xiaomi is doing.
Leica Optics and Big Sensors
The Xiaomi 15 Ultra uses Leica glass with a 1-inch main sensor. It pairs that with a Summilux 23mm f/1.63 lens, an ultra-wide, a floating telephoto, and a massive 200MP periscope telephoto. That kind of hardware gives you real reach and the ability to pull detail out of shadows and highlights without the files falling apart.
Photography Kit with Grip and Controls
Xiaomi also offers a Photography Kit that transforms the phone into something that feels like a compact camera. The kit includes a grip with a shutter button, a thumb rest, an EV dial, a zoom lever, a filter adapter, and even an extra battery pack. While I’m wary of such grips because I want to keep a mobile phone more like a mobile phone, if the shutter button works fluidly, I’d be interested in at least giving it a try because third-party grips for phones with Bluetooth buttons perform terribly slow and sometimes don’t even fire. Plus, they get disconnected often enough to make you not trust the accessory at all, which is why I ditched mine for the iPhone.
Pro Mode That Works
This is where Xiaomi is doing something Apple refuses to. The 15 Ultra has a Pro mode baked directly into the camera app. You can shoot with full manual shutter speed, ISO, white balance, and RAW capture. Those are the basics every photographer expects when they hear the word Pro. And they are all right there without the need to install a single third-party app.
It’s not just about the toggles. The Pro mode also offers focus peaking, exposure histograms, and a live readout of settings in a layout that feels closer to a real camera interface. That means you can see your exposure before you press the shutter, not after. You can fine-tune your highlights and shadows instead of praying that computational processing gets it right. You can actually set white balance in Kelvin, not just pick from cartoon icons of a sun or a light bulb.
It goes further. The Pro mode remembers your last settings. You can switch out of it, come back later, and still be in full manual control. That alone makes it faster and more consistent than juggling apps on iOS where you’re always re-dialing exposure because Apple’s default app insists it knows better.
There’s also RAW capture that works across multiple lenses. You can shoot with the main wide, the ultra-wide, or the telephoto, all with the flexibility to process the files later. You don’t need to leave the app or switch into a “special” format. It’s integrated.
For photographers, this isn’t a gimmick. It’s the difference between taking a snapshot and crafting an image. On the iPhone, I have to piece together a Frankenstein workflow of Lightroom Mobile, Halide, Slow Shutter, and others just to unlock the same kind of control. On the 15 Ultra, it’s there the moment you open the camera.
I can’t vouch for how smooth it is in daily use, since I haven’t shot with it myself. But the intent is clear. This is what a Pro camera system should look like. Not a wall of AI presets. Not a handful of computational tricks that make decisions for you. Actual manual control at the system level, where it belongs.
Modular Optical System Concept
Only a few select photographers have had the opportunity to check out this lens attachment gizmo. But the details from MWC 2025 about Xiaomi’s Modular Optical System are worth paying attention to. Even if it never comes to market, it shows what could be possible if a company actually thought about photographers.
A Detachable 35mm f/1.4 with Its Own Sensor
The demo lens is a 35mm equivalent prime with a wide f/1.4 aperture. Built inside the module is its own Micro Four Thirds sensor with a claimed 100 megapixels. That is much larger than any sensor on a phone today. The size allows it to capture more light, handle shadows better, and deliver depth of field that small sensors can only fake with software. The form factor is surprisingly small. It looks more like a chunky filter than a DSLR lens.
Magnetic Mount with LaserLink Transfer
Instead of clamps or brackets, the lens snaps onto the phone magnetically. Two small pins handle power, while a system called LaserLink transfers data between the lens and the phone at speeds up to 10 gigabits per second. That means the sensor in the lens sends the raw image directly into the phone’s processor. The phone sees it as another native camera, previews it in real time, and saves the files to your gallery as if nothing unusual is happening.
Focus Motor and Manual Ring
This module is not a dummy tube with glass. It includes an autofocus motor powered by the phone. More importantly, it also has a physical focus ring. You can tap to focus or twist the ring for manual control. That is a level of tactile input that no smartphone camera has offered before. For anyone used to shooting with real cameras, it makes a difference in how you approach a shot.
Integration with the Camera App
Attach the lens and the phone’s own camera app adapts. You can shoot in RAW. You can control exposure. You can use manual focus or autofocus. You can apply your usual workflow, whether that is quick sharing or exporting to Lightroom. The whole thing feels native, not like a third party add-on or a hack.
Image Quality and Dynamic Range
Because of the larger sensor and Leica glass, the sample images shown had much greater dynamic range. Reports claim up to sixteen stops, which puts it in territory usually reserved for serious mirrorless systems. Low light performance was far beyond what you would expect from a phone. At least in controlled demos, the files looked clean, detailed, and natural.
Still Just a Concept
There is a big caveat. This system is not for sale. It is a prototype. There is no release date. Xiaomi has not promised anything beyond exploration. Other modular ideas have died on the vine, and this one could too. But the fact that it was demoed in a working state, with real files, makes it more convincing than vaporware.
Why It Matters
The Modular Optical System is not available and may never be. But it proves that at least one company is willing to take risks in order to give photographers the tools they keep asking for. Apple, for all its power and polish, has never given us this kind of option.
This prototype shows what could be possible. A detachable lens with its own sensor, native app support, manual controls, RAW files, and professional-level optics. Whether it ever hits the shelves or not, it raises the question Apple keeps ignoring. Why is the most valuable phone company in the world not even trying?
Why I’m Actually Happy With the iPhone 16 Pro
Up to this point, I have been critical of Apple’s choices and their constant refusal to give photographers the controls we have been asking for. That criticism is valid, and it is not going away. But I also want to be clear about something else. I actually like this phone. More than that, I use it every day and have found myself surprised at how much I enjoy it. The iPhone 16 Pro was my first iPhone, and in many ways, it has earned my respect. It is not perfect, but it has become a tool that fits into my creative life.
It’s easy to get carried away with complaints about what a piece of gear cannot do, but I also want to stop and talk about what it can do. There are features and qualities about the 16 Pro that I genuinely value. Some are obvious, like the titanium body that gives it weight and durability. Some are small touches, like voicemail working without extra nonsense. Others are creative tools that opened doors I did not expect, like the Slow Shutter Cam app, letting me dive into ICM photography with nothing more than my phone. Together, these things add up, even if it’s in the realm of third-party.
This is not about pretending the iPhone 16 Pro is perfect. It is about acknowledging that, flaws aside, it has given me a lot more than I thought it would.
Titanium Body and Weight
Apple made a titanium phone. That still surprises me. It feels heavy and solid. It feels like gear, not a toy. I like that. The weight gives it presence in the hand and makes it feel like it can take a beating.
Portrait Mode That Works Without Fuss
Portrait mode does its job. Selfies, casual group shots, even cats—most of the time, the photos come out looking good. I don’t have to tweak endlessly. I just shoot and share. That is a win when you are living life instead of fussing with edits.
Slow Shutter Cam App and ICM Work
Slow Shutter Cam is my go-to app for ICM work. It lets me make intentional camera movement photos that I can actually use. I’ve made hundreds already. Many are good enough to post straight away. It cost me almost nothing and has delivered more than I expected.
Video Quality
I am not a video person, but the iPhone 16 Pro makes me pay attention. The footage looks professional right out of the gate. Cinematic mode, smooth slow motion, sharp 4K—all of it holds up. I have not touched ProRes yet, but I know it is there if I decide to take the next step.
Small Features That Make a Difference: Voicemail
Voicemail may sound minor, but it works perfectly. I do not need an extra app or another login. I just check messages. It is simple, and I like simple.
Workflow That Actually Works
My workflow is seamless. I shoot, upload to Dropbox, and pull the files onto my desktop or tablet. That bridge keeps me in control. I’m not trapped in the Apple ecosystem, but the phone plays well with the rest of my setup.
Dedicated Camera Button and Wrist Strap Setup
The dedicated camera button is faster than waking a mirrorless. I can be on the street, phone in my pocket, and get a shot instantly. Pair it with a wrist strap and I can shoot one-handed without worrying about dropping it. That small setup makes the phone feel like a real camera.
Closing Thoughts From a Photographer’s Perspective
Shot on my iPhone 16 Pro. 2025. Mumbai, India.
The iPhone 17 Pro is a beautiful piece of hardware, and I’m not blind to that. And how could I be blind to that nuclear-powered orange color everyone is featuring? The screens are brighter, the batteries are stronger, and the cameras pack more megapixels than ever. It is a phone that will make a lot of people very happy, especially if they are just stepping into the iPhone world for the first time. If you want the latest toy and the cash is sitting in your pocket, buy it. You’ll not regret it.
But if you are a photographer who cares about control, it still leaves a lot to be desired. The lack of a true Pro camera mode makes the 17 Pro feel like a Ferrari with training wheels welded to the sides. Apple clearly has the resources to deliver manual controls, yet year after year we are told that more AI and more automation is what we need. Maybe it works for the casual crowd, but for those of us who think about shutter speed and ISO as much as breakfast and coffee, it is a glaring omission.
I’m not angry though. If anything, I’m relieved. Relieved that I don’t feel pressure to throw another thousand dollars at Apple this year. Relieved that my titanium 16 Pro is still heavy, reliable, and ready to shoot at a moment’s notice. Relieved that the apps I use to fill in the gaps do the job well enough for now. I get at least another year, hopefully longer, of not worrying about upgrades and just focusing on the work.
And that’s the point. Photography isn’t about megapixel counts or front-facing AI gimmicks. It’s about making images that mean something. For me, that means wandering the streets, chasing light, and creating art. The iPhone 16 Pro may not be perfect, but it is more than enough to keep me shooting, and that’s all I really care about.
