…just remember, there’s ALWAYS another way!
For some reason, the iPhone 17e seems to be the forgotten hero, and all too often it’s overlooked and derided as a cheap parts bin.
Well, I’m here to sing from a different songbook and to hopefully open up your eyes to the benefits of the 17e.
Everyone seems to be talking about the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max right now, and to some extent the iPhone Duo as well. I get it – it’s a classic case of the shiny new clothes syndrome.
Those phones are Apple’s latest and shiniest, so of course they’re the talk of the town. They’re feature-packed, and, as we know, Apple can make anything look amazing and as if it’s the next must-have thing.
But as much as Apple are masters of desirability, I have one teeny issue with the clamour to head out of the door and grab an iPhone 18 Pro or Pro Max – and that’s the cost!
Apple candidly glosses over the price – the proverbial sting in the tail they’d rather not talk about. The 18 Pro starts at £1199, the 18 Pro Max at £1299 and the iPhone Duo at £2000.
Those prices make these latest iPhones a very serious investment and one that surely deserves some thought before lining the coffers of the Bank of Apple with your hard-earned cash.
As much as Apple would hate to admit it, there are alternatives – much cheaper alternatives, and the one I’m talking about is around half the cost of the 18 Pro or Pro Max.
Because it’s the ‘bargain’ iPhone, no one talks about it, yet if you can put misplaced vanity to one side and look at it without bias, I bet it may well suit you way more than you might think.
Sensible choices
If your YouTube feed is anything like mine, then right now it’ll be choc-full of iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max videos. It’s so easy to be sucked into the hype.
But think with a practical head for a moment and consider if you’ll honestly get a return on investment if you were to buy one of these new phones? Don’t forget, as great as these phones almost certainly are, nearly all the videos you’ve been watching are essentially paid promotions.
Apple cherry-picks the creators that they deem worthy of receiving review units to make sure that our feeds are crammed with videos endorsing quite how good these phones are. I don’t have a problem with the notion that – it’s how the business works.
But it’s worth mentioning, just make sure you know that in most cases these reviewers haven’t spent any of their own money in order to give you their ‘thoughts.’ You and I, on the other hand, will have to hand over a whole wedge of cash to get our hands on one of them.
As an interesting side note, I did ask Apple London for a review unit, but I was told in no uncertain terms – that wasn’t going to happen! Maybe I’m not Apple enough…who knows?
Anyhow, as I’m in the same boat as you, it puts me in a good position to sit back and give you some unbiased thoughts. A little brain food, if you will, away from all the noise.
The nub of this entire story and whether or not you need to be eyeing up an 18 Pro or Pro Max will come down to one simple point which is how do you use your iPhone? When you answer that question, it’ll hopefully make you think twice before joining the 18 Pro & Pro Max crowds.
To put this into some context, I’ve just been travelling for two weeks using the iPhone Air as my daily, and never did I feel compromised or as if it didn’t have enough grunt. I know it’s not the phone I’m talking about in this piece, but the same ethos applies, and that is, I didn’t need a Pro iPhone to get me through these trips.
The value-packed iPhone 17e
When talking about the 17e, the first and most obvious thing to remember is that there is no such thing as a bad iPhone. Every iPhone will do a great job and serve you well for years to come.
I used the 17e as my main phone for around 3 or 4 months when I first picked it up, and it did me proud. It’s powered by the A19 chip, and all you need to know is that it feels as snappy as any other phone I’ve used recently. These days all Apple silicon is fast, and the chip in the 17e is certainly no exception.
That chip is more than capable of running Apple Intelligence too – thank heavens we can finally say that without feeling embarrassed. The sensible and useful side of Apple Intelligence is now working well, which I experienced firsthand on those trips.
Apple Intelligence was looking at my calendar and mail and making genuinely helpful suggestions about flights, departures, cabs and local restaurants. It was doing the kind of stuff that makes daily life that bit easier. Although I was carrying the Air, it would have been just as good an experience on the 17e.
We got MagSafe, which the 16e didn’t get; there’s the latest Ceramic Shield glass, which now doesn’t scratch and, of course, a typically Apple 6.1-inch Super Retina Display. There is no need for me to go into any detail – it looks great.
Interestingly, the 17e gets Face ID and the Action Button – which the £2000 iPhone Duo doesn’t! It’s got one of Apple’s modems, which in part helps the battery in the iPhone 17e go on and on and on! Speaking of the battery, not that you’ll be reaching for the charger all that often, but I’ve found it charges bloody quickly too.
Thankfully they kept the colour choices nice and simple as well – black, white and soft pink. All subtle, timeless colour-ways that won’t age. Even I can’t get the colour choices wrong on the 17e!
The 17e even has the ability for dual eSIM too – if that floats your boat.
You see what I mean: the iPhone 17e feels typically Apple and pretty premium.
Let’s talk about it then!
The single camera was a massive bone of contention when the iPhone 17e was launched.
To some degree, I get the argument. How or why would Apple sell a phone in 2026 with only a single camera? But here’s the thing: it comes back to the point that there is no such thing as a bad iPhone – or, more pertinently, an iPhone camera.
Yes, the 48MP Fusion camera has its limitations, but it will still take decent pictures most of the time. Probably its biggest failing is its low-light abilities, but other than that, for most of the shots you’ll take with this phone, you won’t be disappointed.
You won’t get an ultra-wide or tele lens, and I guess only you’ll know if that is a major drawback for you or not. I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily about making compromises, more just about being honest about how you use the camera. Do you need, use or want those lenses enough to spend the extra money?
Last year the buzzword was open gate. This year all you’ll hear Apple talking about is the new Variable Aperture feature on the 18 Pro and Pro Max. From what I’ve seen of it, it seems to have been well enough thought out and implemented, but I have a point to make on that too.
Surely, the beauty of iPhone photography is the ability to grab your phone from your pocket and get great shots every time. You don’t have to overthink it – you just rely on it.
Would I be wrong in saying that, in most instances, what we want from our iPhone cameras and the photos we take is memories? The ability to point and shoot is surely its USP?
The moment you start to play with apertures, white balance and looking at histograms, the moment will be gone! There’s also the ability to very easily ruin what would otherwise have been a perfectly good photo by overcomplicating things.
And as good as the system looks to be on the 18 Pro and Pro Max, I’ve heard more than one photographer saying that it still works at its best in auto mode! And that’s from people who know what they’re doing!
Back to the iPhone 17e – this Fusion camera, or whatever you want to call it, is more than good enough at taking those ‘Polaroid’ moment shots. Stop living in an Apple commercial and think about what it is you want from your phone – and at what price.
The 17e takes good photos and videos – probably very nearly the equal of the £2000 iPhone Duo. I mean, although the sensors aren’t identical, they both have a 48MP Fusion camera, a 26mm focal length and an ƒ/1.6 aperture. They even have Hybrid Focus Pixels – although I won’t pretend to know what that is!
Going back to the video side for a moment, it further proves my point-and-shoot theory. Sure, we know movies can be shot on an iPhone, and I love that fact. But have you seen the rig that goes into turning an iPhone into a serious, movie-ready camera?
I’ve used my 17 Pro Max to shoot video with and got great results, but again, it wasn’t a grab my phone and shoot moment! I used a cage, mics, SD cards, lights, lenses and filters, and at that point, it’s actually easier to shoot with my Canon than an iPhone.
All the while, just remember the price difference we are talking about, and you have to admit that the 17e starts to look not too shabby, right?
Day to day
To give you an insight, the way I use my iPhone most days is pretty mundane.
Maps, banking apps, podcasts, Apple Pay and checking Threads and Instagram are about the sum of it. That’s why I switched to the iPhone Air full-time this summer – but I could just as easily have switched to the 17e instead. I don’t know if I’m out of line here, but I’d have thought my usage was not that unusual.
I check emails on the phone but rarely ever reply to them on it. I hardly use the camera (although I know that is more of a me thing) and I don’t game on it.
The naysayers will remind you that the 17e doesn’t have the Dynamic Island, an Always-On Display, and that it only has a 60Hz display. Well, here’s the thing – I’m not going to lose sleep over any of those features.
This story wasn’t meant to dunk on your enjoyment of the new device you may be about to buy. Far from it – you’ve worked hard and are looking forward to your new toy, and I want you to have the best time possible with it, whether it’s an 18 Pro, Pro Max or Duo…or an iPhone 17e.
Savour the moment!
All this piece was meant to be about was to make you think twice and to park the ego for a moment. If you take an honest look at the iPhone 17e, I bet you might be surprised at just how much you can get done with it – and all for £700.
Hey – here’s a thought: with the money you could save, you could buy a camera and have the best of both worlds.
You have options – take off the blinkers and look at what’s on offer.
One Response
This was a refreshing take on the 17e. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement around the latest Pro models and forget to consider what we actually need from a phone. The point about spending based on real usage rather than hype really resonated with me, especially when the 17e still offers plenty for everyday tasks.