Which iPhone Should You Buy? Every Model Apple Sells, Compared

Apple’s store lists seven iPhones across six tiles as of September 10, 2026: the iPhone 17e from $699, the iPhone 16 from $799, the iPhone 17 from $899, the iPhone Air from $1,099, the iPhone 18 Pro from $1,199 and the 18 Pro Max from $1,299, plus the folding iPhone Duo from $1,999 that you can order from October 16 (the 17 and 16 tiles carry a $30 carrier-activation discount; unlocked they are $929 and $829). There is no standard iPhone 18. Apple’s September 9 iPhone releases cover only the two Pro models and the Duo, so the real choice this year is a year-old iPhone 17, a new Pro, or the foldable.

For most people the answer is the iPhone 17. It is $929 unlocked with 256GB, and it is the cheapest iPhone with a 120Hz display and a lab-tested battery result. Pay $1,199 for the iPhone 18 Pro only if you want the new camera and can live on Apple’s own battery claims for a few weeks, because neither Tom’s Guide nor GSMArena has published a battery result for it yet. Buy the $699 iPhone 17e if the budget is the whole decision. Skip the iPhone 16: it costs $130 more than the 17e for an older chip and half the storage.

Every price here is Apple’s own list price as of September 10, 2026. Apple’s “from” prices on the iPhone 17 and iPhone 16 include a $30 discount that requires carrier activation; this guide uses the unlocked price. The Amazon links are affiliate links and the site may earn a commission.

The short answer, by budget

• Best for most people: iPhone 17, $929 unlocked. A 6.3-inch 120Hz ProMotion display, the A19 chip, 256GB of storage, and 12 hours 47 minutes on Tom’s Guide’s battery test. Check price on Amazon (renewed).
• Cheapest new iPhone: iPhone 17e, $699. The same A19 chip family as the 17, 256GB, and a screen without ProMotion that you will notice next to a Pro. Check price on Amazon (renewed).
• Newest flagship, with Apple’s biggest camera claim: iPhone 18 Pro, $1,199, or 18 Pro Max, $1,299. A variable-aperture main camera, the A20 Pro chip, and Apple’s claim of up to 36 and 45 hours of video playback. Unmeasured until the labs report.
• Best-measured battery in an iPhone, if you can still find one: iPhone 17 Pro Max. Tom’s Guide clocked 17 hours 54 minutes and GSMArena’s active-use score 17 hours 58 minutes, and Apple no longer sells it new; the renewed link below is the smaller 17 Pro, which shares the chip but has no published battery result of its own. Check renewed iPhone 17 Pro prices on Amazon.
• The thin one: iPhone Air, $1,099. The lightest iPhone Apple currently sells, at 165 grams, with a single rear camera and a shorter battery claim than the $929 iPhone 17.
• The foldable: iPhone Duo, $1,999. A 7.6-inch screen that folds to what Apple calls passport size, on sale October 23. No lab has published measurements yet; Tom’s Guide has been hands-on and says it will update once testing finishes.
• Do not buy: iPhone 16, $829 unlocked. Older A18 chip, 128GB, and a higher price than the newer 17e.

Every iPhone on Apple’s store, September 2026

Prices are for the base storage, unlocked, from Apple’s own buy pages. Battery figures are Apple’s claims from its spec pages, not measurements, except where a lab result is named.

Two notes on that table. Apple’s “from $899” and “from $799” tiles for the iPhone 17 and iPhone 16 each include a $30 discount that “requires carrier activation”; the unlocked “Connect to any carrier later” price is $30 higher, and that is the number above. And the iPhone 18 Pro battery claims are for eSIM-only models, the version sold in the U.S. and eleven other markets; Apple says the space saved by dropping the physical SIM tray is worth “two additional hours of video playback.”

Best for most people: iPhone 17

The iPhone 17 is a year old, and it is still the phone to buy. Its 6.3-inch display runs at up to 120Hz with ProMotion, the same refresh rate as the Pro models, and Apple ships it with 256GB of storage as the base tier. Tom’s Guide measured 12 hours 47 minutes on its web-surfing battery test, which runs a web-surfing loop over 5G or 4G at 150 nits until the battery gives out. It is the only iPhone under $1,000 with a battery result on Tom’s Guide’s current list; the 17e and the Air have none.

The catch is that it got more expensive on September 9. Before the event Apple’s tile read “From $799” (captured September 9, 10:09 a.m. PT); it now reads “From $899,” and the unlocked price is $929. The full story of the increase is in the iPhone 18 Pro price story. Even at $929, the 17 is $270 cheaper than the 18 Pro, and the difference buys you a phone whose battery has been measured rather than claimed.

Who should not buy it: anyone who shoots a lot of telephoto. The 17 has a 48MP main camera and a 48MP ultra wide, and its 2x zoom comes from the main sensor, which Apple calls “optical-quality,” not from a separate lens. For a real 4x telephoto lens you need a Pro.

The new flagships: iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max

Apple announced both on September 9, with pre-orders “beginning at 5 a.m. PT this Saturday, September 12, with availability beginning Friday, September 18.” The 18 Pro is $1,199 with 256GB, $1,399 with 512GB, $1,799 with 1TB and $2,399 with 2TB; the Pro Max is $100 more at every tier. Both start $100 above the 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max they replace, which Tom’s Guide lists from $1,099.

What the money buys, in Apple’s words. The main camera is a “48MP Fusion Main camera with variable aperture,” with four settings from f/1.48 to f/4.0, which Apple describes as “bringing aperture control to iPhone for the first time.” The A20 Pro chip is “built using the latest 2-nanometer process technology,” with a GPU Apple calls “up to 40 percent faster than A19 Pro.” Battery is “up to 36 hours of video playback on iPhone 18 Pro and up to 45 hours of video playback on iPhone 18 Pro Max,” and Apple says the 18 Pro “can also charge up to 50 percent in around 15 minutes.” The Pro also gains Apple Reference Image, a mode that stores an unalterable reference photo so an edited image can be visually compared against what the sensor saw; that feature has its own explainer.

What nobody knows yet: how any of it performs. Apple’s video-playback hours come from Apple’s own test, and the harder web-surfing test at Tom’s Guide has landed far below them on both iPhones it has tested this generation: the iPhone 17’s claim of “up to 30 hours” became 12 hours 47 minutes there, and the 17 Pro Max scored 17 hours 54 minutes. Expect the same kind of gap. If you order Saturday you are buying on claims until the labs publish; Tom’s Guide says it will update its guide once testing finishes but has given no date, and this page will change its verdict if the numbers disappoint.

Pick the Pro Max over the Pro only for the screen and the battery: the 6.9-inch display against 6.3, 249 grams against 211, and nine more claimed hours. Apple’s spec page lists one camera system and one chip for both models.

The best measured iPhone is last year’s Pro Max

The iPhone 17 Pro Max is the best-tested phone in this lineup and it is not in it. Tom’s Guide’s battery test gave it 17 hours 54 minutes, GSMArena’s active-use score came out at 17 hours 58 minutes, and GSMArena measured a full charge in 1 hour 12 minutes. Apple’s new-iPhone store no longer carries a 17 Pro or 17 Pro Max tile; Apple’s certified refurbished store is the place to check for one. That is the pattern 9to5Mac predicted going into the 2025 event: “Rather than giving its year-old Pro models a price drop, Apple just stops selling them altogether.”

So the 17 Pro and Pro Max are now a remaining-stock and renewed proposition. A renewed 17 Pro Max is the way to get last year’s measured flagship if the renewed price undercuts a new 18 Pro (the 17 Pro shares its design and chip but has no battery result of its own on Tom’s Guide or GSMArena); check the seller’s grade and return window, and remember that Apple’s own trade-in offer of “$175 to $885” for an iPhone 13 or later applies to buying a new 18 Pro, not to a renewed phone. The cross-brand ranking on the top smartphones page still names the 17 Pro Max its best overall phone on those measurements.

Cheapest new iPhone: iPhone 17e

At $699 the iPhone 17e is the cheapest new iPhone, and its price does not change with a carrier; Apple lists the same $699 whether you activate on AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon or “connect to any carrier later.” It carries the A19 chip with a 4-core GPU, a 6.1-inch OLED display, 256GB of storage, and a single 48MP main camera whose 2x is a 12MP crop that, unlike the 17’s, Apple does not call “optical-quality.” Apple’s battery claim is “up to 26 hours” of video playback.

What $230 less than the iPhone 17 costs you: the 17e’s display has no ProMotion (Apple lists no adaptive refresh rate for it), and its spec page lists 800 nits of typical brightness against 1,000 for the 17, which also has the Dynamic Island and an always-on display. It also drops the ultra wide camera and charges wirelessly at 15W rather than 25W. Little of that matters if you are replacing an old phone on a budget; most of it matters if you have used a 120Hz screen. Neither Tom’s Guide nor GSMArena has published a battery test for the 17e, so its “26 hours” stays a claim.

The thin one: iPhone Air

The iPhone Air is 5.64 mm thick and 165 grams, the lightest phone Apple sells, with a 6.5-inch 120Hz display and the A19 Pro chip. It costs $1,099 unlocked with 256GB, up from $999 before the September event.

It is a design purchase, not a value one. Apple’s own claim is “up to 27 hours” of video playback, three hours short of the $929 iPhone 17’s claim, and Apple sells a $99 MagSafe Battery to extend it to “up to 40 hours.” It has one rear camera. Buy it because you want the thinnest iPhone that does not fold (Apple says the opened Duo is thinner still, at 5.2 mm) and know what you are trading; SellCell’s December 2025 data, reported by MacRumors, put the Air at 44.3 percent depreciation ten weeks after launch against 34.6 percent for the iPhone 17 series, so the market has already voted on the trade.

The foldable: iPhone Duo

Apple calls the iPhone Duo “the first foldable iPhone,” with a 7.6-inch inner display and a 5.4-inch outer display that “delivers 90 percent of the screen area of iPhone 18 Pro.” It starts at $1,999 with 256GB and runs to $2,199, $2,599 and $3,199 for 512GB, 1TB and 2TB. Pre-orders open October 16 and it goes on sale October 23.

Apple’s battery claim comes in two halves because the phone has two screens: “up to 31 hours of video playback when using the inner display, up to 44 hours of video playback when using the outer display, and up to 24 hours of usage per charge when both displays are used equally.” It uses Touch ID in the side button rather than Face ID, weighs 254 grams, and is 5.2 mm thick open and 11.3 mm closed. The rear cameras are a 48MP main and a 48MP ultra wide; there is no dedicated telephoto lens.

Who it is for: someone who already wanted a foldable and waited for Apple’s. If you are undecided, the measured book-style foldables from Samsung and Google are compared on the top smartphones page, and the Duo has no published battery test yet; Tom’s Guide says it will update its guide once its testing finishes. The iPhone Duo story has the full spec rundown.

Why the iPhone 16 is the one to skip

Apple still sells the iPhone 16, and it should not be on your list. It costs $829 unlocked with 128GB of storage; the iPhone 17e costs $699 with 256GB. The 16 runs the older A18 chip and its display is the same 6.1-inch size as the 17e’s, with no ProMotion on either. Its advantages over the 17e are the ultra wide camera, the Dynamic Island, a brighter 1,000-nit panel, 25W MagSafe and the Camera Control button. That is not worth $130 and half the storage. If you find a 16 heavily discounted at a carrier, the math changes; at Apple’s price it does not.

What changed on September 9, and what it costs you

Three things moved, and all three change the math.

Prices rose on the year-old phones. On the morning of the event (captured 10:09 a.m. PT, September 9) Apple’s store read “From $799” for the iPhone 17 and “From $999” for the iPhone Air; by the afternoon they read “From $899” and “From $1,099,” and the 17e went from $599 to $699. Neither September 9 iPhone release mentions the increases; the store is the source.

The 17 Pro vanished. As in previous years, Apple removed the outgoing Pro models rather than cutting their price, so the measured champion of the lineup is now a renewed-market phone.

No base iPhone 18 arrived. Apple’s iPhone releases on September 9 cover the 18 Pro, the 18 Pro Max and the Duo; no standard iPhone 18 was announced. Apple has not said whether or when one is coming. If you were waiting for a cheaper new iPhone, the wait has no announced end, and the iPhone 17 is the phone you were waiting for at a price that just went up.

The traps

• Storage tiers cost more than the phone’s value gap. The step from 256GB to 512GB is $200 on the iPhone 17, 17e, Air and 18 Pro, and the 2TB 18 Pro Max is $2,499, more than a base iPhone Duo. Buy the storage you need, and put the difference toward iCloud if you run out.
• “From” prices are carrier prices on two models. The iPhone 17 and iPhone 16 tiles include a $30 discount that requires carrier activation; the 17e, Air, 18 Pro and Duo have no such discount and cost the same unlocked.
• Trade-in is worth checking before you shop renewed. Apple offers “$175 to $885 (U.S.) in credit” for an iPhone 13 or later toward an 18 Pro or the Duo, and carrier deals of “up to $1,200 (U.S.)” for an iPhone 14 or later in any condition. Read the carrier terms; those credits are usually spread over a contract.
• Renewed is not refurbished by Apple. Apple’s own certified refurbished store sells products “backed by a one-year warranty,” so check it before paying a renewed price.
• Every current iPhone lands on iOS 27 within a week, the Duo on 27.1. iOS 27 ships on the 18 Pro and arrives for existing iPhones “as a free software update on Monday, September 14”; the Duo ships with iOS 27.1. None of the Apple pages cited here states a per-model support window, so do not buy a more expensive phone for support alone.

Frequently asked questions

Which iPhone is the best value in 2026?

The iPhone 17 at $929 unlocked. It has the 120Hz display and 256GB base storage of the Pro models and a measured battery result of 12 hours 47 minutes, and it is $270 less than the iPhone 18 Pro. If $929 is too much, the $699 17e is the answer and the iPhone 16 is not.

Is the iPhone 18 Pro worth it over the iPhone 17 Pro?

Nobody can say yet. Apple claims a new variable-aperture camera, a 2-nanometer A20 Pro chip and up to 36 hours of video playback; none of it has a Tom’s Guide or GSMArena measurement yet. Apple no longer sells the 17 Pro new, so the comparison is a new $1,199 phone against a renewed one. If you own a 17 Pro, wait for the lab tests; if you own a phone several generations older, the 18 Pro is a large upgrade on Apple’s spec deltas alone.

Should you wait for the base iPhone 18?

Apple has not announced one. Its September 9 releases cover the 18 Pro, the 18 Pro Max and the iPhone Duo only. Waiting for an unannounced phone has already cost iPhone 17 buyers $100 this month, so if you need a phone now, buy the 17.

Which iPhone has the best battery life?

On Apple’s claims, the iPhone 18 Pro Max at up to 45 hours of video playback, then the iPhone Duo on its outer screen at up to 44 hours. On independent tests, the iPhone 17 Pro Max at 17 hours 54 minutes on Tom’s Guide and a 17 hours 58 minutes active-use score on GSMArena, because it is the only large iPhone of this generation with a current lab result. The 18 Pro Max will almost certainly beat it once tested, but “almost certainly” is not a number.

Is the foldable iPhone worth the money?

Not on the evidence available. The iPhone Duo costs $1,999, ships October 23 and has no published lab measurements yet, though Tom’s Guide has been hands-on with it. Its claimed battery is shorter on the big screen than the 18 Pro’s, and it has no telephoto lens. If you want a foldable from Apple, wait for the reviews; if you want a foldable this month, the measured ones are on the top smartphones page.

Does the iPhone 17 have a 120Hz display?

Yes. Apple’s spec page lists “ProMotion technology with adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz” for the iPhone 17, the same line as the Pro models. The iPhone 17e and iPhone 16 do not have it.

Sixty seconds to decide

You want a good iPhone and do not want to think about it: iPhone 17, $929. You want the cheapest new one: iPhone 17e, $699. You take a lot of photos and can afford it: iPhone 18 Pro, $1,199, knowing the lab numbers land in a few weeks. You want the biggest screen and battery on a phone that has actually been measured: a renewed iPhone 17 Pro Max, because Apple no longer sells a new one. You want it thin: iPhone Air, $1,099, with its eyes-open battery trade. You want the foldable: iPhone Duo, $1,999, on October 23, after the reviews. You want the iPhone 16: you do not, at $829, when the 17e is $699.

For how these phones compare against Samsung, Google and the rest, the cross-brand ranking uses the same measured-first method, with Tom’s Guide and GSMArena lab results on every pick that has them. And if the phone comes with a watch, the Apple Watch guide applies it to the wrist.

Sources (19)

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• apple.com Apple Newsroom: Apple unveils iPhone Duo
• apple.com Buy iPhone
• apple.com iPhone 18 Pro buy page
• apple.com iPhone Duo buy page
• apple.com iPhone 17 buy page
• apple.com iPhone 17e buy page
• apple.com iPhone Air buy page
• apple.com iPhone 16 buy page
• apple.com iPhone 18 Pro tech specs
• apple.com iPhone Duo tech specs
• apple.com iPhone 17 tech specs
• apple.com iPhone 17e tech specs
• apple.com iPhone Air tech specs
• apple.com iPhone 16 tech specs
• tomsguide.com Best phones 2026, tested
• gsmarena.com iPhone 17 Pro Max review
• 9to5mac.com products Apple discontinued at the iPhone 17 event
• macrumors.com iPhone resale value data from SellCell