Apple's "Pro" iPhones usually look and feel a lot like the regular ones, just with some added features stacked on top. They've historically had better screens and more flexible cameras, and there has always been a Max option for people who really wanted to blur the lines between a big phone and a small tablet (Apple's commitment to the cheaper "iPhone Plus" idea has been less steadfast). But the qualitative experience of holding and using one wasn't all that different compared to the basic aluminum iPhone.
This year's iPhone 17 Pro looks and feels like more of a departure from the basic iPhone, thanks to a new design that prioritizes function over form. It's as though Apple anticipated the main complaints about the iPhone Air—why would I want a phone with worse battery and fewer cameras, why don't they just make the phone thicker so they can fit in more things—and made a version of the iPhone that they could point to and say, "We already make that phone—it's that one over there."
Because the regular iPhone 17 is so good, and because it uses the same 6.3-inch OLED ProMotion screen, I think the iPhone 17 Pro is playing to a narrower audience than usual this year. But Apple's changes and additions are also tailor-made to serve that audience. In other words, fewer people even need to consider the iPhone Pro this time around, but there's a lot to like here for actual "pros" and people who demand a lot from their phones.
