Apple iPhone XS vs iPhone 17 Pro

49 out of 100
Apple iPhone XS
VS
90 out of 100
Apple iPhone 17 Pro

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 5.8-inch Apple iPhone XS (with Apple A12 Bionic) that was released on September 12, 2018, against the Apple iPhone 17 Pro, which is powered by Apple A19 Pro and came out 7 years and 1 month after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone XS
  • Weighs 29 grams less
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 17 Pro
  • 3.4x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (2538K versus 756K)
  • Has 3x more RAM: 12GB versus 4GB
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Comes with 1594 mAh larger battery capacity: 4252 vs 2658 mAh
  • Shows 66% longer battery life (26:48 vs 16:06 hours)
  • The rear camera has a 4x optical zoom
  • Modern USB Type-C port
  • Delivers 59% higher peak brightness (1007 against 635 nits)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v6.0)
  • Thinner bezels – 9.3% more screen real estate
  • Supports higher wattage charging (40W versus 15W)
  • Has a 0.5 inch larger screen size
  • The phone is 7 years and 1 month newer

Review

Evaluation of Apple iPhone XS and iPhone 17 Pro crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Should I update?
No 100% Yes
Yes, this is a clear and meaningful upgrade.
Updating from Apple iPhone XS to Apple iPhone 17 Pro is a clear step forward, and the improvements should be easy to notice.
Main improvements: performance, gaming, and camera.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 5.8 inches 6.3 inches
Resolution 1125 x 2436 pixels 1206 x 2622 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
PPI 458 ppi 460 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No Yes (1-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness 625 nits 3000 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR - 1600 nits
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, Dolby Vision
Touch sampling rate 120 Hz -
Screen protection Tempered glass Ceramic Shield 2
Screen-to-body ratio 81.1% 90.4%
Display features - DCI-P3 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 98.8% -
PWM 240 Hz -
Response time 4.4 ms -
Contrast ∞ Infinity -
Screen space comparison
iPhone 17 Pro
6.3″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 15.1 in2
iPhone XS
5.8″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 12.8 in2
~17% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
635 nits
1007 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3]

Design and build

Height 143.6 mm (5.65 inches) 150 mm (5.91 inches)
Width 70.9 mm (2.79 inches) 71.9 mm (2.83 inches)
Thickness 7.7 mm (0.3 inches) 8.75 mm (0.34 inches)
Weight 177 g (6.24 oz) 206 g (7.27 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Advanced cooling - Vapor chamber
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Silver, Gold, Gray Silver, Blue, Orange
Fingerprint scanner No No
Repairability - Good (3.04/5)
Drop resistance - Very good (B) · 180 drops
Screen-to-body ratio
81.1%
90.4%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Apple iPhone XS and Apple iPhone 17 Pro
SoC
Chipset Apple A12 Bionic Apple A19 Pro
Max clock 2490 MHz 4260 MHz
CPU cores 6 (2 + 4) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.6 GHz: Tempest
- 2 cores at 2.49 GHz: Vortex
- 4 cores at 2.6 GHz:
- 2 cores at 4.26 GHz:
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 7 nanometers 3 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Neural Engine Apple Neural Engine
GPU
Graphics Apple A12 Bionic GPU 6 core Apple GPU
GPU shading units 256 768
GPU clock 1125 MHz 1620 MHz
FLOPS ~576 GFLOPS ~2488.3 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Apple iPhone XS and Apple iPhone 17 Pro
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
1306
3992
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
2770
10688
Compute Score (GPU)
Compute Score (GPU) - 44342
Single-core score 1306 3992
Multi-core score 2770 10688
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
756483
2538751
CPU 229658 753740
GPU - 926158
Memory 141831 217137
UX 384994 641716
Total score 756483 2538751
Samples [5 tests] [6 tests]
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability 61% -
Graphics test 8 FPS -
Graphics score 1446 -
Sources: 3DMark [5]

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Apple iPhone XS
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-07-31 (Дима)AnTuTu 11644981
📘 2026-06-27 -> USAball386Geekbench 6 GPU7868
📘 2026-06-27 -> USAball386Geekbench 6 CPU1306 / 2770
📘 2026-05-12 -> GiahuyAnTuTu 11756483
📘 2026-02-05 (tomoclaude)AnTuTu 11655571
Apple iPhone 17 Pro
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-16 (Anatoli)AnTuTu 112304042
📘 2026-06-03 (Vin)Geekbench 6 CPU3890 / 10107
📘 2026-05-11 (Atti rajan)AnTuTu 112301246
📘 2026-04-10 (Resul)AnTuTu 112538751
📘 2026-02-23 (FiLsImRoZeR)AnTuTu 112106484

Memory

RAM
RAM size 4 GB 12 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR5X
Memory clock 2133 MHz -
Channels 2 4
Storage
Storage size 64 GB 256 GB
Storage type NVMe NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system iOS 12 (Can be upgraded to iOS 18.7) iOS 26 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5)
OS size 11.8 GB -
OS updates - 7 years
Security updates - 7 years

Battery

Capacity 2658 mAh 4252 mAh
Max charge power 15 W 40 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes, Qi (10 W) Yes (25 W)
Reverse charging No Yes
Bypass charging No No
Fast charging Yes (50% in 60 min) Yes (70% in 30 min)
Full charging time 2:40 hr 1:18 hr
Battery cycles - 1000 cycles
Battery life tests
Web browsing 05:44 hr 09:51 hr
Watching video 09:44 hr 19:54 hr
Gaming 03:54 hr 06:49 hr
Standby 84 hr 117 hr
General battery life
16:06 hr
26:48 hr

Main camera

Matrix 12 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 8064 x 6048
Zoom Optical, 2x Optical, 4x
Flash Quad LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 120FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 120FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens - 120°
Lenses 1) Standard: 12 MP
2) Telephoto: 12 MP
1) Standard: 48 MP
2) Telephoto: 48 MP
3) Ultrawide: 48 MP
4) Depth
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 12 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.78
Focal length 26 mm 24 mm
Sensor Apple iSight X Sony IMX903
Sensor size 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) 1/1.28" (≈ 0.78 inch)
Pixel size 1.4 micron 1.22 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 12 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.8
Focal length 52 mm 100 mm
Sensor - Sony IMX973
Sensor size 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch) 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch)
Pixel size 1 micron 0.7 micron
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution - 48 MP
Aperture - f/2.2
Focal length - 13 mm
Sensor - Sony IMX972
Sensor size - 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch)
Pixel size - 0.7 micron
Stabilization - Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Bokeh - 170
Zoom - 141
Samples - Photo samples of Apple iPhone 17 Pro from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 7 megapixels 18 megapixels
Image resolution 3088 x 2316 4896 x 3672
Aperture f/2.2 f/1.9
Focal length 32 mm 20 mm
Sensor CMOS Sony IMX914
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Optical
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No Yes

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5 6.0
Bluetooth features SPP, PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, HDP, GAP, GAVDP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP LE
USB type No USB Type-C
USB version 2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort - Yes
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 -
Type of SIM card Nano eSIM
Multi SIM mode - Standby
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 16 -
5G support No Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
87.3 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced September 2018 September 2025
Release date September 2018 September 2025
Launch price (MSRP) $1000 $1099
Successor - Apple iPhone 17 Pro -
SAR (head) 0.99 W/kg -
SAR (body) 0.99 W/kg -
Sensors - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
Bundled charger - Not included
Further details
Notes on iPhone 17 Pro:
    - The eSIM-only model has a larger battery than the Nano SIM + eSIM version – 4,252 mAh vs. 3,988 mAh.
    - Only the Chinese version offers dual Nano SIM slots and it also has a weaker 15-watt wireless charging system.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPhone 17 Pro is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
5 (50%)
5 (50%)
Total votes: 10

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