The best iPhone to buy in 2026

Read our full review –– iPhone 17 Pro Max review: hello aluminum, my old friend

Out of the iPhones here, I can't really find one more unique than the iPhone Air. It's the thinnest iPhone ever made, it's incredibly tough thanks to its titanium frame, it has the same 120 Hz, 3,000-nit peak display, and the same Apple A19 Pro chip as the Pro models (minus one GPU core). A powerhouse with the looks, if I might add. 

It does come with its compromises, so don't get too excited. It only comes with a single camera. Not a bad one, mind you — the same 48 MP Fusion camera you can find on an iPhone 17 Pro or iPhone 17. So, you still have some limited high-quality zoom in play for the portrait picture here and there.

Sadly, the biggest shortcoming here is the small battery, which I find totally lackluster at its rated capacity of 3,149 mAh. While it does last quite a bit longer than I had expected, it's still the unprecedented underperformer in Apple's 2025 lineup.

And it only has one speaker — the earpiece is amped to also go loud. It sounds thinner and quieter than other recent iPhones and their stereo speakers, so I didn't really enjoy listening to music or watching videos on that one, but it's good enough for talking-head YouTube videos. 

OK, you sacrifice all of that, and what do you get? A very elegant and light phone with an excellent screen and pretty fast performance. It's a premium product and more of a "fashion tech" item. Anyone who's after the best spec will not spend the $1,000 on an iPhone Air, but casual users that got into Apple for their design and status will definitely enjoy it.

The iPhone Air is a device aimed at people who care about the design of things. It cuts some corners to achieve that super-slim build, and you have to absolutely be certain that you are willing to live with a phone that has less than ideal battery life as well as just a single camera at the back. Provided that you can live with those shortcomings, the iPhone Air is a nicely designed phone.

 

Read our review here –– iPhone Air review: Pointless until you actually hold it in your hand

The iPhone 16e is a remnant of Apple's strong push for AI earlier this year. Cupertino was quite confident that it'll have the full Apple Intelligence suite ready and that it would be at the core of the Apple experience. 

Which is precisely the reason it launched a pretty affordable iPhone that still had the then-latest A18 chip and 8 GB of RAM. Ready for that AI future, but it was not Apple Intelligence that made me excited about the iPhone 16e. It was the affordability and insane value that made me excited about the device. 

And I have to admit, if value is what you're after, for $600, you get solid performance, a single 48 MP camera, Face ID, and an Action Button. What else does a person need?

You don't get the Camera Control button or any extra cameras, and you will be locked down to the old 60 Hz screen. There's no MagSafe ring on the back, but you do get 7.5 W wireless charging. If those cons don't bother you, it's an easy sell.

The iPhone 16e is the phone that will provide you with access to the wider Apple ecosystem, provided that you're willing to live with an iPhone that's absolutely not the best one out there. It's intended for users who don't really care about hardware or specs; those who only need an affordable yet modern way to join the Blue Bubble Club. 

Key Specs

Read our full review here –– iPhone 16e Review: No Man's Land

  

Here's how these iPhones compare in PhoneArena's benchmark tests.

What to consider when choosing the best iPhone in 2026?

There are two things to consider when buying a new iPhone. Your usage habits and your budget. Do you really need a huge Max model, if you only use iMessage and Instagram twice a day? If you game on your iPhone — do you play vertical games that require a one-hand grip, or do you immerse yourself in horizontal shooters? Naturally, the latter crowd will enjoy a bigger screen for sure.

Plus, it also helps to pay attention to how long the phone will be supported for. Credit given where one is due, Google has recently committed to 7 years of software support for its Pixel phones, but we have yet to witness that happen. Whereas iPhones are proven to get 5 years of software support, so they more or less retain value — you can get them second hand, you can sell them off, an iPhone is an iPhone for half a decade.

It also helps that smartphone tech development has steadied in recent years, finding a comfortable plateau, and new features don't pop up at a relentless pace. Meaning, new phones stay new for longer, as they aren't immediately outshined by the next best thing.

Now, a lot can go wrong in these years, such as batteries going bad, but it's worth noting that Apple has upped its game considerably since the old iPhone 6 fiasco.

Which iPhone is the best value for your money?

Looking at the present Apple iPhone lineup, we would say that the iPhone 17 is probably the best value right now. Its base tier comes with 256 GB of storage, which will be plenty enough for most users out there. It does lack a telephoto camera, but you get your first taste of Pro experience with the upgraded 120 Hz screen!

If you want even more premium features, you'd have to make quite the leap in price.

However, the good news is that some wireless carriers and 3rd party retailers still have units of the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max in stock. If you are craving that telephoto camera for better portraits, and the pro video features — you may do well seeking one of those out.

Presently, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is the best iPhone when it comes to the best hardware specs right now. It has the largest screen, the biggest battery, and the most advanced camera system.

Right now, that's either the iPhone 17 or the iPhone 16e. Both offer a great iPhone experience without forcing you to break the piggy bank. In fact, if you're not a pro user, you shouldn't consider the pro models at all: an iPhone 17 has everything you need, and if you can't fathom spending $799, then the iPhone 16e is $200 more affordable, and you only lose one camera and get a slightly worse screen. 

Yes, but only if you absolutely need the best possible camera out there as well as the largest battery. If you want the very best, it's absolutely worth it to get the iPhone 17 Pro or the iPhone 17 Pro Max. Otherwise, you wouldn't gain much. 

Undoubtedly, it's the iPhone 17 Pro/17 Pro Max that has the best and most versatile camera setup of all iPhones available right now. The triple 48 MP camera utilizes Apple's Photonic Engine to deliver superb still photos and videos. You also get ProRAW, Audio Mix, Apple Log 2, ProRes up to 4K@120fps and ProRes RAW. If you need these features, you'd definitely know it. 

Do you actually notice 120Hz (ProMotion) in daily use, or is 60Hz fine?

Well, if you have been using a 60 Hz phone for a long time and you suddenly are given a 120 Hz one, there's a very high chance you'd notice the smoother display immediately. However, there are people who simply don't care about the extra smoothness 120 Hz offer and can neither detect nor be bothered with the smoother experience. 

How much storage do you really need: 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB?

Get as much storage as you can afford. Apple definitely charges an arm and a leg for the extra storage, but provided you will use that iPhone for many years to come, it might be worth it to splurge. I'd absolutely recommend altogether skipping the 128 GB versions and getting at least 256 GB of storage, and ideally you'd strive to get 512 GB.  

MagSafe is great to have, as it allows you to attach all kinds of magnetic accessories to the back of your phone as well as charge your iPhone with Apple's MagSafe chargers. However, if your phone doesn't have MagSafe by default, you can easily get a MagSafe-enabled case and make full use of the technology. 

The lack of MagSafe will only affect you if you use your phone without a case. That said, the only modern iPhone to lack MagSafe is the iPhone 16e; the iPhone 17e will be getting the tech. 

If you're heavy into gaming and power user tasks, then the added performance overhead and thermal management features of the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max might definitely be worth it. These come with the fastest Apple A19 Pro, after all. You will be able to game or do the same tasks on the regular iPhone 17, but it might heat up faster. 

You will notice that we put emphasis on three different ratings with these phones. Here at PhoneArena, we have a dedicated battery rating, dedicated camera rating, and an overall scoring of the phone, which takes into account all of its important features — from design to display, performance, charging speed, and speaker quality. 

At first glance, the overall rating points may look a bit low, but that's because every aspect of the phone is scored with our internal processes, developed specifically to be future-proof and combat "review score inflation".

In other words — we do our best to use the full 1 to 10 scale, so an overall score of 7.6 is very good. To make it easier to understand where a specific phone falls, compared to its peers, we've added a "Price Class Average" metric, which shows you the average score from other phones in the same category.