Apple announced four new iPhone models, including one that veers away from the base and Plus models — the iPhone Air.
That got us thinking: what iPhone are Tom’s Guide readers most excited to try? Thankfully, we have an easy way to find out with our polling system. So that’s what I did, and the results are in.
There’s a clear winner, at least in the hearts and minds of our readers. Will it be the most popular model in sales? If history is to be believed, it probably will.
Which iPhone 17 model is most popular?
You can see the live results on the poll embedded above. I’m going to report on the results as of this writing (the overall percentages haven’t shifted much, so it seems new votes are sticking with the trend).
And what is that trend? The iPhone 17 Pro Max is the big winner with 39% of voters saying it’s the model they’re most interested in purchasing. The Pro is in second place with 22%, meaning the Pro family of devices has 61% of Tom’s Guide buyers interested.
I was convinced the iPhone Air would be among the more popular options just because it’s new and novel. I was wrong, as it’s sitting right around the same number of votes as the base iPhone 17, both at 11% of the total.
Of course, not everyone who reads Tom’s Guide is looking to buy an iPhone 17 (though, obviously, people clicking on iPhone 17-related articles like our attempt to bend the Air with our poll in them are more interested than the average person). As such, 17% of voters said they’re not buying an iPhone 17.
Our readers are backed up by Apple’s website. Of the new models, the 256GB Pro Max is currently slated to be delivered between October 6 through 13 in all three colors.
The Pro, Air and base iPhone 17 are still showing a September 19 delivery date. Clearly, buyers are pre-ordering the iPhone 17 Pro Max at a rapid pace, and the other phones aren’t selling as quickly (assuming Apple has an equal number of devices available, which is unknown).
However, history also supports the popularity of the iPhone Pro Max. In April, a report was released by CIRP showing which iPhone 16 models had sold the best through March 2025. The Pro Max accounted for 21% of iPhone sales, and the Pro accounted for 17%.
The base iPhone 16 was more popular than our early poll, with 20% of iPhone sales. However, late adopters who get an iPhone 16 in early 2025 might be more inclined to opt for the more affordable option.