Dare Divil Collective

After fourteen years of holding the second place spot, Apple is officially back on top as the number one smartphone maker. A lot of people online are giving credit to different parts of the lineup, but when I look at what people are actually using every day, a few things stand out. The bigger bodies and bigger batteries on the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max have made a real difference for creators, busy users, and anyone who pushes their phone hard. When you run VoiceOver or keep your screen brightness up, battery life matters, and these new phones finally delivered the stamina people were asking for.

Another detail that might not be talked about enough is the regular iPhone 17. From what we can see online and from what people are saying, the base model might be flying off shelves because it comes with more RAM and it is fully compatible with Apple Intelligence. That puts the regular model in a better position than last year’s base models and makes it more attractive for people who want AI features without jumping to the Pro models. It shows that Apple finally gave a little more love to the standard iPhone.

Now for my take. I currently use the iPhone 16, and even though I tested the 17 models, I am not in a rush to upgrade. One of the reasons is that I love the titanium build of the iPhone 16. When I hold the phone in my hand, especially comparing it to the iPhone 17, the titanium still feels solid, secure, and premium. Yes, the iPhone 17 is lighter, and aluminum helps with heat, but the titanium on the 16 just feels right to me when I am using it every day. It is one of those details that matters more in real life than on a spec sheet.

As for Apple being number one again, that is good news but not something that changes everything for the customer right away. It simply means more people are buying iPhones. The real benefit will come if Apple uses this momentum to keep improving the experience. If they want to stay competitive, especially with companies like Google baking Gemini deep into Android, Apple needs to push more in the direction of AI, better tools, and smarter integration across devices. Apple is great at what it does, but there is always room to improve the small things that matter daily.