These last few months leading up to the release of the iPhone 17 series have been full of people in online circles loudly declaring their dislike for the redesign. Turns out, that may just have been a very vocal minority, as iPhone 17 pre-orders are off the charts. At least in China, according to an industry insider from the country.The iPhone 16 series struggled in China. A lot. The lack of Apple Intelligence — which was marketed as the main reason to get the new iPhone — as well as strong competition from domestic brands meant that Apple was in trouble.
As such, the company had to do something drastic, something that it almost never does: it sold the iPhone 16 series at a discount. The iPhone immediately became a lot more popular in China after this move, and that popularity has now made its way to the iPhone 17.
Despite the redesign of the iPhone 17 Pro, pre-orders for Apple’s newest flagship smartphone lineup are already triple than pre-orders for the iPhone 16 series were, and it’s only going up.
As of now, the pre-order volume for the iPhone 17 series on major Chinese e-commerce platforms has already reached three times that of the iPhone 16 series. pic.twitter.com/E8kszpUpZf
— PhoneArt (@UniverseIce) September 11, 2025
Clearly, the new redesign isn’t as unpopular as many people made it out to be online. Furthermore, the iPhone 17 series is different, and doesn’t rely on a gimmick that the entire region of China still hasn’t gotten its hands on. However, there’s very likely another reason for the success of the iPhone 17 in the country.
iPhone 17 looks like the iPhone 16. | Image credit — Apple
In my opinion, and apparently in other’s opinions as well, the base iPhone 17 is brilliant. Apple has finally made its standard model a force to be reckoned with, and has also kept the design of the outgoing iPhone 16, just in case.
If I had to guess, the base model of the iPhone 17 is probably driving a lot of these pre-orders. It’s new, different, but not too unfamiliar, and it also brings upgrades that Apple fans have been clamoring for for years.
The ProMotion display and the anti-reflective coating easily make the base model iPhone 17 one of the best phones of 2025. And, in my opinion, the iPhone Air and the Pro models are also great, and they deserve to smash pre-order records.
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