The iPhone 15 series follows the same pattern we've seen Apple use in recent years, consisting of four different models, each with its own pros and cons. It's good to have options, but it also means you're forced to make a decision about which iPhone 15 is right for you.
At first glance, it may seem like color options and cameras are the only differences between themiPhone 15IniPhone 15 Pro. But if you look closely, you'll see that there are a few key features that could easily tip the balance in favor of one phone or the other.
I'm here to break down the similarities and differences, and post my hands-on experiences with bothPhones, in an effort to help you decide which phone is best for you.
The iPhone 15 is the best new iPhone for most people, with nifty new camera tricks, the excellent Dynamic Island and all the benefits of USB-C.
Read our review
Pros get the action button, titanium, a better long-range zoom, and all the other perks of the iPhone 15, like USB-C.
Read our review
Quick comparison
 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | iOS 17 | iOS 17 |
| Screen | 6,1-inch Super Retina XDR | 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR with ProMotion, always-on display |
| Processor | A16 | A17 Pro |
| Bulletin | 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB |
| Memory | 6 GB | 8 GB |
| Bagcamer | 48 megapixel hoved, 12 megapixel ultrabred | 48 megapixel main camera, 12 megapixel ultra-wide angle, 12 megapixel telephoto |
| Front camera | TrueDepth-camera range 12 megapixels | TrueDepth-camera range 12 megapixels |
| To colour | Pink, yellow, green, blue, black | Natural titanium, blue titanium, white titanium, black titanium |
| Size and weight | 5,81 x 2,82 x 0,31 tommer, 6,02 ounce | 5,77 x 2,78 x 0,32 tommer, 6,60 ounce |
| Taken | $ 799 | $ 999 |
Out with the old, in with the new
The iPhone 15 is made of aluminum, the same material Apple has used in non-Pro iPhone models in recent years. Only this year did Apple add the color of the phone to the glass back. The result is a colorful home with a matte finish and appearance that will certainly be a big selling point for many. Admittedly, most of us cover the colorful backs with itsager. iPhone 15 is available in pink, yellow, green, blue and black.
The iPhone 15 Pro lacks the same colorful options as the standard 15, but that's nothing new when you look at previous iPhone models. What's new, however, is the fact that the 15 Pro is made from titanium – a first for any iPhone – replacing the stainless steel of previous Pro models. The back of the phone has a textured frosted glass back that doesn't look like glass at all. Color options for the 15 Pro include natural titanium, blue titanium, white titanium and black titanium.
On the right edge of the iPhone 15 is the sleep/wake button, with the volume keys and a mute button on the left. You'll find one at the bottomUSB-Cport - another first for the iPhone - for charging and syncing data with the iPhone. The iPhone 15 Pro is similar, but instead of two cameras on the back you will find three. And instead of a mute button above the volume keys, there's a new action button that you long-press to perform a task, like muting your phone, launching the camera app, or running a shortcut.
While the mute switch has been an important part of the iPhone experience, the action button has proven to be incredibly useful, especially when programmed to launch a shortcut. Now when I long press the action button it opens a shortcut that allows me to do routine things like mute the phone or enable/disable Do Not Disturb. But I've also added options to warm up my car, change the status of my VPN connection, control the lights in my home, or play music on aHomePod- all without launching an app.
Finally, despite both phones having the same screen size, there is a slight difference in overall dimensions: the iPhone 15 Pro is slightly smaller and minimally heavier than the iPhone 15.
TL;DR:If you're trying to decide which phone to use based on design, I'd have to give the 15 Pro a slight edge because of the action button. That said, there's a case to be made for preferring the iPhone 15's mute switch for its familiarity, not to mention the more colorful options are certainly appealing.
A small but important difference in displays
Both phones have a 6.1-inch display with a Dynamic Island cutout to hide the TrueDepth camera on the front. This is the first time Dynamic Island has been available on a non-Pro iPhone, after the feature debuted on the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. Dynamic Island is used to display alerts and important information, and provides quick access to various functions, such as playback controls, when listening to music. Apps that have added support for Live Activities to get information at a glance, such as sports scores or the status of your Uber, also appear on Dynamic Island.
Both screens have the same resolution, color saturation and maximum brightness (2,000 nits), making them easier than ever to view outdoors.
What sets the screens apart is the fact that the 15 Pro's screen has an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz, while the iPhone 15 is locked to 60Hz. Additionally, iPhone 15 Pro has a low-power 'always on' screen feature, which keeps the screen on when the phone is not in use, so you can always easily see the time and any alarm notifications.
The Pro model's adaptive refresh rate means the phone can speed up the screen when you're scrolling through a long web page or playing a game, for example, for a smoother experience. In practice, however, I find it difficult to see a meaningful difference when using the phones side by side. Scrolling is certainly smoother on the 15 Pro, but beyond that it's hard to quantify.
That said, the iPhone 15 Pro's Always-on display is a feature I use every day and rely on to keep track of the current time, incoming notifications, lock screen widgets, and even live activity without my phone having to open constantly.
Admittedly, it takes a few days to get used to your iPhone's screen lighting up even when it's very dark. The first few days I found myself reaching out and trying to put the phone to sleep, only to remind myself that the screen needed to be on.
An always-on display adds an extra layer of interaction between you and your phone, even if it means you don't have to touch the phone at all to use it. It's certainly an attractive feature for some; for others it is a distraction. (For what it's worth, you can disable the 15 Pro's always-on display in the Settings app.)
TL;DR:The iPhone 15 Pro's always-on display and higher refresh rate give it an edge over the standard iPhone 15, but otherwise the two screens are virtually identical.
Performance and battery life
The iPhone 15 is powered by Apple's A16 Bionic processor, the same one used last yeariPhone 14 Proqueue up. So it is older technology, but still very fast and suitable for useiOS 17and all its functions. Apple doesn't officially specify how much memory is in any iPhone, but according to Geekbench 6, the iPhone 15 has 6GB of memory. Storage options include 128GB, 256GB or 512GB, priced at $799, $899 and $1,099 respectively.
The iPhone 15 Pro uses Apple's latest chip, the A17 Pro, which has one more GPU core compared to the A16 Bionic (important for gaming!) and is generally faster. The 15 Pro comes with 8GB of memory and storage options of 128GB, 256GB, 512GB or 1TB, priced at $999, $1,099, $1,299 and $1,499 respectively.
If you were to objectively compare the performance of the two phones using benchmarks, the iPhone 15 Pro is the clear winner. When running Geekbench 6's CPU test, the 15 Pro averaged a single-core score of 2,915 and a multi-core score of 7,213. Running the same test on the iPhone 15 results in an average single-core score of 2,595 and a multi-core score of 6,510.
These results are consistent with the iPhone 15 Pro offering better single-core performance, which you'll likely use for routine tasks that don't require a lot of power, like scrolling social media. The multi-core improvement in the A17 Pro will be most apparent when playing games or performing resource-intensive tasks like editing photos or video. It's also worth noting that the iPhone 15 Pro's better processor gives it exclusive access to select console-quality games coming soon, including Resident Evil Village, Death Stranding, and Assassin's Creed Mirage.
But when I use the phones as I normally do (checking email, reading the news, mindlessly scrolling through social media, chatting in the Messages app, and taking a few random photos) I haven't noticed any significant difference in performance between the two Phones. If you force me to cheat, I'll have to settle for the fact that apps seem to launch a little faster, photo edits are applied more quickly, and I sometimes have to wait a second or two less for the 15 Pro to load games.
Apple's official battery life estimates that the iPhone 15 can deliver 20 hours of video playback, while the iPhone 15 Pro can deliver 23 hours of video playback.
My experience using both phones was similar to these numbers, with the iPhone 15 Pro routinely having a few percent more battery left at the end of the day compared to the iPhone 15.
TL;DR:Both phones offer similar performance and battery life. If you game often or find yourself wanting your current phone to have longer battery life, the 15 Pro is the right choice. Otherwise, the 15's performance is fine.
The cameras are closer than ever
The iPhone 15 has dual rear cameras with zoom options ranging from 0.5x ultra-wide, standard 1x and 2x zoom - the latter of which is usually reserved for iPhones with three rear cameras. Apple uses some software tricks to take 2x photos with the main camera's 48-megapixel sensor, only zoomed in. The iPhone 15 has zoom options that range from 0.5x to 10x.
The iPhone 15 Pro has three rear cameras, including a 48-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera and a 12-megapixel telephoto camera. Using similar software tricks to take advantage of the larger main camera sensor, the 15 Pro gives you 0.5x, 1x, 2x and 3x zoom options as standard, with a maximum zoom level of 15x, compared to the 15x's 10x. If you want something with more zoom, the iPhone 15 Pro Max has 5x optical zoom and up to 25x digital zoom.
In addition to more digital and optical zoom options, you also get access to improved optical image stabilization, the ability to take night portraits, a macro shooting mode, and support for Apple's ProRAW image type for more editing options on the 15 Pro.
Both phones have similar video recording capabilities, but the iPhone 15 Pro goes beyond the 15's capabilities with support for ProRes video and more advanced video features like Log video recording and a macro video mode. Macro video mode lets you get very close to an object, such as a flower or an insect, while keeping it in focus.
The front cameras are identical in capabilities, except for the added support for ProRes video recording on the 15 Pro.
These advanced video features like ProRes and Log video recording give professional videographers more tools and options to adjust and adjust colors in video footage shot in these formats, but for the vast majority of iPhone users this means nothing.
The camera system on the iPhone 15 Pro is more capable and versatile than the standard 15, but neither phone takes bad photos. In fact, the performance of both camera systems has never been as comparable as it is today. You get multiple levels of optical zoom and high-resolution images from both phones.
One feature that I still can't believe is limited to the iPhone 15 Pro is the ability to take a normal photo and convert it into a portrait photo afterwards using focus and depth control. For the feature to work, you need to tap the screen to set a focus point, or the iPhone needs to detect a person or animal in the photo. When either of these conditions are met, the iPhone also records depth information along with the image.
Then when you edit the image, you can turn it into a portrait image or change the focal point to a foreground or background element.
Before the launch of the iPhone 15, I rarely thought about the standard iPhone models due to camera differences. But with the 15 and 15 Pro, I'd be equally happy with either phone, depending on the camera settings. Only when you compare both phones with the iPhone 15 Pro Max will you see a big difference.
TL;DR:The iPhone 15 Pro's camera is the best camera you can get on an iPhone right now, thanks to improved zoom and better overall clarity. That said, the iPhone 15's camera is no slouch: if your main concern is taking and sharing photos on social media, you'll be happy with the results.
In short
Apple has made it very difficult for iPhone users to choose between the iPhone 15 and 15 Pro this year. A compelling argument can be made that the iPhone 15 is the most 'professional' entry-level iPhone yet. And for that reason, it's a good choice for many people, especially because it saves you a few hundred dollars.
But if you like having the latest and greatest iPhone, the iPhone 15 Pro's always-on display, new action button, titanium body, more powerful processor, and extra camera setup are worth the $999 investment.
