iPhone 15/Plus Review: A Great Time to Upgrade
When Apple Inc. unveiled the new series of iPhones at the beginning of September, it was met with “oohs and ahhs”. But unlike past years, those sentiments were not for the Pro models — it was the the regular lineup. The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus received some impressive upgrades over their 14 series predecessors, dramatic enough to warrant a rare one-year swap. These new baseline models are essentially the Pro models from 2022, with some additional improvements that make them the iPhone to buy this holiday season.
As I stated a few weeks ago, the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus are the best bang for your buck Apple handset. The upgrades given to the non-Pro models are significant across the board, for consumers, prosumers, and professionals outright. First and foremost, the new design of the iPhone 15 seems like the optimal evolution of the iPhone 12’s squared off body and sharper edges. Gone too is the fingerprint-magnet back glass, replaced with the softer almost frosted surface that feels silky smooth. The front glass is also slightly elevated and rounded, giving off iPhone 11 vibes that some people have craved since the flat OLED panel from the 12 series. The colors are the only downside, with muted pastel overtones and slightly darker glass camera bumps. The “blue” is really white with a hint of blue, while the green is a very faint mint. Pink will be the big winner, as it looks very playful. The default choice for many will be black, which has a matte finish on the back — very clean looking and my favorite color from the entire lineup. Overall, the design is wonderful. Even with muted colors, most consumers put a case on their phone anyway.
Design is not the only difference, in fact it may be the most overlooked change. Apple finally took the plunge and replaced their Lightning port from 2012 with USB-C. The change is striking after more than a decade of Lightning, but it is a welcome one. USB-C is on Apple’s MacBooks and iPads already, and has been for years, so adding it to the iPhone is the right decision (despite Apple clearly unhappy the European Union forced their hand). This continuity of cords is a vast improvement for those entrenched in Apple’s ecosystem, simplifying the charging situation to theoretically just one cable. But for someone coming from an iPhone 11 who perhaps has an 7th-generation iPad as their second Apple product, the change will be annoying at worst. While the iPhone 15 does come with a braided USB-C cable, it does not come with the power brick as part of Apple’s environmental push to reduce waste. There could be some additional purchases necessary for charging blocks, dongles (USB-C to auxiliary, something I need to purchase too), and cables around the house. As an aside, I would avoid buying Apple’s charging blocks at their bloated prices. Anker is my go-to brand as they are smaller, cheaper, and of the same quality as Apple. You can find them here. It is worth noting that the USB-C port on the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus are running at 480 mB/second — the equivalent speed of Lightning. If you want faster data transfer speeds, you will have to upgrade to the Pro models which are running at USB-C 3.0 speeds (not Thunderbolt fast, but much faster).
The camera gets a big upgrade year-over-year as well, a 48 megapixel main lens that was present on the iPhone 14 Pro. This is a vast improvement over the iPhone 14’s 12 megapixel lens that was relying on software advances every year to make pictures look better. This new camera can take high-resolution 24 megapixel photos as well and uses some impressive computational background work to make pictures look even better. There is also an auto-portrait mode, a 2x zoom, the usual night mode and ultra-wide lens, and auto-focus on the front-facing camera. The camera is a great upgrade, but it does not have the telephoto lens on the Pro models. It is also not the usual Pro model 48 megapixel lens, which takes in more light. But nonetheless, the camera gets a really nice boost.
Another Pro feature made its way to the 15 series in the Dynamic Island, the pill-shaped cutout that replaces the infamous notch. The Dynamic Island is interactive, adapting to the user’s currently-running apps, displaying information that ay be useful such as the location of an Uber, music of podcasts playing the background, or directions from Apple Maps. It is a neat feature that allows for updates without requiring an app to be open, remaining unobtrusive for the most part. The Dynamic Island recedes into the background when not in use either, remaining versatile and springing into action when needed. It is not necessarily a “Pro” feature, as there is nothing “Pro” about it, but it is encouraging to see these features come to all models quickly. The screen in general on the iPhone 15 is of high-quality, including getting up to 2,000 nits of brightness in certain conditions. While it is still locked at 60hz, which is disappointing to tech enthusiasts, the display is excellent. It is bright and color-accurate, the only important factors for 90% of the buying market.
As was the case last year, the baseline iPhones get the processor from the previous Pro models — in this case the A16 Bionic. Things feel snappy, battery life so far is solid, and gaming will feel silky smooth. Remember, this is the processor that Apple touted last year as a game-changer — and that remains the same just 12 months later. That being said, do not expect to come from an iPhone 12 or 13 and feel an immediate, dramatic improvement. Apple has mastered the ability to squeeze efficiency out of processors 2–4 years-old through streamlined software. The battery life may be much better, but general usage of the phone will not suddenly be 200% better. More like 15–25% better. In the case of the iPhone 15 Plus, with a larger body, expect battery life to be several hours better. Apple says it will get you about 26 hours, but early results from tests conducted by YouTubers show it has the best battery life out of any iPhone.
A refined design, updated camera, Dynamic Island with a brighter display, and USB-C make for a tremendous set of upgrades for the iPhone 15. In terms of year-over-year improvements, the standard iPhones get more than the Pro models from top to bottom. If you are coming from an iPhone 12 and older, this is a great year to upgrade your iPhone. Even if you have an iPhone 13 or 14, the new charging situation, camera, and display are worthy upgrades. I could not fault anyone going from an iPhone 14 to a 15, especially if they have other Apple products that use USB-C. After more refinements than revolutions in previous iPhone releases, this year’s devices are excellent upgrades to even last year’s handset. Consider the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus an excellent buy.
