- iPhone 15 Pro now sports a titanium build
- It is powered by a new 3nm A17 Pro chip
- It’s the first iPhone with a USB Type-C port
The latest iPhone 15 Pro, on paper, is significantly powerful over its predecessor, thanks to the new A17 Pro chip. A 3nm processor which is a first for any smartphone. It sports a titanium build which makes it lighter, and a new telephoto sensor. There is also a new action button, and a USB Type-C port. 3 of these new upgrades fall under the design category, but have an impact on the performance as well. But what makes this Pro iPhone special beyond these upgrades? And should a 14 Pro user switch to it? I can help you answer that considering I am a 14 Pro user myself.
Price & Availability
iPhone 15 Pro is now available on Apple.in and Amazon. You can also buy it across Apple premium sellers along with Apple’s own stores in Delhi and Mumbai.
Design & Build
Apple has been famous for making incremental changes when it comes to the design. And as our observation over the years states, it takes a couple of generations to really see a big difference in design. Like we did in 2017 with the iPhone X and again in 2019 with the iPhone 11 Pro. Considering another big change happened last year with the 14 Pro, thanks to the Dynamic Island, I personally wasn’t expecting any big changes this year. Yet, Apple has managed to surprise me, not with the action button as I had expected but with the titanium build.
On paper, the iPhone 15 Pro is 10% lighter than the 14 Pro, however it feels much lighter than I had expected. The matte finish on the edges have replaced the aluminum we saw on the 14 Pro which does make the device more comfortable to hold. The reduction in weight also makes the device much easier to hold and maintain a grip around. Aesthetically however, I liked the aluminum more, mostly because it looked a bit more premium.
From the back the 15 Pro looks strikingly similar to the 14 Pro, unless someone is up to date about the new colors. You have the same orientation for the 3 cameras on top left and the Apple logo in the center. And once you slap the case on, it’s really hard to tell between the 14 Pro & 15 Pro. If you care about this, as you should, considering it’s a serious investment and you deserve to flaunt it. I suggest going for the new natural titanium color, which is not only a new color but in my opinion also the best. The variant with me is in the titanium blue color which looks nice as well, however switching from a deep purple 14 Pro, I would prefer a lighter shade.
Beyond this, the placement of buttons and their size is similar to the 14 Pro. They are tactile and are reachable for easy use. And this is where the new action button comes into picture. Replacing the beloved mute switch, Apple has tried to make it more utilitarian.
It is the same size as the mute switch, however you can push it and yes it is programmable. You can use it to access the torch, camera, audio, focus mode and accessibility. And while all of them work seamlessly with the switch, I feel most people will end up using it like a mute switch. Mostly out of habit, like I did. I tried to keep it on different modes but found myself going back to mute functionality. Maybe in future, with more use cases to it, I will turn to it more often.
In case you are worried about the execution for it, don’t. You have to long press the action button in order for it to execute any mode. It responds with haptic feedback to notify about the action.
At the bottom we have the biggest upgrade on the iPhone in my opinion - the USB Type-C port. I say this because the implications of this hardware choice are beyond just having a universal charging cable. Starting with data transfers, I shoot videos for our social media and B rolls for our projects as well, which means filling up the internal storage quickly. With the USB Type-C port in place, I can hook up my SSD and record footage directly to the drive. Something that average users might not need, but for creators like me, it makes the iPhone even more reliable.
But not just that, the Type-C port here also means access to everyday stuff, which an average user can appreciate. Like the ability to connect an HDMI cable and project the iPhone on a TV at 4K 60FPS. Somewhere with the lighting cable, iPhone users had forgotten just how much they were compromising on.
For me, it was a rather simple moment when I appreciated the Type-C port here even more. We don’t have lighting cables in every car we sit in, most definitely not in India. And lately, most lighting cables were Type-C to lighting, not Type-A to lighting. I say this because most docs in cars are in fact Type-A, unless you buy a third party extension. Now I can cable up the iPhone with the available Type-A to C doc in my car or a cab to charge my device. Not only this, it makes my access to Apple carplay easier.
So yes, you might not see the benefits of Type-C port on the iPhone if you are a purist, but you will grow to like it. That being said, I won’t recommend charging it with random power bricks just because it supports Type-C. I explain that in the performance section.
Display
iPhone 15 Pro features a 6.1-inch super retina XDR display with a 120Hz max refresh rate and a max brightness of 2000 nits. And like last year you have the dynamic island upfront.
It might take a while for a 14 Pro user to notice a difference in the display here until you see it outdoors. The display looks noticeably brighter, but yes not enough for you to upgrade. Rest, the quality of the screen as one would expect is top notch.
Watching content on this screen is a delight, especially with support for HDR10+ and compatibility with mainstream OTT apps. Streaming shows in the highest quality is a pleasure, with deep blacks and impeccable HDR rendering. I have been watching Ahsoka on Disney+ and the experience is impressive. The black levels are impressive and there is no white noise on the screen. That being said, I am certain the experience of watching content is even better on the Pro Max thanks to the bigger screen. So if that's your priority keep it in mind.
The display features an adaptive refresh rate that seamlessly transitions between 1 - 120Hz based on the displayed content. The execution is top notch, with smooth transitions even between web browsing and gaming, free of frame drops. This makes the 15 Pro, like my 14 Pro, a great device to simply read.
You also get the always on display here, which is very different from what we have on Android. While it looks good and the widgets available on screen are useful, I preferred keeping it shut to save on battery.
Software
iPhone 15 Pro comes with ios 17 out of the box, which is favorable but there is a catch especially for users who are transferring data from their older iPhones. The day I unboxed the iPhone 15 Pro and sat down to transfer the data from my 14 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro had to be updated again. Since, Apple had rolled out the ios 17.0.1 on that very day. So, if you also happen to be in such a position, make sure both your previous iPhone and the newer iPhone are up to date.
Once done, the process was super simple, and the 15 Pro was a clone to my 14 Pro. Very crucial for me since I shoot content and having the backup of my footage is a top priority.
As far as the experience on ios is concerned, it has not only become user friendly but also more customizable with time. It is clean, easy on the eyes, and brings on some new features, which I want to point out.
Contact Posters
New way for ios users to look at your contact.Head to phone app - then contact- click on your name - go to edit and then make every change you want. You can set up a picture, memoji and even chose the font you like.
Name Drop
This works like magic. When 2 iPhones running ios 17 are bumped into each other, you can share information. Like contacts, photos or websites.
Facetime video message
You can now send a pre recorded video message to facetime users when the don't pick up. Simply record a message and send.
Smarter Autocorrect
Yes, IOS 17 will not be correcting certain profanities, you know what I mean. Also when autocorrect changes the word a blueish gray line will show underneath you can tap and go back to the original word. You will also get word suggestions in gray, tap on spacebar to insert them.
Safari feature
In safari tap the A’s in the bottom left and select listen to page. You can now hear it all.
I strongly suggest that you upgrade your ios to the latest version to enjoy contact posters. I don’t have a business card, and this has made my life much simpler. Yes, it's limited to iPhone users, but it works well.
Check out these features here!
Performance
This is where the iPhone 15 Pro shines the brightest. As we are aware, the Pro series are the only devices that have received the 3nm A17 Pro SoC. It’s the first mobile phone chipset in the world which is based on a 3nm architecture, and powerful enough to not only run computational tasks efficiently but also enable console level gaming.
Much of Apple’s announcements like console gaming and spatial video recording will happen around year end. Yet, coming from 14 Pro I could notice a significant jump in the performance here in three key areas. Battery life, gaming and camera performance. While we will discuss the camera performance in detail in the next section, let me talk about battery and gaming here.
My iPhone 14 Pro with 100% battery capacity was giving me a screen time of 4 and half hours. This was on a heavy day with shooting 1080P footage, transferring data, connected to the internet and editing on the go. Although on 4G connectivity this number is impressive.
Now on the 15 Pro I am on an average getting a screen on time of 5 and a half hours. The added hour to me is a massive advantage given I shoot extensively for our social channels. But that's not all, it also charges quickly with the new USB port. I have been using the same 18W charger for the last three years, which I have used across three iPhones now - 12, 14 Pro and now 15 Pro. The 15 Pro charges from 0-100% in 55 minutes on an average.
Moving to gaming, I have played COD: Mobile and Genshin Impact on the 15 Pro, both on the highest graphics setting. And so far I have not seen any ugly frame drops or throttling. I have been reading reports on throttling, but I believe that is more of a network issue and not an issue of the hardware. Gaming on the 15 Pro is promising, but again to truly enjoy the titles coming later, I feel the Pro max will be a better option.
I want to close this section with the heating issues that consumers have been facing on their new iPhone 15’s. At the time of writing this article Apple has announced a new update that will roll out to fix certain bugs in the OS. Other reasons explained are simple -a new iPhone takes time to optimize to understand your use. I for one didn’t face any such heating issues during my testing. Maybe because I was just following the usual Apple way. Charging my device with the official Apple charger or just keeping the OS up to date. That being said, it is unfortunate and I am certain this will be fixed very soon.
Camera
Apple made it pretty clear that the new Pro iPhones will feature the best cameras we have seen so far. This claim stands true, perhaps not in still images but definitely in videos. I will explain the specifications first. The new iPhone 15 Pro features a 48MP primary sensor which is paired with a 12MP ultra wide sensor and a 12MP 2X telephoto sensor.
The default 24MP output from the primary sensor is impressive, and it's equally great to have the choice of capturing a high-resolution 48MP image in optimal lighting conditions. The color science is solid, and the HDR is spot on. Giving a good contrast between shadows and light the images are well detailed.
Another impressive area are the new portraits. The fact that you can now add the bokeh effect in post adds a personalized touch to the images.
The cameras now automatically capture depth information; you can effortlessly convert any image of any object into a portrait even after you've already taken the shot. This newfound capability has proven to be incredibly practical for me. Especially for clicking thumbnail images.
Now the 15 Pro doesn’t have the tetra prism lens, which is available on the Pro max. Yet, the results are super impressive. With the introduction of the new A17 Pro chip and an enhanced processing pipeline, the iPhone 15 Pro now extends its support to sensor crop capabilities at 1.2X and 1.5X zoom, equivalent to 28mm and 35mm focal lengths. Apple describes these as essentially two new lenses in your pocket and I agree. However, I believe to truly exploit this technology the 15 Pro Max is a better option. With more variation in focal lengths, it gives you added freedom.
Coming down to videos, I have shot 7 videos for our social channels with the 15 Pro, and my observations are favorable. The color science this time is on the cooler side, which not only looks more accurate but is easier to color correct on post. We generally shoot on 1080P settings at 30FPS to make the post processing easier. Compared to the 14 Pro the files are slightly heavier, but the quality boost is noticeable.
I have shot Pro-res HDR videos with the 15 Pro as well, and be it in studio set-up or outdoors the results are stunning. But do note that the video files are significantly heavier when shot on Pro-Res HDR, with a minute long file going up to 300MB.
I am adding links here for sample videos that have been shot on the 15 Pro.
Dyson Zone
Shot outdoors at 4K 30FPS, the auto focus on the 15 Pro helped me wrap this shoot quickly.
Xiaomi Cyber Dog 2
This video was shot during the golden hour, as dubbed in the film making language. The HDR capabilities made sure that there is a balance between the low light shots and outdoors.
Selfie camera on the 15 Pro delivers similar results to my 14 Pro. But yes, the color science here also comes into play. The details are well captured with a spot on HDR. And as for videos, if you are a vlogger then the 15 Pro selfie camera can be dubbed the most viable choice for you.
Verdict
iPhone 15 Pro takes forward the legacy of iPhone’s in the right direction, keeping it intact with the title of best media device available right now. The camera capabilities mixed with the added USB Type-C gives freedom to content creators to shoot more footage. Additional changes like the action button look promising, but there is more time before we see more of its use cases.
For a regular iPhone Pro user, who just wants to upgrade? You can expect a lighter device, improved cameras and slicker colors on this one.