iPhone 15 Pro Impressions after upgrading from XR to iPhone 15 Pro

[Populus]

Here are photos (taken with an iPhone 6, sorry) showing the difference in perceived luminosity at different viewing angles.

I’ve used both LCD and OLED iPhone, and I’ve settled down with an iPhone SE 3 which, in addition, it has a gorgeous screen (I bought it open box, so I was able to compare between different units, and took the one with the crispiest display).

Those bad view angles… I really hated that when I had one of those.

Many thanks for your honest review!

I am still rocking my 4 year old Xs and it is still a plenty capable device in 2023. This is not like the "old" days when a few years old iPhone 6 was barely useable. I think Apple (and the tech media) has successfully brainwashed the masses into thinking they need bigger, heavier, and more expensive phones with incremental year over year improvements.

Going forward I will always buy devices that are 2 or so years old. In fact, now is the best time to get a 13 or 14 series in great condition and at big discounts due to all the annual upgraders.

I hope you’re right, and my new SE 3 with an A15 SoC keeps fresh for many more years.

Actually, I just updated my iPhone 8 to iOS 16.6.1 and it runs surprisingly well!

 

[Fred Zed]

So, I upgraded 5 days ago from a 5-year old iPhone XR to an iPhone 15 Pro. I am overall a little underwhelmed - here's why.

- Design: the 15 Pro is definitely nicer to hold and less slippery. It reminds me of the 5/5S/SE and feels nice in the hand. Alas it is now. in a silicone case (Ryan London leather case arriving later this month) and I can't see that design. The square sides make the silicone case bulkier than the one I had on my XR. However, the ginormous cameras are monstrous. This thing can't be used flat on a table without a case and the cameras are preventing me from using the (rounded square) Anker Qi charging case I have been using for 5 years at work. Big WTF moment when I tried charging it. Finally, I opted for Natural Titanium (which looks like the space grey of the iPhone 6) but I really wish they had fun colours. It's a boring colour. I still have so much regret over buying a black XR instead of a yellow or orange one.

- Cameras: alright, the back cameras are a fair bit better. But compared to my partner's iPhone 13 Mini, I am not amazed. They still look by and large like smartphone photos. Nice to have a zoom but the 3x camera is of noticeably lesser quality. The front camera is... the same I guess? Very grainy in low light. I don't use video much but the XR already had great stabilized video so I am not appreciating the improvements of the Pro fully here.

- Screen: I did not notice 120Hz first but when going back to my XR I missed it. You got me, Apple. However, I think I prefer the "Liquid Retina LCD" over the "Retina XDR Oled". Big surprise as I was SO much looking forward to going OLED, having enjoyed having an OLED TV. The OLED has a greenish tinge, the colours don't pop as much as on the LCD (except for when I am watching HDR videos/photos) and the viewing angles are noticeably worse. I am going to attach photos to show how, at identical luminosity levels, an off-centre viewpoint sees a shift in light and colour. Disappointment. I also find OLED more tiring than LCD, which is also going against my expectations. There is also the fact that the iPhone 15 Pro screen, despite having the same diagonal as the XR and, apart from the slightly more rounded corners, about the same area, and of course a higher pixel density, shows less content. Now I remember that the XR was actually using the layout of the XS Max. I miss that extra line or two, it's like going for a smaller phone but not getting the benefit of a smaller size. Even lowering the font size to try and increase the amount of data shown, you cannot go as low as on the XR.

- Dynamic Island: it kind a takes more vertical space overall than the Notch so I don't really get it. It's slightly prettier but the phone doesn't display anything above the island and underuses the sides. Reader, I am not much impressed!

- Battery: meh. Hard to compare, but I remember being amazed by my XR when I got it. The 15 Pro does get hot (when setting it up it had to pause charging) and does use up battery at a faster rate, it seems. It's faring better than my XR at 82% battery health but It's probably not a significant upgrade compared to if I had replaced the XR's battery.

- UWB, LiDAR, Bluetooth 5.3 vs 5, Wifi 6E vs AX, MagSafe vs Qi: these upgrades are not useful to me. Is there any cool app out there that uses LiDAR and that is not a home furniture seller's or kitchen designer's app?

- 5G: haven't noticed a difference compared to 4G (I get 150-180Mbps in 4G here in London, which is more than enough for my needs) and I am on Wifi most of the time when in the office or at home.

- Speed: it's a bit faster but nothing like the increases in speed I had going from a 3GS to a 6 and from a 6 to an XR. The XR is still very comfortable with iOS 17.1. The main speed increases are felt when loading web pages, opening the camera app and dealing with a few badly programmed apps like Tesco (groceries). Otherwise, going through the home screen, Spotlight and system apps, it's more or less the same speed. Shocking, I know. I can still slow down the phone to a crawl (or my M1 Pro computer) by opening a big (>500MB) Excel file, reviewing a heavily modified Word document (e.g. a contract) with "tracking" on or receiving big attachments in MS Teams (thanks Microsoft for keeping Apple's CPU engineers on their toes). MS Office apps are consistently the most demanding apps on my computers (take that, games).

- Action button: I have tried various clever things (Shortcut that depends on the position of the phone etc) but I have settled on using it for the flashlight. I don't like that it has to be a long press. I'd prefer options to enable short press, double press etc. Not using it very often.

- USB-C: it's fine, and useful to be able to reuse the same charging cables as for my MBP 14, Logitech mouse and keyboard, etc. Now, my Apple keyboard at work and my Airpods still use Lightning, and my home chargers are Lightning (partner using a 13 Mini) so it will be a while before I ditch Lightning. I enjoy being able to plug the phone to my USB-C hubs at home and at work and using screen, keyboard and (through enabling Assistive Touch) mouse. But why didn't Apple enable an iPad-like interface on external displays? the narrow vertical area of the screen used is ridiculous. And iOS doesn't even let you fill a vertical display. Feels like a huge missed opportunity - I could almost leave the Macbook at home and just bring my iPhone to work! Feels like the potential of USB-C is far from being fully realized here.


All in all it's an extremely nice but very incremental update, and I miss LCD and finally understand why micro-LEDs have the potential of being an interesting upgrade. Long gone are the days or needing to upgrade every year or two: every 6 years seems feasible and I could have rocked my XR for another year easily, in exchange for parting with just £85 for fresh battery.

What I am most excited about for the future of the iPhone is its ability to become what John Siracusa calls a "naked robotic core" that I can dock to a USB-C hub at work and at home, use as a computer and save myself the work of carrying 14-inch brick... MBP (sorry) on my 2x hour-long cycle commute. I am also excited about micro-LED and about future advances in battery technology.

I'm just not really excited with my iPhone 15 Pro, but that's okay, as it's hopefully going to last me 5+ years.

Great unbiased review. Kudos.

 

[Makisupa Policeman]

I think most of what you’re saying is really subjective, but to each their own. However I’m with you on dynamic island—not sure I get it. It actually takes up more space than the notch since it creates more unused space 😑

 

[Makisupa Policeman]

Agree. Plus the 5X camera is really crappy.

USB-C is a pain. All my cables are Lightning.

My 8 Plus screen is easier to look at and read.

Dynamic Island: Dumb. Just dumb.

The Max is still too heavy.

Sent it back. Prefer the Plus phones.

There's actually too much screen on these chinless phones. Too easy to make errant presses.

Lol I don’t get why people are complaining about usb-c. Even if it was a forced change by the nanny-state EU, it’s the best change iPhones have had in a long time. The fact alone that I can charge my Mac, iPad, and phone with all the same cables is great! And the (somewhat) faster transfer speeds are a nice bonus.

Just buy new cords people! You don’t need to buy directly from Apple and pay $49 per brick or whatever outrageous price they charge. You can get brand-new genuine Apple stuff on eBay for typically 1/4 — 1/2 the price.

 

[mectojic]

So, I upgraded 5 days ago from a 5-year old iPhone XR to an iPhone 15 Pro. I am overall a little underwhelmed - here's why.

- Design: the 15 Pro is definitely nicer to hold and less slippery. It reminds me of the 5/5S/SE and feels nice in the hand. Alas it is now. in a silicone case (Ryan London leather case arriving later this month) and I can't see that design. The square sides make the silicone case bulkier than the one I had on my XR. However, the ginormous cameras are monstrous. This thing can't be used flat on a table without a case and the cameras are preventing me from using the (rounded square) Anker Qi charging case I have been using for 5 years at work. Big WTF moment when I tried charging it. Finally, I opted for Natural Titanium (which looks like the space grey of the iPhone 6) but I really wish they had fun colours. It's a boring colour. I still have so much regret over buying a black XR instead of a yellow or orange one.

- Cameras: alright, the back cameras are a fair bit better. But compared to my partner's iPhone 13 Mini, I am not amazed. They still look by and large like smartphone photos. Nice to have a zoom but the 3x camera is of noticeably lesser quality. The front camera is... the same I guess? Very grainy in low light. I don't use video much but the XR already had great stabilized video so I am not appreciating the improvements of the Pro fully here.

- Screen: I did not notice 120Hz first but when going back to my XR I missed it. You got me, Apple. However, I think I prefer the "Liquid Retina LCD" over the "Retina XDR Oled". Big surprise as I was SO much looking forward to going OLED, having enjoyed having an OLED TV. The OLED has a greenish tinge, the colours don't pop as much as on the LCD (except for when I am watching HDR videos/photos) and the viewing angles are noticeably worse. I am going to attach photos to show how, at identical luminosity levels, an off-centre viewpoint sees a shift in light and colour. Disappointment. I also find OLED more tiring than LCD, which is also going against my expectations. There is also the fact that the iPhone 15 Pro screen, despite having the same diagonal as the XR and, apart from the slightly more rounded corners, about the same area, and of course a higher pixel density, shows less content. Now I remember that the XR was actually using the layout of the XS Max. I miss that extra line or two, it's like going for a smaller phone but not getting the benefit of a smaller size. Even lowering the font size to try and increase the amount of data shown, you cannot go as low as on the XR.

- Dynamic Island: it kind a takes more vertical space overall than the Notch so I don't really get it. It's slightly prettier but the phone doesn't display anything above the island and underuses the sides. Reader, I am not much impressed!

- Battery: meh. Hard to compare, but I remember being amazed by my XR when I got it. The 15 Pro does get hot (when setting it up it had to pause charging) and does use up battery at a faster rate, it seems. It's faring better than my XR at 82% battery health but It's probably not a significant upgrade compared to if I had replaced the XR's battery.

- UWB, LiDAR, Bluetooth 5.3 vs 5, Wifi 6E vs AX, MagSafe vs Qi: these upgrades are not useful to me. Is there any cool app out there that uses LiDAR and that is not a home furniture seller's or kitchen designer's app?

- 5G: haven't noticed a difference compared to 4G (I get 150-180Mbps in 4G here in London, which is more than enough for my needs) and I am on Wifi most of the time when in the office or at home.

- Speed: it's a bit faster but nothing like the increases in speed I had going from a 3GS to a 6 and from a 6 to an XR. The XR is still very comfortable with iOS 17.1. The main speed increases are felt when loading web pages, opening the camera app and dealing with a few badly programmed apps like Tesco (groceries). Otherwise, going through the home screen, Spotlight and system apps, it's more or less the same speed. Shocking, I know. I can still slow down the phone to a crawl (or my M1 Pro computer) by opening a big (>500MB) Excel file, reviewing a heavily modified Word document (e.g. a contract) with "tracking" on or receiving big attachments in MS Teams (thanks Microsoft for keeping Apple's CPU engineers on their toes). MS Office apps are consistently the most demanding apps on my computers (take that, games).

- Action button: I have tried various clever things (Shortcut that depends on the position of the phone etc) but I have settled on using it for the flashlight. I don't like that it has to be a long press. I'd prefer options to enable short press, double press etc. Not using it very often.

- USB-C: it's fine, and useful to be able to reuse the same charging cables as for my MBP 14, Logitech mouse and keyboard, etc. Now, my Apple keyboard at work and my Airpods still use Lightning, and my home chargers are Lightning (partner using a 13 Mini) so it will be a while before I ditch Lightning. I enjoy being able to plug the phone to my USB-C hubs at home and at work and using screen, keyboard and (through enabling Assistive Touch) mouse. But why didn't Apple enable an iPad-like interface on external displays? the narrow vertical area of the screen used is ridiculous. And iOS doesn't even let you fill a vertical display. Feels like a huge missed opportunity - I could almost leave the Macbook at home and just bring my iPhone to work! Feels like the potential of USB-C is far from being fully realized here.


All in all it's an extremely nice but very incremental update, and I miss LCD and finally understand why micro-LEDs have the potential of being an interesting upgrade. Long gone are the days or needing to upgrade every year or two: every 6 years seems feasible and I could have rocked my XR for another year easily, in exchange for parting with just £85 for fresh battery.

What I am most excited about for the future of the iPhone is its ability to become what John Siracusa calls a "naked robotic core" that I can dock to a USB-C hub at work and at home, use as a computer and save myself the work of carrying 14-inch brick... MBP (sorry) on my 2x hour-long cycle commute. I am also excited about micro-LED and about future advances in battery technology.

I'm just not really excited with my iPhone 15 Pro, but that's okay, as it's hopefully going to last me 5+ years.

Fantastic review.
I'm still on my iPhone SE 2016, but that's because I was underwhelmed many times by iPhone upgrades - returned an iPhone X, 11, 13 Mini and just last week a 15.
After all the features, I still prefer a small phone with a headphone jack and no ginormous camera bulge.

I appreciate the quality of photos is better in many ways on the newer phones, but it's not worth the additional weight, awkward bump and lack of headphone jack.

And yes, all could be forgiven for me if they made an amazing external display interface.

Your comment about the Dynamic island is great. After appreciating it for a few minutes, you then forget about it, and then realise that you're actually losing more screen space because of it.

 

[BadBuoy]

Very interesting that the 15 Pro isn’t much faster than the Xr. Very good and informative review overall.

It's significantly faster. I went from a XR to a 14 PM last year and it's a night and day difference. The apps OP listed are not exactly metrics for speed. I don't agree with this whatsoever. From the 14 PM to the 15 PM wasn't that much different except in places that I actually care about. For instance, taking RAW DNG photos on the 14 PM, it took about 2-3 seconds just to take one shot. Now I can take 2-3 RAW DNG photos per second. Little things where they actually matter the boost is noticeable. But again, saying the XR to the 15 isn't much faster is something that I absolutely do not agree with. It was such a stark change in speed with every single thing that I do that I was in shock. But I do a lot of demanding things with my phone. If you truly are only doing the bare minimum with the phone then of course the changes aren't going to be so apparent. But even for the normal things I did with the XR it was very noticeable.

Lol I don’t get why people are complaining about usb-c. Even if it was a forced change by the nanny-state EU, it’s the best change iPhones have had in a long time. The fact alone that I can charge my Mac, iPad, and phone with all the same cables is great! And the (somewhat) faster transfer speeds are a nice bonus.

Exactly. Regardless of the EU influence on the change, it's pretty significant for me. I do physical backups and restorations on my Mac and the backup/restoration speed is so much faster now it's amazing. And I only need one charging cable by my bed now for my Mac, PS5 controller, and now the iPhone 15 PM. I'm really loving the USB-C.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

Great review. Thanks for this. Gonna hold off another year.

Actually no, it is not a "great review" even though it is lots of words. I do not have the patience to respond to all the flawed observations, but some just jump out.
E.g. "- UWB, LiDAR, Bluetooth 5.3 vs 5, Wifi 6E vs AX, MagSafe vs Qi: these upgrades are not useful to me. Is there any cool app out there that uses LiDAR and that is not a home furniture seller's or kitchen designer's app?"

Such upgrades are useful. One person's inability to perceive them does not make BT 5.3, WiFi 6E, etc. less real. LiDAR, for instance, assists with image focus, not just "home furniture seller's or kitchen designer's app."

The review is like saying "A 2011 MBP is about as good as the 2023 MBP because I can type an email with either one."

 

[BadBuoy]

Actually no, it is not a "great review" even though it is lots of words. I do not have the patience to respond to all the flawed observations, but some just jump out.
E.g. "- UWB, LiDAR, Bluetooth 5.3 vs 5, Wifi 6E vs AX, MagSafe vs Qi: these upgrades are not useful to me. Is there any cool app out there that uses LiDAR and that is not a home furniture seller's or kitchen designer's app?"

Such upgrades are useful. One person's inability to perceive them does not make BT 5.3, WiFi 6E, etc. less real. LiDAR, for instance, assists with image focus, not just "home furniture seller's or kitchen designer's app."

Yes, they're significantly useful to me considering I have 1 Gbps internet with a WiFi 6e mesh system to match. So anywhere around the house I'm getting, at the very least, 900 Mbps. I use and enjoy most of the things the OP doesn't care about.

The review is like saying "A 2011 MBP is about as good as the 2023 MBP because I can type an email with either one."

Yeah. That was the general vibe I got after reading this.

 

[Reached]

It's significantly faster. I went from a XR to a 14 PM last year and it's a night and day difference. The apps OP listed are not exactly metrics for speed. I don't agree with this whatsoever. From the 14 PM to the 15 PM wasn't that much different except in places that I actually care about. For instance, taking RAW DNG photos on the 14 PM, it took about 2-3 seconds just to take one shot. Now I can take 2-3 RAW DNG photos per second. Little things where they actually matter the boost is noticeable. But again, saying the XR to the 15 isn't much faster is something that I absolutely do not agree with. It was such a stark change in speed with every single thing that I do that I was in shock. But I do a lot of demanding things with my phone. If you truly are only doing the bare minimum with the phone then of course the changes aren't going to be so apparent. But even for the normal things I did with the XR it was very noticeable.


Exactly. Regardless of the EU influence on the change, it's pretty significant for me. I do physical backups and restorations on my Mac and the backup/restoration speed is so much faster now it's amazing. And I only need one charging cable by my bed now for my Mac, PS5 controller, and now the iPhone 15 PM. I'm really loving the USB-C.

I was in the store, and tried the 15 Pro Max for 5-10 minutes in direct comparison to my XR, and it was so much faster, everything felt like it opened instantly, and the smoothness of the 120HZ display was extremely pleasing while scrolling etc.

To OP: thanks for your review, as an XR owner myself looking to upgrade this comes in very handy

 

[BadBuoy]

I was in the store, and tried the 15 Pro Max for 5-10 minutes in direct comparison to my XR, and it was so much faster, everything felt like it opened instantly, and the smoothness of the 120HZ display was extremely pleasing while scrolling etc.

Going back to a non-120Hz iPhone is jarring after using the faster display.

To OP: thanks for your review, as an XR owner myself looking to upgrade this comes in very handy

As someone that upgraded from the XR last year to the 14 PM, it's definitely worth upgrading. The XR is still a great phone though, so if you don't immediately need the new features, you could still hold onto the phone a bit longer. Since the X was cut off from iOS17 this year, the XR will probably be cut off from iOS 18 next year. So it's almost time to upgrade.

 

[ataq]

Hey there,

I returned the 15 Pro for some of the same reasons. Back to Xr again.

 

[BadBuoy]

Hey there,

I returned the 15 Pro for some of the same reasons. Back to Xr again.

What reasons were those?

 

[Surfsalot]

XR was a great phone we had 2, got them at a bargain $500AUD new each, problem is gonna have to bite the bullet sooner or later for the overpriced current or coming models.
OP just wait and pick up one near new or new on the private marketplace, I got my 14 pro new for $1kAUD cash 6 months ago, retail was $1900.
They are just not worth the money at full retail Price.

 

[Surfsalot]

What reasons were those?

Probably cause they are not worth $2KAUD plus lol

 

[BadBuoy]

Probably cause they are not worth $2KAUD plus lol

That's not a reason. The iPhones are similar in price every year.

 

[Surfsalot]

That's not a reason. The iPhones are similar in price every year.

Extra $150 here, in 5 years they will be $3KAUD for base model max here

 

[BadBuoy]

Extra $150 here, in 5 years they will be $3KAUD for base model max here

With the current rate of this ridiculous inflation, you're probably correct.

 

[headlessmike]

Going back to a non-120Hz iPhone is jarring after using the faster display.

It's jarring at first, but you quickly get used to it again. I switch back and forth between an iPad Pro and iPad mini and the difference is really noticeable at first. After using the mini for just a few minutes though you almost can't tell anymore.

 

[OneSon]

As an XR user, I found this very useful - thanks. 👍

I'm going to stick with my XR until it either breaks or is no longer supported. I don't use the camera (have a mirrorless) so for me it's a very basic communication device. In that regard, the XR is absolutely fine.

"Remember that what you have now was once all you ever dreamed of having"

 

[ibookemo]

Fantastic review.
I'm still on my iPhone SE 2016, but that's because I was underwhelmed many times by iPhone upgrades - returned an iPhone X, 11, 13 Mini and just last week a 15.
After all the features, I still prefer a small phone with a headphone jack and no ginormous camera bulge.

I appreciate the quality of photos is better in many ways on the newer phones, but it's not worth the additional weight, awkward bump and lack of headphone jack.

And yes, all could be forgiven for me if they made an amazing external display interface.

Your comment about the Dynamic island is great. After appreciating it for a few minutes, you then forget about it, and then realise that you're actually losing more screen space because of it.

I agree with you on lots of your points. I’m actually willing to sacrifice some form for better cameras though as I want to get good pics of my kids while their small.

I’d love to stick with my 14 Pro Max for a few years, that would be ideal. I think the cameras have peaked a little for now. The images from the main lens in the 15 Pro are really similar to the 14 Pro. The new one has more pixels at 24 megapixels but the images are no sharper. It’s like you took a 12MP image and up-resed in Photoshop. More pixels but the same detail.

The iPhone is now like a Porsche 911 - small updates with a very strong heritage.

It’s difficult to pick a bad model from the last 3 years, all are still excellent tools.

We’re in a good place with the iPhone, it’s a mature product now, like a MackBook.

 

[saber32au]

That's not a reason.

It's most certainly is a reason!

Why would a user pay 2K AUD for a new phone which the user determines the new phone provides little benefit over their old phone?

 

[ibookemo]

As an XR user, I found this very useful - thanks. 👍

I'm going to stick with my XR until it either breaks or is no longer supported. I don't use the camera (have a mirrorless) so for me it's a very basic communication device. In that regard, the XR is absolutely fine.

"Remember that what you have now was once all you ever dreamed of having"

To be honest, if I weren’t such a heavy camera user I could still be on my iPhone 11 (not Pro). It still does everything marvellously and is a really sweet design.

It’s only the camera that has me updating and even that seems to be somewhat plateauing as of late.

Currently aiming to stick to the 14 Pro Max as I find it difficult to see the upgrade in photos this year apart from night mode and 5x zoom (both of which I’d use maybe 2% of the time tops).

 

[BadBuoy]

It's most certainly is a reason!

Why would a user pay 2K AUD for a new phone which the user determines the new phone provides little benefit over their old phone?

That's a reason for any new phone, not specifically the new one. Then the option would be to get a used phone at a discount.

 

[BadBuoy]

It's jarring at first, but you quickly get used to it again. I switch back and forth between an iPad Pro and iPad mini and the difference is really noticeable at first. After using the mini for just a few minutes though you almost can't tell anymore.

That is definitely your experience, not mine.

 

[hieubui]

Here are photos (taken with an iPhone 6, sorry) showing the difference in perceived luminosity at different viewing angles.

The brightness level isn't the same on both phone.